Goblin Squad Member. Pathfinder Society GM. 96 posts (167 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 33 Organized Play characters. 1 alias.
I just ran The Quest for Perfection - Part I: The Edge of Heaven (Subtier 4-5) and they are on the last boss...
Spoiler alert!:
Shang Xu heard the intruders fighting the weaklings and hid in the snow. Once they entered the courtyard he sprang up, surprising them all with a ferocious yell and a most intimidating glare. Fear never entered their eyes, however, only surprise, as he quickly sprang forth, furious energy surging through his body and tore the dark clothed elf apart. Then the others knew fear!
But Bargyn wasn't about to let that happen again, so he struck with precision and power, nearly opening the beast's belly with one mighty swing of his appropriately human-sized horsechopper. Jeb Lawson, musket blasting extraordinaire, quickly moved into position, aimed, and shot the yeti just as it opened its mouth, screaming in pain and the bullet severed the spinal column as it tore out the back of Shang Xu's throat. Zari, paladin visionary of Sarenrae, ignored the pain from his life-link with their roguish companion and rushed to her side, calling forth his goddess' blessings to restore her body.
I've let my PCs come up with battle plans for the NPC rogue I run for them, and she happened to be closest to the spot I'd chosen the yeti to hide in before they moved in. After they all saved against Shang Xu's gaze, the yeti won initiative and tore the rogue down. The fighter moved in and critted for 68, followed by the gunslinger, who decided to copy the crit for another 68, dropping the great beast in the first round. I had missed the rend at first, so the rogue lived, and I decided not to retcon it because they've become attached to their NPC helper and it didn't affect gameplay, only role-playing.
I did tell them that she will no longer move out in the open so readily, nor will she lead the way any more: she can spot just as well behind the big fighter, thank you very much. I don't feel that they've been abusing the NPC's existence or anything, but from an RP standpoint, after that kind of a thrashing she's going to be more cautious.
Still, seen by my very own eyes, the luck of their crits...wow!
Actually, the stairs go up on a clockwise fashion. When an arrow points down (red) it means that's where you're coming from. The yellow arrow points to up.
What I'm trying to figure out is what the different shading means in some of the E2 areas, extending past the stairs.
The information in the GM 101 PDF is so useful that every GM (maybe everyone) should read it even if you couldn't report it; with that added bonus you'd be extremely silly not to.
I have questions concerning the time limit. The first time I ran this I actually timed my players, pausing when they got sidetracked with OOC stuff and they seemed a little irate that they weren't informed of the time limit. There is nothing mentioned of giving the PCs any warning of their quest being timed and I found some play by post games where their players weren't informed either. Am I right in not informing them ahead of time?
What I am wondering is if I should instead try to time out their character's actions as best as I can given the 6 second round, 2 minutes to take 20, etc. or if it is alright to use an actual timer, as I did previously, since much of the time spent is them discussing what to do.
Do you need to report with a specific character number? There is no Chronicle Sheet, so I'm wondering about the purpose behind reporting it. Does it count towards your GM stars?
I agree that it is a limitation of the ghoul and not a racial attribute of the elf.
However, you might like it better a different way, so remember The Most Important Rule (Core Rulebook pg 9).
"The rules in this book are here to help you breathe life into
your characters and the world they explore. While they are
designed to make your game easy and exciting, you might
find that some of them do not suit the style of play that your
gaming group enjoys. Remember that these rules are yours.
You can change them to fit your needs. Most Game Masters
have a number of “house rules” that they use in their games.
The Game Master and players should always discuss any
rules changes to make sure that everyone understands how
the game will be played. Although the Game Master is the
final arbiter of the rules, the Pathfinder RPG is a shared
experience, and all of the players should contribute their
thoughts when the rules are in doubt."
ps (completely unrelated) You can't prove anything.
In our own world there are many beliefs about the dead and proper procedures and I disagree with the standard burial practices I am aware of. To me it is illogical to waste the rock to make a headstone, the various materials to make a coffin, and the section of ground that no one is allowed to farm or build on. That fancy box also prevents, or rather severely delays, the natural recycling process of the ground.
My body is hopefully going to do something useful, like organ farming for the sick and/or medical study to teach new doctors, nurses, and the like. Heck, if someone figured out how to reanimate my body, control it remotely, and use it for something dangerous like nuclear cleanup or meltdown prevention, then that would save a bunch of lives as well.
Also, don't forget that with two hands monks use full strength during Flurry of Blows and not 1.5x.
Core Rulebook pg 57
"A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with f lurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands."
Blind-Fight "In melee, every time you miss because of
concealment (see Chapter 8), you can reroll your miss
chance percentile roll one time to see if you actually hit."
Perhaps this means that the attacker rolls the second one?
Also, under Invisibility on page 564 we have the following.
"A creature with the Blind-Fight feat has a better chance
to hit an invisible creature. Roll the miss chance twice, and
he misses only if both rolls indicate a miss. (Alternatively,
make one 25% miss chance roll rather than two 50% miss
chance rolls.)"
I would probably just drop it down to a 25% chance and have the defender roll to expedite things.
That is a good question Xaod The Destroyer. Under ready it is written "The action occurs just before the action that triggers it." The Invisibility spell states "The spell ends if the subject attacks any creature." The invisible condition (Core Rulebook pg 567) explains that "An invisible creature...ignores its opponent's Dexterity bonus to AC (if any)."
I am fairly sure the developers wouldn't want someone's initiative to be in the middle of someone else's, nor would most players or GMs I think; it would just over-complicate things.
If you ready an action to attack as soon as you see the invisible person you might be waiting there a while if you don't know what type of invisibility the attacker has. It seems to me that if you ready your action to attack once you've been attacked, then you have to wait for the attack to finish before you go because invisibility is on until the creature attacks, not starts to attack. In the case of a full attack action, to avoid over-complication, it makes sense to me to have the readied action follow the invisible creature's attack.
The full attack action is comprised of multiple attacks, and the Invisibility spell doesn't say you are visible after an attack action, but an attack. Also, you only ignore your opponent's Dexterity to AC when you're invisible, as per the condition. You make your first attack (hit or miss) become visible, and the opponent has dex to AC unless it is denied from another source for the remainder of your attacks.
That is how I interpret it, but that doesn't mean I am completely right.
Also, remember The Most Important Rule (Core Rulebook pg 9).
"The rules in this book are here to help you breathe life into
your characters and the world they explore. While they are
designed to make your game easy and exciting, you might
find that some of them do not suit the style of play that your
gaming group enjoys. Remember that these rules are yours.
You can change them to fit your needs. Most Game Masters
have a number of “house rules” that they use in their games.
The Game Master and players should always discuss any
rules changes to make sure that everyone understands how
the game will be played. Although the Game Master is the
final arbiter of the rules, the Pathfinder RPG is a shared
experience, and all of the players should contribute their
thoughts when the rules are in doubt."
The Great Rinaldo!: That makes sense to me as well, which is probably why I never noticed this sentence before, but I found it while looking up something else.
Justin Riddler: That makes sense as well, I've just had players toss their d% behind a book/screen/whatever in the past. The Sneak Attack and concealment relationship is a good thing to point out as well.
I just thought I'd throw this out there for anyone else who might have missed this particular line.
It is written under Concealment that "...normally—if the attacker hits, the defender must make a miss chance d% roll to avoid being struck."
The groups I game with have the attacker make the d% roll for miss chances and I never noticed this particular wording before. As a PFS GM I feel that I need to adjust and run this as per the wording, even though 20%/50% is 20%/50% regardless of who has the dice.
To all applicable Paizo staff members, I thank you for these changes and appreciate all the work you've put into everything.
*bows low with prayer hands*
I stumbled across a forum post that gives a good alternative for a monk's multi-attribute dependency: the Agile weapon enchant from Pathfinder Society Field Guide pg50 (now only 4000gp!). Ignore strength and give priority to your dexterity; then as soon as you can grab an Amulet of Mighty Fists you do dexterity modifier for damage. You'd want Weapon Finesse as well of course.
If you're a paladin 5 and a cleric 4 with a 16 charisma, you have 2d6 channels 6 times per day as a cleric and 3d6 channels 2 times per day maximum as a paladin. If you have the Extra Channel feat it gives you 2 extra channels per day total. You can have one extra 2d6 cleric channel and one extra 3d6 paladin channel, or 2 cleric, or 2 paladin.
The paladin channels by using 2 uses of Lay on Hands per channel, so to make Extra Channel fair it has to give 2 extra Lay on Hands per use of channel you put towards the paladin, only usable with Channel Energy.
It makes sense to take this feat in the aforementioned example because it lets you choose to have 2 extra channels with your most option that gives the most d6s. If you were instead 4 paladin and 7 cleric, you'd obviously want those extra two channels to go towards the cleric's because it does 4d6 compared to the paladin's 2d6.
Extra Channel (page 124): If I take this feat and I have more than one class with the ability to channel energy, do I have to assign the extra uses to a particular class when I choose the feat? No. In effect, the feat gives you two "floating" uses of channel energy per day, and you can use them with any appropriate class you have which grants the channel energy ability. For example, if you're a cleric/necromancer, each day you could use 1 channel as a cleric and 1 as a necromancer, 2 as a cleric and 0 as a necromancer, or 0 as a cleric and 2 as a necromancer. Note that this does not give you an extra two uses of channel energy for *each* class that grants it—the feat gives you exactly two extra uses per day.
Channel Energy: If I have this ability from more than one class, do they stack?
No—unless an ability specifically says it stacks with similar abilities (such as an assassin's sneak attack), or adds in some way based on the character's total class levels (such as improved uncanny dodge), the abilities don't stack and you have to use them separately. Therefore, cleric channeling doesn't stack with paladin channeling, necromancer channeling, oracle of life channeling, and so on.
I know exactly what it's talking about. My point is that they explained that section on style paths in great detail and did not explain the Elemental Fist confusion in as much detail. When I look at it in the simple context it is written I take it to mean that you have to meet the prerequisites of the feat.
Ultimate Combat PP59-60 wrote:
"...a master of many styles may select a bonus style feat or the Elemental Fist feat...He does not have to meet the prerequisites of that feat, except the Elemental Fist Feat."
There are two categories of feats, style feats and Elemental Fist. A MoMS does not have to meet the prerequisites of the style feat category, but does have to meet them for Elemental Fist. If they meant that the monk would be able to take any of them without prerequisites, except Elemental Fist as a prerequisite, they would have gone into more detail explaining that, such as the amount of detail they went into when discussing the style feat paths.
The wording would probably be something similar to the following. "He does not have to meet the prerequisite of that feat, unless that prerequisite is the Elemental Fist feat, in which case he must take the Elemental Fist feat first." That would be an explanation of great detail, such as the amount they gave for style feat paths.
As I said however, it is vague and it is possible that it needs to be clarified.
As with anything that anyone without official capacity writes I am writing from my viewpoint. My viewpoint is, while the wording is vague and can leave room for interpretation, it seems to be written simply so that it would be read simply and that is how I simply read it, whether it is right or wrong. If one does need to meet the prerequisites of Elemental Fist, perhaps ", which he must meet the prerequisites of." needs to be added to the end of that sentence.
Even though this is not a question for me, I will FAQ it in the probable case that I am wrong.
He does not have to meet the prerequisites of that feat, except the Elemental Fist feat. Alternatively, a master of many styles may choose a feat in that style’s feat path (such as Earth Child Topple) as one of these bonus feats if he already has the appropriate style feat (such as Earth Child Style). The master of many styles does not need to meet any other prerequisite of the feat in the style’s feat path.
I can see where this is a little vague, however, I would think it means you have to meet the prerequisites of Elemental Fist. The reason I say this is the amount of explanation they give to the style feat paths in the next two sentences, they give very specific detail on how the process works. This makes me believe that if they meant your number "2)" then they would have used words fairly similar to those you used. The sentence "He does not have to meet the prerequisites of that feat, except the Elemental Fist feat." taken alone would mean exactly what you typed in number "1)" and I bet that's their intention given the choice of wording and punctuation. This would mean that you could take it as a bonus feat from the class at level 14 at the earliest, but be able to purchase it as a normal feat at level 11.
However, it is possible that they made a mistake so it may be that only an official Paizo representative can truly answer your question.
If you do not release the grapple, you must continue to make a check each round, as a standard action, to maintain the hold. If your target does not break the grapple, you get a +5 circumstance bonus on grapple checks made against the same target in
subsequent rounds. Once you are grappling an opponent, a successful check allows you to continue grappling the foe, and also allows you to perform one of the following actions (as part of the standard action spent to maintain the grapple).
Greater Grapple wrote:
Benefit: You receive a +2 bonus on checks made to grapple a foe. This bonus stacks with the bonus granted by Improved Grapple. Once you have grappled a creature, maintaining the grapple is a move action. This feat allows you to make two grapple checks each round (to move, harm, or pin your opponent), but you are not required to make two checks. You only need to succeed at one of these checks to maintain the grapple.
Greater Grapple states that "maintaining the grapple is a move action" and when you look under the grapple rules maintaining the grapple is something you do in subsequent rounds to keep holding your foe and also allows you to perform an action (move, damage, pin, or tie up) if you succeed. It looks to me as if Greater Grapple would not allow a second grapple check the same round you initiated the combat maneuver and the initiation would still be a standard action.
It would then go as follows:
Round 1: charged and punched
Round 2: initiate grapple successfully
Round 3: enemy fails to escape & you gain +5 to maintain the grapple. You can perform the maintain twice because of Greater Grapple. If either one of them succeeds then you maintain your grapple and can move, damage, pin, or tie up your opponent. If you choose pin you can then use your swift action for Stunning Pin. If both of your maintain grapple checks succeed then you can pin with the first one, use a swift action to stunning fist, then damage, move, or tie up with your second move action to grapple.
Round 4: enemy cries
If it's listed under the spell section of class features then it is gained when you increase spellcasting from a prestige class. If it's a separate entry in class features, such as the Mystery spells that mplindustries mentioned then it does not increase.
What Wind Chime said. Gaining the effect requires no skills, nor does it require patience or concentration. It's no different than if the cleric cast Bless, unless the barbarian is blind and/or deaf, depending on the Bardic Performance in question. If the barbarian also had levels in bard, then making the Bardic Performance herself would take concentration and she would be unable to do so while raging.
Edit: You snuck in there Weirdo. Thanks for mentioning the non-stacking bonus information, it's a good point.
I'm about to run a scenario that uses the Woodlands flip mat . I have been trying to get all the flip mat and map packs for the scenarios I've been running because trying to draw an accurate map with zero artistic abilities can take a bit of time. The Woodlands is out of print and out of stock everywhere.
I'm wondering what level of accuracy I'm expected to deliver with translating the maps from the scenario page to the tabletop. Obviously I'm not going to be able to put all the fine details to make an exact copy, but do I have to ensure all the same squares have the exact same boundaries, difficult terrain, etc.?
I know there are other options besides flip-mats. I can figure out how to print the map from the scenario to scale for the 1" squares then laminate the pages. I can buy the PDF and hope it automatically prints to the appropriate scale so I can laminate the pages (after I find a color printer). Or, I can draw the map ahead of time as I've done for the Forest three times before I finally found a copy.
Am I allowed to use the Forest or Deep Forest maps in lieu of the Woodlands map or do I need something more accurate?
What happens if I run a scenario at a convention and it's not one I have prepared ahead of time? Using the Forest flip mat might be more accurate than anything I can draw in a short enough time to not bog the game down.
I ended up running this as I said above & it worked great!
Spoiler:
Rendrin wrote:
I will keep north to the right.
I will change the blocked approach from west to east.
I will choose the northeast alcove as the boulder trap trigger location because there is a kobold there and it would be able to manually trigger the trap that a medium creature would automatically trigger. Furthermore it’s most fitting with the tactics and morale listed for the kobolds.
I will keep the mid-northeast alcove as the chute trap as it’s the only square labeled as a trap on the map for all subtiers. Also, as kobolds are clever trap-makers they wouldn’t choose the grate that is broken in a manner so obvious that small creatures can slip down an attached rope without difficulty as a chute trap designed to trick foes.
In Act 2 some of the directions seem to conflict with each other which causes some confusion and might make a tactical difference to the players.
Spoiler:
The first contradiction concerns the directional approach the players can take to arrive at their intended destination. Under 2a. Boulder Dash it states “The PCs can choose to approach the area from any direction but if they approach from the west, the sewer is backed up and the passage is filled with sewage and debris making the route impassable on foot.” When you look at the map the compass shows north to the right and has a boulder blocking a debris filled tunnel on the bottom of the page, which would make it east while the other three offshoot tunnels look clear. Furthermore, under Traps in section 2a it states “A huge boulder currently blocks much of the sewage and debris from flowing through the east offshoot channel of this intersection.” This confirms that what looks like rubble on the map is actually rubble.
Mentioning the trap section brings up the next piece of confusion. The map shows eight alcoves down the section of the sewer tunnel that is labeled east; four on the north side of the tunnel and four on the south side, directly across from each other in pairs with the sewer muck flowing down the middle west-east. In all subtiers there is one trap shown on the map and it is located in an alcove on the north tunnel wall, second from the bottom (NE mid). It shows two kobolds also in alcoves on the north wall, one above (NE) and one below the trap (NW mid). This leaves the top alcove on the north (NW) and all the south alcoves empty in subtier 3-4 as all additional traps and monsters are only in subtier 6-7.
In 2a Traps there are two listed in subtier 3-4, a Boulder Trap that tests the players’ on being Indiana Jones and a Chute Trap that drops someone into area 2b. In the text above the stat blocks for the traps it states: “The kobold scouts can manually trigger the trap or it is triggered if a Medium creature enters the southeast alcove (with the broken gate).” Directly below the trap stat blocks is the stat block for the kobold scouts, where in During Combat the last sentence has the following: “One scout mans the trap trigger at all times.” Talking about the boulder trap.
Let’s move on to section 2b Drainage Room. In the description text for the players it is described that “There are eight large openings in the ceiling…The opening in the southwest has a knotted rope hanging down from it.” Under that in the explanatory text for the GM it explains how 2a and 2b connect: “Each of the grates in the sewers above connects to a corresponding drain exit in the ceiling of this room…anyone entering the southwest grate in the sewers above exits at the southwest drain exit in this room, and so on.” It further explains that “The kobolds have a knotted rope going from the broken grate in area 2a down to the northeast corner of this room.”
Here are my questions.
Which direction is north supposed to be on the map?
Is the blocked tunnel for player arrival the same blocked tunnel behind the boulder?
As there is only one trap in all subtiers and there are stat blocks for two different traps in each subtier does that square trigger both traps?
Since there is always one kobold manning the trap trigger, which one is it in case the players get to it before it can trigger the trap?
Since only medium creatures trigger the boulder trap automatically, is the trap trigger for the kobolds located in the same place and is a kobold supposed to be standing there?
The alcove with the broken grate is said to be southeast in 2a Traps, while 2b player description has the knotted rope on the southwest grate and the 2b GM info has the knotted rope going from the broken grate in 2a to the northeast corner of the room. Also, 2a Development explains that “…only the broken grate has a rope”. The alcoves in 2a are supposed to correspond to the 2b sections so which one actually has the broken grate? Shouldn’t it be marked with a trap icon on the map?
I run this game on Tuesday and if I don’t have an official answer by then here is how I am going to interpret everything.
I will keep north to the right.
I will change the blocked approach from west to east.
I will choose the northeast alcove as the boulder trap trigger location because there is a kobold there and it would be able to manually trigger the trap that a medium creature would automatically trigger. Furthermore it’s most fitting with the tactics and morale listed for the kobolds.
I will keep the mid-northeast alcove as the chute trap as it’s the only square labeled as a trap on the map for all subtiers. Also, as kobolds are clever trap-makers they wouldn’t choose the grate that is broken in a manner so obvious that small creatures can slip down an attached rope without difficulty as a chute trap designed to trick foes.
If you wanted to find the closest RAW so you felt rules safe to the extreme, then the closest thing is probably dropping something is a free action. If you're holding something in one hand and drop it then you are removing one hand from the item. Therefore removing one hand from an item is a free action and you can only take free actions on your turn. This means you can, before you attack, grip it with both hands as a free action, then after you attack let go with one hand as a free action so you can use Crane Wing (as an example), but if you make attacks of opportunity it's with only one hand on the sword because that's the state of your grip at the end of your turn.
If you are looking at it from a more RP viewpoint then you might let it work where they can change grips any time. Whatever you do, don't let it bog down the game because it's still a GMs job to help everyone have fun and keep the game moving.
Core Rulebook page 51 after it talks about 8th level druid sizes: "When taking the form of animals, a druid's wild shape now functions as beast shape III."
Page 247 under the Beast Shape III spell read the listed abilities you can use from the creature. Ferocity is there and isn't for Beast Shape II.
Acrobatics skill page 88 of the Core Rulebook, concerning moving through threatened squares without provoking attacks of opportunity: "You can use Acrobatics in this way while prone, but doing so requires a full-round action to move 5 feet, and the DC is increased by 5." This would mean you can't make a 5-foot step while prone. If they don't care about provoking and they don't want to stand up they could crawl away I guess, but I don't know what the speed would be, I haven't seen anything for it.
There is a rogue talent called Rogue Crawl, page 68: "While prone, a rogue with this ability can move at half speed. This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal. A rogue with this talent can take a 5-foot step while crawling." Perhaps the normal crawling speed would be 1/4 if the rogue talent makes special note that it's half with the ability.
Page 432 of the Core Rulebook has the information you need on water.
I think this answers your question, it seems to be broken down really well. Since it's a 4 star GM who made the post I would say that you should follow those guidelines unless you see something from an official Paizo staff member to the contrary.
If a level 1 character with 2 XP (normal track) plays a full tier 1-2 module and completes it would that chronicle sheet count towards his only level 2 character who can gain the benefit or would it still count as one of his infinite level 1 characters who can gain the benefit (assuming each played through the module of course)?
Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play (version 4.2 August 16, 2012) wrote:
There is one exception to these rules: All Tier 1 scenarios and Tier 1–2 sanctioned modules are available for unlimited replay with a 1st-level character for credit. The sanctioned modules can also be played with a 2nd-level character once for credit. You may continue to replay the sanctioned modules with 1st-level characters after playing through them with a 2nd-level character. GMs can receive another Chronicle sheet each time they run one of the Tier 1 scenarios or Tier 1–2 sanctioned modules. No character can ever have two of the same Chronicle—the Chronicle must be applied to a different character each time.
Well, I purchased a Wand of Cure Light Wounds for 2 PP; it still has all 50 charges. I then ran a scenario that let me purchase one with GP and I am wanting to use GP instead of PP for the WoCLW (needed more acronyms). Also, there are some things you buy with PP that are faction specific, such as titles.
I'm reading the information on Lands of the Linnorm Kings from The Inner Sea World Guide and they mention weregild, which is said to be a "...legal mechanism of early Germanic society..." according to Wikipedia.
That makes me unsure on what accent to use for the Ulfen - Norse or German.
I'm curious what accents everyone uses for the different races, factions, and NPCs out there. Besides getting help in areas where I'm stumped I'd like to use what's most common out there so the world is more seemless between different GMs. Below is what I've thought about using so far.
Garundi - Arabic/Middle-Eastern
Keleshites - Arabic/Middle-Eastern
Mwangi - African
Shoanti - Native American
Tians - Oriental of some variety
Ulfen - Nordish
Vudrani - Hindi
Dwarves - Scottish or Irish
Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin - He looked stern like a Russian
Sczarni - sounds like an Italian mob
Grandmaster Torch - I didn't use an accent, but a raspy voice
Lady GLoriana Morilla - I tried a British accent
I haven't quite figured out how to do the Arabic/Middle-Eastern, African, Native American, Oriental, Nordish, or Hindi accents.
I used this link to work on the Russian accent and found it really helpful.
Yeah, I don't plan on using maneuvers with this build, it just is too tricky for what I'm doing. My focus is AC, deflecting attacks, stealth, speed, and Stunning Fist. If you notice, a magic item with darkvision is on my list of magic items for my scouting job (Goggles of the Night) and my dexterity bonus will go to my damage once I get an Agile Amulet of Mighty Fists. Putting points into strength is therefore less useful than an extra skill point.
I think I'm going to drop dex to 17, increase con to 12, then get 18 dex at level 4 though.
The aid another idea is a great one too, thanks. And flanking is one reason I like my high speed and high acrobatics (another benefit of high dex). I just randomly happen to have a bunch of skills that compliment my high stats.
If you get more than one attack per round because your base attack bonus is high enough (see Base Attack Bonus in Classes), because you fight with two weapons or a double weapon, or for some special reason, you must use a full-round action to get your additional attacks. You do not need to specify the targets of your attacks ahead of time. You can see how the earlier attacks turn out before assigning the later ones.
RAW clearly states that you don't have to specify the targets at the beginning and that's so obviously purposefully written that RAI says the same thing RAW does.
