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Any good house rules for characters who want to combine melee and ranged weapons in a bayonet type fashion?

This is both a crafting and tactical rules question.

This question about two 2nd level operative exploits interacting.

Alien Archive: Double your operative’s edge bonus to your skill checks when identifying a creature and its abilities.

Jack of all Trades: You can use all skills untrained, and you double your operative’s edge bonus when using a skill in which you have no ranks.

So my question is, how large is the bonus a 20th level operative with no ranks in mysticism gets from operatives edge when identifiing a creatures abilities?

+12 because it's essentially the same bonus type so it shouldn't stack.

+18 because two doubling effects are treated as a tripling.

or

+24 because two doubling a doubled number is really 4x who needs ranks anyway?

My thoughts are leaning toward the +18 but I'm searching for clarification.

Thanks in advance.

I play in a home game where the GM is very fair-minded (Most of the time). However there are times when the GM wants to up the challenge of the situation for I guess what they would call "story" or "drama". During these times the GM will adjust a DC to what he feels is a challenge for our characters. In practice this means taking account of our modifiers and setting the DC such that we can only succeed on a die roll of 15 or better.

What I find unfair about this is it completely ignores all of the choices and investments the player has made to improve that particular roll. For example if a player has Skill Focus, the bonus is disregarded because the number you have to roll on the die with or with out the feat is still 15. So while the feat helped get the player through many trials earlier in the game, when it comes to a time of "drama" say a "Boss Fight" the feat is not really beneficial at a time when the player probably needs it the most.

For the most part I've been quite about it and just been going along with it. What I would like to know is;

Does anyone else do this type of thing when they GM?

How common is this kind of thing in other/your home games?

If you witnessed this as a player what is the right thing to do?

PS: I'm not sure how many of the other players, if any, are bothered by this practice.

Sorry if this has already come up before but I didn't see it anywhere.

In Society rules if a class like Investigator, Slayer, or Ninja has the option to choose a Rogue talent are they obligated to choose the original version of the talent, the unchained version of the talent or can they choose either one?

Also if they choose one type or the other does that mean the character has limited its future options to one type or the other?

Thank you in advance.

Hi guys, by RAW does this work?

Mindchemist 2 Perfect recall:
At 2nd level, a mindchemist has honed his memory. When making a Knowledge check, he may add his Intelligence bonus on the check a second time. Thus, a mindchemist with 5 ranks in Knowledge (history) and a +2 Intelligence bonus has a total skill bonus of +9 (5 + 2 + 2) using this ability. The mindchemist can also use this ability when making an Intelligence check to remember something.

Shaman Lore-Benefit of Wisdom:
Benefit of Wisdom (Ex): The shaman relies on wisdom rather than intellect to gain and retain knowledge. She can use her Wisdom modifier instead of her Intelligence modifier on all Intelligence-based skill checks.

Would a Character with these two abilities add double their Wisdom Modifier to Knowledge checks?

And would that also stack with the Shaman Lore Spirit Ability?

Monstrous Insight (Su): The shaman can identify creatures and gain insight into their strengths and weaknesses. As a standard action, the shaman can attempt a Knowledge skill check to identify a creature and its abilities (using the appropriate skill for the monster's type) with an insight bonus equal to her shaman level. Whether or not the check is successful, she also gains a +2 insight bonus for 1 minute on attack rolls made against that creature and a +2 insight bonus to her AC against attacks made by that creature. These bonuses last for 1 minute. The shaman can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier.

If a character has enough levels in Rogue and Slayer the character could potentially select Trap spotter twice and get the same effective benefit again from sleepless detective. So the question is how many times would the GM have to roll? just twice or it is three times?

Rogue Talent: Trap Spotter (Ex)
Benefit: Whenever a rogue with this talent comes within 10 feet of a trap, she receives an immediate Perception skill check to notice the trap. This check should be made in secret by the GM.

Sleepless Detective:Eye for Detail (Ex)

At 4th level, a Sleepless detective's keen eye for detail helps her notice hidden traps, doors, and clues. The detective is entitled to an immediate Perception check to notice such features whenever she passes within 10 feet of them, whether or not she is actively looking. This check should be made in secret by the GM. If the detective would already receive such a check because of an ability from some other source (such as the trap spotter rogue talent), the GM should roll the Perception check twice whenever the Sleepless detective is within 10 feet of a trap and use the higher result.

Couple Questions but first here is the important Text.

Ranger Combat Style (Ex): The slayer selects a ranger combat style (such as archery or two-weapon combat) and gains a combat feat from the first feat list of that style. He can choose feats from his selected combat style, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites. At 6th level, he may select this talent again and add the 6th-level ranger combat feats from his chosen style to the list. At 10th level, he may select this talent again and add the 10th-level ranger combat feats from his chosen style to the list.

Q) Can a character who chooses a different slayer talent at level 6 choose it at a later level or is the option gone forever?

Thing is most talents don't call out specific levels, so I'm not sure.

This is a relatively straightforward question.

The steal maneuver:
Items that are simply tucked into a belt or loosely attached (such as brooches or necklaces) are the easiest to take. Items fastened to a foe (such as cloaks, sheathed weapons, or pouches) are more difficult to take, and give the opponent a +5 bonus (or greater) to his CMD. Items that are closely worn (such as armor, backpacks, boots, clothing, or rings) cannot be taken with this maneuver. Items held in the hands (such as wielded weapons or wands) also cannot be taken with the steal maneuver—you must use the disarm combat maneuver instead.

So which category are headbands;
A) loosely attached (it's pretty easy to take someones ball cap)

B) Fastened to a foe (this is my magic hat that magically fits perfectly to my imperfect head)

C) Closely Worn (I would think this is more like a helmet with a chinstrap or motorcyle helmet)

If you lose a class ability to an archetype can you then gain it back or is it banned from the character forever?

Such that if you play an archetype that looses trapfinding, then take levels in another class that gives you trapfinding. Would your character still loose the benefits of trapfinding?

Would the order the classes are taken matter?

Do you retain the trapfinding abilty from the alternate class becuase you only loose the ability from the class the archetype is in?

Example 1: A level 1 Rogue Poisoner takes 2 levels of Alchemist Trapbreaker.

Example 2: a 2nd level Alchemist TrapBreaker takes one level of Rogue Poisoner.

I just want to make sure I understand this correctly. If you use acrobatics to move through an opponents space do these two feats stack? So you could gain a +4 to hit on the first attack or does the circumstance bonus not stack?

Canny Tumble ACG
Prerequisite(s): Dodge, Mobility, Acrobatics 5 ranks.

Benefit: When you use Acrobatics to move through an opponent's threatened area or space without provoking an attack of opportunity from that opponent, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on your next melee attack roll against that opponent, as long as you make that attack before the start of your next turn.

Disorienting Maneuver UC
Prerequisites: Dodge, Acrobatics 5 ranks.

Benefit: If you successfully use Acrobatics to tumble through an opponent’s space, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on attack rolls against that opponent until the start of your next turn. If you choose to make a trip attempt against that opponent, you gain a +4 circumstance bonus on your combat maneuver check. This bonus on trip also lasts until the start of your next turn.

Sidenote: I find it odd that the newer feat has three strikes against it. It has stronger prerequisites, works only on the first attack and doesn't give a bonus to a combat maneuver.

The slayer archetype Cutthroat lets you use the Steal combat maneuver as a swift action against dead or unconscious opponents.

Why would you need a combat maneuver at all if your target is already dead or unconscious?

Disable Dweomer is a brand new feat from the ACG. I like the flavor of a non-magic user like a rogue who is able to just mess with powerful magical items and just shut them off. However, the Feat itself is rather time consuming and more importantly I'm having trouble finding situations where it would be useful, or even applicable. I haven't played pathfinder much am mostly looking to use this in PFS scenarios.

Is this feat that I find so rich in flavor actually just impractical and going to be rarely used at best? What are some situations when this feat can really pay off?

Disable Dweomer
Prerequisite(s): Disable Device 5 ranks, Use Magic Device 5 ranks, trapfinding.

Benefit: You can use Disable Device to suppress the magic of a non-artifact magic item for 1d4 rounds, after which the item recovers its magical properties. A suppressed item becomes non-magical for the duration of the suppression. Using Disable Device in this way takes 2d4 rounds, with a DC of 15 + the item's caster level.