The Fifth Archdaemon

River of Sticks's page

575 posts (1,409 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 9 aliases.




Ran across a few oddities that I hope to get some advice on. Having trouble posting to DSP's site, so I thought I would ask the good (or evil or neutral, no judgement here) folks of Paizo for advice.

Questions on Mythic and Cryptic:

I found a reference to previously issued errata that said a Cryptic's Enhance Tattoo also augmented the power up to ML. I cannot find that errata itself, though. URL of missing page (taken down several years ago, Wayback Machine does not have it): http://dreamscarredpress.com/dragonfly/ForumsPro/viewtopic/t=2206/highlight =enhance+tattoo.html

In general, would Enhance Psionic Items Mythic Path Ability or the Mythic Merge Designs Feat (add half / all of mythic tier to ML respectively) also augment the power? What about the Flexible Form path ability, or similar abilities that allow 1 Mythic Power to duplicate a casting of a power?

Would the Expansive Understanding Mythic Path Ability allow a 6th level Psionic (Cryptic, Psychic Warrior, etc) to select 7-9th level powers and use their PP on them?

Finally, there seems to be a typo under Mythic Improved Disruption. Is that 1 point per die up to a maximum of half your tier, or is it half your tier points of damage per die?

DSP seems to spread errata out, so it's quite possible I missed an official response to these. I have not been able to find anything despite looking.


Do the armor upgrades that grant uses / benefits of a spell function at minimum CL, Upgrade item level CL, armor level CL, or character level CL?

For Privacy Shield specifically, does it function at 11 + CL or 15+CL for the opposed check?


Looking at the spell Coordinated Effort from the APG, it's generally 3rd level for only a handful of casters. It shares one TW feat to 1 creature per three levels. For them to benefit from it, they must be teaming with you. It lasts 1 min/level.

The new spell Shared Training from Blood of the Ancients seems to absolutely overpower Coordinated Effort; it's 10 min/level, can share up to 4 TW feats by CL 17th, has the same range, casting time, and components. It also affects 1 creature per 3 levels. Affected creatures do not need to meet the feat pre-requisites, and do not need to involve you in the teaming to gain a benefit. Way more casters get it, and at a lower level. The only difference I can find is that Shared Training is called out as mind-affecting, and Coordinated Effort is not. Is that a big deal?

It looks like shared training is a level lower, 10x the duration, shares 4x the feats, and without restrictions on usage or per-requisites. I found this on Archives of Nethys, so it's possible I am missing some fluff text that restricts access; is that what's happening?


I tried to search the forums and could not find an answer... does the errata'ed wording of the Ring of Inner Fortitude - "If the ring prevents any damage, drain, or penalties that are associated with a beneficial effect, it also negates the beneficial effect." - mean that a barbarian cannot rage, that any polymorph spell with size penalties (monstrous Physique, beast shape, etc) fizzles, etc?

Obviously (I think) the wording prevents using some of the drugs (Aether, Zerk) that are present in Pathfinder, some of the paints (Shamans Paint, Intimidating War Paint) that cause damage after 1 minute, and I believe there was a developer comment that it specifically applies to mutagens because of the slightly more expensive (and more restrictive) Vest of Stable Mutation.

Did the errata basically remove the Ring of Inner Fortitude as an option for any barbarian, bloodrager, polymorph-er, drug user, alchemist, or anyone who gets any of those goodies through domains, multiclassing, talents, etc? Since the ring is not elective, you cannot choose to take the penalty for your beneficial thing and still be protected from enemy bad things.


Hi all,
I am curious what the highest BAB a single classed spell caster can get, even temporarily, plus bonus full BAB attacks. As examples:

  • Name Keeper Shaman Archetype gets an ability to make one additional attack at full BAB when making a full attack
  • Oracle Ancestor Mystery, Spirit of the Warrior Revelation: treat class level as BAB for a short time, including giving more iterative.
  • Medium Champion Sudden Attack Spirit ability: similar to the Name Keeper, gives an extra Full BAB attack when full attacking
  • Occultist with Trappings of the Warrior can get Full BAB

These are the ones I could find... Are there others, or a way to combine the above? The best I can see is a Full BAB temporarily with an oracle, Full BAB with 6th level Occultist casting, or bonus attacks on shaman or medium.... I cannot find a way to combine them.


Hello Forumites! I am hoping to get some assistance. I am trying to find an archetype that is able to manifest its own weapons, similar to the Soulblade. Did Paizo publish anything like this? I've found the Mindblade Magus, and the Kineticist has the melee infusion, but both of those aren't what I was hoping for - Mindblade is focused on dual wielding, and Kineticist... isn't what I hope for, for a number of reasons to do with how the class was implemented.

There are other classes like the Occultist (transmutation) or Fighter (warrior spirit) who can make good use of found weapons, or improvised weapons, or the blade-focused Bard archetype that gives enhancement bonuses instead of competence boni to attack and damage, but I am looking for something that can actually reliably bring into being/call in their own weapon without it already being artifact-level or mythic. I've looked through lot of archetypes on D20PFSRD, but there's so many I know I haven't hit them all.

Blasphemy as it might be, the 5E Hexblade is actually pretty close to what I would like to find in PF.


There are a number of game effects which give an ability to do a 30' Intimidate vs all opponents. Savage Maw (2nd level spell), Blistering Invective (2nd level spell), Dazzling Display (2nd feat in a chain), Killing Flourish (4th level Slayer only feat), probably at least one other that I vaguely recall... Interestingly, almost all of these options come online around 4th level. (technically DD could be first level with a human, but would otherwise be 3rd or 5th).

The Eyepatch of Infamy is a 10,000 gp item taking up the eye slot that gives a +5 competence to Intimidate for producing capital and coercing aid. That's at most 2,500, and likely less as it does not include Intimidate for Demoralization. It also doubles the change in disposition for coerced aid - no idea what that might be valued at.

Finally, it allows the wearer (half-orc or DC 25 UMD check every hour) to use the Intimidate skill from 30' further away. Does this ability interact at all with the aforementioned effects that all give a 30' range to the demoralization? There was single post on this topic in 2016, with only two posts including the OP.

Prior Post

It seems a bit overpowered to allow it to extend the range, especially with how easy it is to get the Intimidate skill up... but at the same time, without significant feat investment shaken usually isn't terrible (aside from psychic magic casters) and 10,000 is a lot for what the item gives if it doesn't - single action-single target shaken from 60' away, well within charge distance of most enemies and definitely within range of casters/archers.


So, Pactseeker's Blade is a +2 cruel longsword from Blood of the Coven that also counts as cold iron. When it deals damage, it also deals damage to any other enemies that share a bond to the struck target - a shared buff spell, in the same coven, etc.

I have another question in the Rules forum for whether that shared damage would trigger cruel.

Question: even if all affected enemies become sickened from cruel...that's an expensive effect. A Cold Iron +2 Cruel longsword would be ~21,000, which would make the "damage other creatures by 5-7 pts max if they share a bond" a +2 property, or ~34,000... Does that seem inline?

If cruel does not transfer, I really do not see the point of this weapon...


So, Pactseeker's Blade is a +2 cruel longsword from Blood of the Coven that also counts as cold iron. When it deals damage, it also deals damage to any other enemies that share a bond to the struck target - a shared buff spell, in the same coven, etc.

Question: Say that an Inquisitor uses a Quicken Metamagic Rod to cast Blistering Invective on an enemy party of five, who all share a haste spell. Through Blistering Invective, she succeeds at demoralizing all five enemies. Then she uses her move to get next to an enemy and her standard to attack; she hits and deals damage. Would all five enemies become sickened from cruel?


Would the Filtered Rebreather armor upgrade negate the Fort save for being caught in the smoke from a smoke grenade? Or is the bit about filtering poisonous vapors fluff text?


5 people marked this as FAQ candidate. 1 person marked this as a favorite.

Mechanic Expert Rig Says: Your rig has the features of a computer of tier = half your level, and can add extra modules and countermeasures at the normal prices.
1. What is the price for percent based upgrades? An equivalent tier standalone computer?
2. Does the rig need increasing levels of miniaturization to handle the increasing bulk, or does it not have any bulk increase with tier as a normal computer would? At level 20, a tier 10 computer would be 100 bulk; 10 levels of miniaturization would be 320,000 credits to get to negligible bulk for an eye, brain, or maybe 9 levels for an arm install. Maybe 8 for an armor slot install.
3. Can upgrades like Range or Self Charging be applied to the expert rig?
4. Does the Expert rig need power? (See self charging) IE, if you are away from power for more than 24 hours do the computer functions of your expert rig cease to function?
5. Does the “Hardened” +8 bonus to saves vs “effects” include hacking (by someone else against the mechanic), or virus effects triggered by your own hacking with the expert rig? Feedback and Shock Grid come to mind.
6. IF Range is a valid upgrade module for an Expert Rig, can you have multiple Range modules for multiple devices simultaneously (connected, not actively controlling)?
7. Could a Mechanic have a controlled turret being actively controlled by the Expert Rig computer, attacking at a bonus of half-level (attack bonus is equal to tier of computer controlling it) while the mechanic takes his full set of actions independently?


The Thermal Capacitor armor upgrade says that you can exist comfortably and do not need to make saving throws between -50 F and 170 F;

The Temperature Section under Armor says that the environmental protection that all armor has protects the wearer from temperatures colder than -20 F and hotter than 140 F, and do not need to make saving throws for environmental temperature hazards.

It would seem that portion of the Thermal Capacitor is unnecessary.

Similarly, there is the line in Breathing and Pressure under Armor about corrosive environments potentially damaging armor, with acid-resistant armor upgrades reducing that damage, and the filtered re-breather upgrade which gives Acid Resistance 5; however, the rules on objects say that held or attended objects are not affected unless specifically called out, and the corrosive atmosphere section of the rule book just says damage is dealt to creatures and objects, not attended objects.

I am confused as to whether these are mechanical rules elements, or flavor text written into the descriptions. Does anyone else have examples of other flavor-bits, or clarification on these two?

If the acid example IS rules text, does that mean I need to worry about my weapon catching fire while holstered/held because *I* have fire resistance 15 but the weapon doesn't?


The Jet Dash Feat says that it doubles the distance you can jump; does this mean that a horizontal jump DC is equal to half the distance traveled, or that the restriction on not being able to jump further than your remaining speed is modified?

Specifically, a level 5 character with Athletics as a class skill, 5 ranks invested in Athletics, a STR of 14, and a speed of 30' can move 10', and jump a maximum of 20' (remaining speed) at a DC of 20 by taking 10 (10 + 5 + 3 + 2).

How does this character's ability to jump differ with Jet Dash?


What type of damage is weapon specialization? I could not find it mentioned. Specifically, does the level/half-level to damage from WS interact with the energy resistance/DR rules at all? As an example, would a sonic rifle at 5th level do 1d10 shock + 5 untyped, or 1d10 + 5 shock, or something else?


I have been looking at the relative cost of items vs the relative PC wealth expected per table 11-5, and am finding that at best, a PC can only afford a maximum of 3 or so items that at the PC's level... Armor, weapons, augmentations, magic items, upgrades, all of it. They can only afford one, maybe two items of level+1, and definitely only one of level+2. Does that seem right?

I also ran the numbers on the wealth per encounter, encounters per level (~14) to reach the next, and expected distribution of wealth for a 4 PC party and found that past level 1, the PCs will receive approximately twice the wealth given in 11-5, which seems ...interesting. Then you figure out the balance of selling back things for 10%.

Assuming that a PC went from level 1 to level 10, they should have 66,000 wealth, and will have received approximately 107,000; however, at level 9, fully kitted out, they would have 45,000 of that set in weapons/armor/items, and would have 4,500 if they sold it to re-kit with level 10 gear. That means their actual wealth at level 10 would be 4,500 + about 35,000 wealth over the journey from level 9 to 10, for a total of ~40,000 wealth. Am I missing something here? Should you only upgrade weapons/armor/items every 3-4 levels to keep to the power level expected by the game? You cannot even try to "buy-up" a level +1 item and extend it's usefulness, since you'd have to spend almost all your wealth on it...


What is the intent of this fusion? Combat usage only, or usable at any point? The text states that the fusion can be activated as a full action in place of a standard attack (though, I think that should be either standard action or full attack), and that successful activation allows the wielder of the weapon to cast the spell in the gem as if they were a spellcaster with the spell on their class list. Nothing in the fusion or spell gem rules restricts what spells can be used, and there is no guidance or restrictions as to a target. Does this fusion allow a spell like Life Bubble? Resistant Armor, Lesser? Can I attack an object to activate the fusion?


As the title says.
1. If you take the Extra Mod Mechanic Trick with an Exocortex, are you restricted to the list of basic mods from the Level 7 Exocortex Mods class feature, or are any basic mods available? Specifically Enhanced Armor would be pretty great...

2. If you use the Level 7 Exocortex Mod to give yourself Advanced Melee proficiency, do you automatically get Weapon Specialization with Advanced Melee per the Level 3 text granting it for each weapon given proficiency via class?

3. Do you lose the Skill Focus bonus feat from Memory Module during combat, before level 15?

4. Do you lose proficiency/specialization with Long Arms if you use Wireless Hack before level 15?


1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

The Relic Hunter (Inquisitor Archetype) has text saying " A relic hunter’s spells per day, daily spell allotment, Difficulty Class, and minimum Wisdom score requirements remain unchanged from the inquisitor’s normal spell-casting class feature."

Does this mean that they get spells known per the Table: Inquisitor spells known, or do they get spells known as the Occultist (1 spell per level for each implement/relic selected)? The relic hunter says that relics act as Occultist Implements, and Occultist implements give one spell known per level. The quoted text says nothing about spells known; only spells per day/daily spell allotment, which seems to be redundant.


So, I've tried searching the forums and found many long in depth posts about UMD and staves, but not what I am trying to figure out. So here goes.
Stave has 1 2nd level wizard spell and 1 3rd level transmutation cleric spell. That's it. Minimum CL is 8th per the rules on staves.

Character is a Wizard, level 10, with the Mage's Tattoo (Transmutation) feat to cast transmutation spells at +1 CL. He can cast the 2nd level wizard spell at CL 10. The cleric spell is not on his list, but a DC 20 UMD check pretends that it is. What's the CL for the 3rd level cleric spell? 8? 10 for the wizard CL? 11 for the wizard and bonus from the feat?

Character is a Wizard, level 10, with the Mage's Tattoo (Transmutation) feat to cast transmutation spells at +1 CL. He takes his 11th level in Cleric. He can cast the 2nd level wizard spell at CL 10. The cleric spell is now on his list. What's the CL for the 3rd level cleric spell? 1 for the cleric caster level (but actually 8 for the minimum of the stave)? 5 for the spell minimum (but actually 8 for the minimum of the stave)? 8(minimum of the stave)? 10 for the wizard CL? 11 for the wizard and bonus from the feat?

I'd throw in Magical Knack but that's a whole 'nother can of worms, given the need for order of operations.


Hopefully this is the right place. Wanted to check that I am understanding the rules elements correctly on the Wildblooded Sorcerer. To me it seems mechanically the same as domains vs sub-domains, and if I understand the ruling correctly, it would logically extend that clerics cannot select both an archetype that modifies the domain class feature and a sub-domain (yes, I know that’s not the rules).
Anyhow. Actual question. Am I correct that the FAQ from 2013 means that a Tattooed Wildblooded (Empyreal) is illegal because Tattooed Sorcerer replaces the 9th level power, and per the FAQ Wildblooded is interpreted as altering the 9th level power? Similarly, a Tattooed Wildblooded (Sage) is illegal because the Tattooed Sorcerer replaces the 1st level power and Wildblooded is interpreted as altering the 1st level power?
Would either a Wildblooded Empyreal with Bloodline Familiar (celestial) or Wildblooded Sage with Bloodline Familiar (Arcane) fall afoul of this FAQ, or any other rules elements?


Pretty sure this is a new question; I tried searching the forum and most questions were specifically about Eldritch Heritage or Sylvan: Animal Companion shenanigans.

The Robe of Arcane Heritage says "The wearer treats her sorcerer level as 4 higher than normal for the purpose of determining what bloodline powers she can use and their effects."

1. Does this work with mutated bloodlines like Sage, Empyreal, etc?

2. Does this work with abilities replacing a bloodline power? For example, the Dragon Drinker's Blood Drinking feature, which replaces the claws bloodline power; or the Tattooed Sorcerers Familiar, which replaces the 1st level bloodline power. There is a short post from June 2017 concluding that since the replacements do not explicitly say "this is a bloodline power" it does not; rather than discuss that conclusion, does anyone know of any rules element that says a replacement feature for a specific XYZ is/is not counted as a XYZ itself?

3. Would the Robe increase the master's effective level for the familiar from the Arcane Bloodline?

4. Are bloodline familiars in any way affected by the Robe? Somewhat related to the question in #2 as to whether something replacing a bloodline power is still a bloodline power.


So, I have been a lurker on the forums for the last year or so. Currently I am theory crafting a fighter, and I see a lot of threads about the "Unchained" fighter or home-brew rules to fix it. However, I wanted to share a thought I had to address one small area within the rules as given. I am presenting this in three different ways. (My first time trying to balance new game rules, so feedback appreciated). Full disclosure: I am well aware the fighter does not really need a higher "hit things" bonus. However, most of the non-hit things it needs look to either re-write the class, or give a bonus for free.

AWT Choice: Lightning Fast (Option 1)
A number of times per day equal to your weapon training bonus with the selected weapon(s), you may make a full-round action Full Attack as a standard action. Any increase to your weapon training bonus from any source counts towards this AWT option.

Thoughts: The most limited and thus least game breaking option. Increases the value of Gloves of Dueling, but that's pretty much already a given if you have any choice in items whatsoever. Perhaps add +CON modifier to the number of times per day; would lower the incremental value of weapon training increases while increasing the value of the AWT itself.

AWT Choice: Lightning Attack (Option 2a)
A fighter may choose to make a special lightning attack as a standard action. This attack may only be used with weapons which the fighter has weapon training with. The fighter may attack a number of times equal to either his weapon training bonus or his BAB, whichever is lower. Any attacks past the first use the normal iterative attack BAB progression (Ie, +20/+15/+10/+5 at level 20). This ability is only modified by the base weapon training a fighter receives from increasing in level.

Thoughts: This option basically allows a full attack +move 3/2/1 levels after the fighter would get their 2nd/3rd/4th iterative attack, with the weapon they first select. It also rewards a switch hitter who uses a regular feat at 5th to gain the AWT rather than wait until 13th level to take it as an alternate weapon training choice. Allowing the Gloves of Dueling/other items to increase the bonus would greatly increase the value for switch hitters, and mean that as soon as the fighter receives an iterative and the gloves he can use his main weapon(s) with Lightning Attack (assuming ~8th or 9th level for Gloves of Dueling with WBL).

AWT Choice: Lightning Attack (Option 2b)
A fighter may choose to make a special lightning attack as a standard action. This attack may only be used with weapons which the fighter has weapon training with. The fighter may attack an additional number of times after the first equal to his weapon training bonus; the fighter may not exceed the total number of iterative attacks his BAB would give for a full attack (Changes from Option 2a in bold). Any attacks made this way use the normal iterative attack BAB progression (Ie, +20/+15/+10/+5 at level 20). This ability is only modified by the base weapon training a fighter receives from increasing in level.

Thoughts: This would give the fighter full-attacks + move from the moment he gets another iterative if he spends the feat at 5th, and give a switch hitter an immediate benefit for picking up a second weapon group. This also makes the Gloves of Dueling less of a game changer - any effective increases that would change play style will happen to later-picked weapons.

I prefer the second version of Lightning Attack, both for the immediate benefit to switch hitters and because it removes Gloves of Dueling from consideration in its value in most cases.The balance I am trying to strike is good enough to take, and compete with things like Armed Bravery or Fighters Reflexes without being an automatic choice. Those two options add to the fighters saves and are always useful; being able to move+full attack seems to be a very desirable thing, though I do not have the years of actual gameplay to really rank the power level.

Complete Aside - I do like some of the home-brew solutions to the fighter. I think my favorites are 4+Int skills as a minimum, Weapon training starting at Level 1 (which would totally throw off the math in my presentation above), and the ability to swap out feats after 8 hours of rest like a spell caster. If the spell caster can change his focus on a day to day basis, why shouldn't a martial champion be able to psyche himself up in specific preparation for the day? I also like the idea that a fighter who picks an Improved X will automatically get the Greater X when they qualify as a free feat. Anyhow. That's all completely rewriting the fighter, though the last may be a possible AWT: pick a number of Base/Improved/Greater style feat chains up to your weapon training bonus for which you have the lowest level feat. When using that weapon, you count as having any feats in the chain you would qualify for. Still not addressing the core issues, but an improvement over one-trick ponies. Food for thought.