Sir Thugsalot's page

Scenario: I am granted an AoO with weapon#1 (let's say I tripped somebody and I have Greater Trip). The AoO is not specifically tied to Weapon#1 (e.g., via Fortuitous). For my granted AoO, I'd like to use a different weapon currently in an accessible sheath. I have Quick Draw.

-- Can I drop #1, free-action quickdraw #2 & smack?

Quoting Monstrous Physique:

"When you cast this spell, you can assume the form of any Small or Medium creature of the monstrous humanoid type. If the form you assume has any of the following abilities, you gain the listed ability: climb 30 feet, fly 30 feet (average maneuverability), swim 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, and scent.

1) Since claws, bites, slams (etc) aren't on the list, my presumption is that the PC will not get them in the new form even if they're in a Paizo-product picture of the creature. I.e., not any more than they get the monster's umpittyump hit-dice, breath attacks, pounce, and so on unless so indicated.

2) What is RAW for what happens to the equipment, apparel, and weapons of a person in a "form"? (It doesn't say in the druid section or in Beast Shape.)

Rhino Charge: "You may ready a charge, though you may only move up to your speed on the charge."

Pummeling Charge: "You can charge and make a full attack or flurry of blows at the end of your charge as part of the charge action."

...and what happens is that our clever player swifts a spell, move-chugs a potion (accelerated drinker trait) or just moves, then readies a charge...which he then takes, getting a complete full-attack even though he's effectively had two move actions mixed in there as well.

By the RAW of the moment, that seems legal, if liable to lift the eyebrow.

(FAQ away)

d20pfsrd's list of potions doesn't appear to have been updated in years, and Nethys is, I think, just plain busted (it only lists half a dozen).

...I'm trying to quickly browse all the new potion-applicable spells which have appeared since circa 2015-ish.

Order of the Land

Knights of the Inner Sea pg. 24
<snip>
Challenge: Whenever an order of the land cavalier issues a challenge, he receives a +1 morale bonus on ranged attack rolls against the target of his challenge. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels the cavalier possesses.

I just wanted to make clear that this order does not provide or convert the cavalier's normal Challenge melee damage bonus into versus ranged targets, correct?

(That is, aside from them being a Luring archetype, or owning certain wondrous items.)

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

(Just asking this because a messagebase search doesn't reveal anyone previously asking this specific question, or at least not with the search-trigger words in their thread title. So, this will be helpful in future searching by others.)
____

Situation: the monster has AC25 and my attack bonus is +20.

— If I roll a 1 on my attack, I obviously whiff, no matter what my attack bonus.

— But let's say I roll a 19 to score a threat with a longsword. During the confirmation roll, the die result is a 1. However, I have the Critical Focus feat granting a +4 circumstance bonus on attack rolls made to confirm critical hits. 1+20+4 = +25. This meets or exceeds the monster's AC, so is it a critical hit?

There's a ton of stuff for Smite, Favored Enemy, Grit, Ki, and so on, so there must be something that works with Challenge, right?

______________________

Class/Race Options

- Aasimar: Add +1/4 to the cavalier’s bonus on damage against targets of his challenge.
- Dwarf: Add +1/2 to the cavalier’s bonus to damage against targets of his challenge.
- Halfling: Add +1/2 to the cavalier’s effective class level for the purposes of determining the damage he deals when making an attack of opportunity against a challenged foe.

Feats & Traits

Spells:

Weapon properties:

Wondrous Items:

Crown of Challenge: (head; Price 21,000 gp) This jagged steel crown is rough and scratched but shows no sign of being dented or misshapen. Once per day, the wearer can issue a challenge to a creature able to see and hear him. The creature gains a +2 morale bonus on melee attack rolls and damage rolls against the crown’s wearer for 1 minute. The creature challenged also takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls and damage rolls against all targets other than the wearer, and takes a –2 penalty to the save DCs of its spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural abilities that affect other targets unless they also affect the wearer of the crown. These penalties last 1 minute or until the creature challenged makes a melee attack against the wearer of the crown. If the crown’s wearer has the challenge class feature, he gains the benefit of his challenge against the creature challenged without expending a daily use of his own challenge ability.

Vambraces of the Tactician: (wrist, 8,000gp) A cavalier wearing these vambraces is considered two class levels higher for purposes of determining the effects of his challenge class feature. Furthermore, once per day as a swift action, a cavalier with the tactician class feature can increase the area in which he grants teamwork feats. Before the end of his next turn, when the cavalier grants his allies a teamwork feat, he can grant it to all allies within 60 feet, though they must still be able to see and hear him.

You are specially trained to use your weapon skills in new ways.

Prerequisite(s): Fighter level 5th, weapon training class feature.

Benefit(s): Select one advanced weapon training option, applying it to one fighter weapon group you have already selected with the weapon training class feature.

Special: This feat can be taken more than once, but at most once per 5 fighter levels.

Special: Fighters that have the weapon master archetype can select this feat beginning at 4th level. The benefits of a weapon master’s advanced weapon training options apply only to his selected weapon rather than all weapons in the same fighter weapon group, and he can’t select the weapon specialist advanced weapon training option. A weapon master can select this feat as a bonus feat; if he does so, it doesn’t count for the purpose of the requirement that it can be taken at most once per 5 fighter levels.

If I have all that straight, a Weapon Master build can run like this:

01 F(WM)1: [FEAT(c)], FEAT(g), FEAT(h)
02 F(WM)2: [FEAT(c)]
03 F(WM)3: [Weapon Mastery+1], FEAT(g)
04 F(WM)4: [FEAT(c):Advanced Weapon Training(x)]
05 F(WM)5: [Reliable Strike], Feat(g):Advanced Weapon Training(y)
06 F(WM)6: [FEAT(c):Advanced Weapon Training(z)]
07 F(WM)7: [Weapon Mastery+1], FEAT(g)
08 F(WM)8: [FEAT(c):Advanced Weapon Training(n)]

...taking AWT in every bonus feat slot as well one general slot at 5th (with the next general slot kosher for AWT at 11th), correct?

If it stacks with fighter for Weapon Training, the level at which "Fighter Level Nth" feats may be taken, or some other useful goody, add it to the list.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brawler: ...a brawler's levels are treated as fighter levels for feat acquisition from 1st, and he is both "fighter" and "monk" for items that trigger off class.

Monk [Martial Artist]: "At 4th level, a martial artist may use his monk level to qualify for feats with a fighter level prerequisite when those feats are applied to unarmed strikes or weapons with the monk special quality."

Monk [Sohei]: Receive Weapon Training at 6th level, and upgrades it every six levels thereafter. (Fighter and Sohei levels do not stack for Weapon Training, and Sohei cannot take fighter-prerequisite feats.)

Samurai: From 3rd onward, samurai levels count as fighter levels and stack. (The text doesn't specify what for, but since the classes have no named abilities in common, the only thing left that it could logically apply to would be feats.)

Swashbuckler: "Swashbuckler levels are considered fighter levels for the purpose of meeting combat feat prerequisites." (This line of text appears in the Swashbuckler section for Bonus Feats, of which they receive their first at 4th, but it does not appear that they are required to confine themselves to their Bonus Feat slots.)

Warpriest: "(F)or the purposes of these feats..." (i.e., Warpriest Bonus Feats), "...the warpriest can select feats that have a minimum number of fighter levels as a prerequisite, treating his warpriest level as his fighter level." (Warpriests also treat their class level as BAB level when taking Bonus Feats.) The classes do not otherwise stack, and warpriest PCs may not take fighter-prerequisite feats in their general feat slots.

Looking for something else similar (besides the feat Horse Master).

A miserable one immediate action per round doesn't cut the mustard. Let's get around it.

Things to not include on the list: stuff that requires activation or otherwise works only on your turn (e.g., regeneration or fast-healing), or resistance gimmicks (because there's a million of those and they don't need explanation). -- Assume you've already blown through your DR, hardness, Fortification, False Life, and so on, and are facing big, bloody cartoon Xs in your eyes unless you can make a widget do its business right *now*.)

Things to definitely include: anything that can be triggered without using an immediate action (and especially if its text actually contains the word "heal").

Just a few off the top of my head to get things started:
_____

Items

Sundered Mask: Must worship Nethys. Must be charged by Nethys-worshiping divine caster.

Abilities

Another Day: advanced rogue talent negates (probably) a killing attack as an immediate action once per day.

Armored Sacrifice: fighter advanced armor training negates a hit entirely, apparently. (Poorly-worded and crazy broke. Will likely be nerfed. Enjoy while it lasts.)

Guarded Life/Guarded Life (greater): barbarian rage powers convert lethal damage to nonlethal.

Flesh Wound: barbarian rage power converts lethal damage to nonlethal once per rage.

Redirect Attack: advanced rogue talent negates an attack by redirecting it to an adjacent target once per day.

Resiliency: rogue talent gains temp hp upon going neg.

Feats and Traits

Deathless Initiate: immediate action negate damage by trading rounds of rage for CON bonus HP w/each.

Fight On (dwarf/half-orc feat): get temp hp if hit 0hp.

Resilient Brute (half-orc feat): once or twice per day, half the damage from a crit is converted to nonlethal.

Roll With It (goblin feat): negate melee attack by bouncing out of combat as immediate action.

Tenacious Survivor (half-orc feat): built-in pseudo-Breath of Life if acted upon within CON-bonus rounds after death.

Spells

Contingency (arcane 6th): you know it, you love it, you wish you could afford it more often.

Do you have a character that can absorb a seemingly infinite amount of damage without going down? -- Show us how it works, and claim the Flubber Trophy

1) For our purpose here, "total hit-points" represents what it takes to kill you (i.e., full-up to neg-CON, or whatever even lower number the gimmicks you've accumulated use instead).

2) Any automatically-working effect that ameliorates damages can be factored (such as mechanism by which lethal damage is converted to non-lethal and then auto-healed with another ability). (Sorry, paladins; Lay on Hands isn't automatic, so LoH is excluded.)

~ ~ ~

There are three Flubber Trophies awarded: one for outright maximum possible HP, and another for builds including more subjective and variable amelioration effects, and one for PFS legal builds.

~ ~ ~

Just to keep things on a reasonable keel, limit attributes to 20pt-buy and 12th-level, unless there's something jaw-droppingly spectacular you feel we really ought to see.

Under their "Spells" section is the following text, the relevant portion which I've bolded:

At 4th level, when a sacred servant gains the ability to cast spells, she also chooses one domain associated with her deity. Her effective cleric level for this domain is equal to her paladin level –3. In addition, she also gains one domain spell slot for each level of paladin spells she can cast. Every day she must prepare the domain spell from her chosen domain in that spell slot.

Q. Does this mean that the domain's granted powers are commensurately delayed (i.e., that listed 8th level domain powers come on-line for the paladin at 11th)?

(This is on the heels of a discussion as to whether or not the trait Magical Knack affected domain powers with "cleric level" wording instead of "caster level"; consensus was that it did not.)

For us multiclass mutts, Magical Knack is a great trait granting +2 caster level in a spellcasting class of our choice.

-- What I'm looking for is something similar which enables us to actually count as an XYZ of +2 level for relatively minor purposes (clerical domain powers, for example, usually reference class level rather than caster level).

Anything out there? (item/feat/trait...doesn't matter)

Most of us have heard of those groovy Gloves of Dueling which amplify a fighter's Weapon Training bonus by +2.

...is there anything out there (ideally PFS-legal) which similarly amplifies Armor Training?

(PS. I do know about Sash of the War Champion. I'm looking for something even better.)

This is a thread about fighters contributing as well as a cavalier. Multiclass should not come up.

We mutts hate being told what to do by presumed authority figures who are weaker than us, but, since we can't kill everyone, here's a new thread.

...list the ways.

Goal: cast him as a PFS-legal character while keeping him as true to his "Stormborn" persona (season seven, episode two of “Game of Thrones”) as possible.

* Obviously a male human.
* Evil isn't permitted in PFS, so CN the only possible alignment choice.
* Takes several stabs wounds like it's nothing, and came back from drowning (last season).
* He's smart, not overly clumsy, and socially adept, ...so no dumped stats.
* Commanded the Iron Fleet across the 14 Seas.

Starting 20pt stat array is 15,14,12,12,12,12

STR:14
DEX:12
CON+17
INT:14 or 12
WIS:12
CHA:12 or 14

Alternate racial trait: Heart of the Wilderness
Traits:

01: barb1 [Invulnerable Rager], Raging Vitality, Weapon Focus:Greataxe
02: rogu1 [Pirate][Sea Legs], SA+1d6
03: barb2 [Reckless Abandon+1][DR1/-], Dazzling Display
04: barb3 [Extreme Endurance(fire)], CON>18
05: barb4 [Reckless Abandon+2][DR2/-][Intimidating Glare], Power Attack
06: rogu2 [Evasion][Swinging Reposition][Combat Trick:Cornugon Smash]
07: (etc) FEAT (Vital Strike is good here)

Back to basics time: crotchety, cantankerous old elven wizard build:

Narrowed it down to these:

STR:07
DEX+16
CON-12
INT+20
WIS:11
CHA:07
...most offensive power, best AC/ranged, and highest INIT, but annoyance of WIS score that never improves, and I just don't like seeing multiple 7s on a character sheet.

STR:07
DEX+14 or 16
CON-12 or 10 if you're a gambler
INT+20
WIS:12
CHA:08
...More my cup of tea: gains WIS and CHA at expense of DEX for better Perception (going with a hawk or owl familiar + trait here for world-class Perception). Diplo+1, UMD+1. Good for Invisible spammer of Summons and battlefield control spells (he won't be using his DEX score much).

STR:07
DEX+16
CON-12
INT+19
WIS:14
CHA:08
...Trades offensive power for good DEX and even better Perception.

Exploit: PFS has a "progression" mechanic which enables the player to slow down the pace of leveling so that they can enjoy their character longer at certain levels. Basically, you can choose to take half-XP and half-rewards on your cert. So, you play "normal" progression when INT is an odd number, and "slow" down when it is even.

-- What this means is that it will take nine normal 1pt certs to get from 1st to 4th (and there are a number of APs that pop you straight to 2nd in one session), but then I can slow down and enjoy TWENTY-FOUR 1/2pt adventures before hitting 8th, during which time my wizard's INT bonus is exactly the same as another who started with a 20 and is now 21. Savings? FIVE FREAKIN' BUILD POINTS! (Starting 17 versus 18 before racial adjustment.)

(This tactic is especially good if you seldom play characters past 8th in PFS, as tends to be my case for one reason or another.)

STR:07
DEX+14
CON-10
INT+19 (17,14,12,12,12,12 array)
WIS:12
CHA:12
...Similar to above, but much more gregarious; grabs a Diplomacy trait and keeps the skill up. This lets me be party face at tables which would otherwise lack one, as well as cakewalk PFS Faction tasks tied to that skill. (If there's one thing I really hate in PFS, it's blowing my faction mission, which garfs "fame" and "prestige points" -- nothing sucks worse than having the gold to buy a gadget, but not the *access*.) Also +3 to UMD versus CHA:07 builds, if UMD is part of your plans, too, and you don't want to rely on having to wait for an Improved Familiar to do it for you. Being able to UMD a wand of CLW is a powerful asset in PFS.

Annoyance: requires Additional Traits to get all of Perception, Diplomacy, and UMD as class (most skill traits also come with a +1 bonus, yielding a +4 differential versus not having it class, for a total +6 or +7 improvement versus pure power builds that dump the associated stat (and such builds typically have no ability at all in the skill without taking ranks). That's three traits down, and only one slot left for either Magical Lineage or Eyes and Ears of the City (for INIT+2).

Demerit: CON:10 is really pushing your luck in a d4 class.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ideas?

Regarding this thread concerning the Underhanded (UC) rogue talent and the more general questions of drawing and/or concealing weapons in surprise rounds, the first post in that thread has been marked "Answered in the FAQ".

...but no such entry appears in the Ultimate Combat FAQ.

Repose Domain

Gentle Rest (Sp): Your touch can fill a creature with lethargy, causing a living creature to become staggered for 1 round as a melee touch attack. If you touch a staggered living creature, that creature falls asleep for 1 round instead. Undead creatures touched are staggered for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

== // ==

So let me get this straight: a 1st-level domain-granted touch-attack with no save will strip away a dragon's full-attack spread?

...A good three-quarters of the creatures in all the Bestiaries are dog-chow versus this ability. Basically, everything with a high challenge-rating factoring multi-attack.

And then there's the "spam" strategy I saw in the archives in which a party with two PCs with Gentle Rest touch the same target to put it asleep, followed by a third buddy who coup de graces.

Preface: I have not played this AP, so no spoilers, please, aside from yeah-it's-gonna-be-cold.

-- I am helping a friend (smart RPGer, but still learning Pathfinder) create a PC for ROW. Characters will be rough, tough & buff with 25pt-buy and Hero Points. Play-style will highly cinematic and immersive-RP under an experienced GM who, while not having a homicidal attitude, won't mind slipping in extra monsters when start we cake-walking too much.

The party (into which my bud is the last-arriving player) currently consists of...

* human synthacist summoner
* ratfolk winter witch
* human "reach cleric"
* elven magus

...of which most are moderately to heavily min-maxed to really dish it out.

My friend is currently playing a cat-riding gnome caster in our other game, and doesn't want overlap in character concepts. The new party lacks ranged offense and anybody with Survival on their class list.

So, he decided to go with an archery-focused witch-hunter barbarian. (He's looking forward to inter-party banter with the ratfolk PC.) He's also looking forward to not failing saves (which he's famous for doing in the other game despite good numbers on paper).

=== Build #1 "Bowbarian" ===

STR:16
DEX+17 (bump 4th)
CON:14
INT:12
WIS:14
CHA-07

racial trait:
traits: Vigilante Witch Hunter, ???

01: barb1 [Arch:urban][Arch:brutal pugilist][Crowd Control] PBS, Rapid Shot
Skills: Acrobatics, Diplomacy, Linguistics, Perception, Sense Motive

02: fight1 [weapon master:longbow], Precise Shot
skills: Acrobatics, Perception, Survival

03: barb2 [Savage Grapple][Rage Power:Superstition], Extra Rage Power:Witch Hunter
04: fight2 Weapon Focus:longbow, DEX>18
05: barb3 Weapon Finesse
06: fight3 [Weapon Training +1]
07: fight4 Weapon Specialization:longbow, Manyshot
08: barb4 [Rage Power: Reckless Abandon +2]
09: barb5 Power Attack, (...rest barb)

Armor: scale > mithral BP > Celestial
Weapons: couple of longbows, shortsword, light mace

Exploits:
* Superstition RP off-sets loss of raging will-saves (due to pumping DEX via Controlled Rage)
* Fighter levels restore urban-forfeited Survival (etc) to class list

The class levels could come in essentially any order; I layered them as I did to keep every level providing a new ability.

....Ideas? (I'm toying with detuning the damage some, and going with a ranger/barb theme instead of the bowbarian weapon-master/Gloves of Dueling cheese DPR maximizing.)

Q. Is it critically necessary for Survival at 1st level, or can we slide until 2nd?

Does Adopted specifically only apply to traits that are under the "racial trait" heading?

A lot of players are under the impression that it applies to any trait with a racial limitation. E.g., Glory of Old for dwarves, which is a regional trait.

Considering all the hate this feat gets, you'd think it was nearly the worst option in the game. But it is? Let's crunch some mathy bits....

Sir Thugsalot wrote:

Kurthnaga wrote:

I'm aware that Vital Striking is inferior to Full Attacking. My thought process was that Vital Strike was what I wanted to be doing when I couldn't full attack.

Bingo. We have a winner.

The best use of VS is by an Enlarged 2hPA fighter who has to move to attack (and is denied a charge).

The best use of VS is by a T-rex. for almost everyone else it is not worth the investment, certainly not a class that doesn't get a ton of bonus feats like the paladin.

Sure things like weapon focus, iron will, and the like don't look 'awesome', but in all honesty they deliver far more and far better than Vital strike.

The Vital strike feat was a nice idea.. it is far too weak to be a suggestion. They were perhaps far too conservative when they made it for it to be a viable option.

A 2hPA-focused character does 4d6 on a move/attack with a greatsword, same as a large T-rex mount. VS applies to any weapon, including ranged weapons; and permits you to make the best of perpetual move-and-attack situations robbing you of full-attack capability.

Given an iconic +1/flaming greatsword wielded by a STR 18 character, he'll average 17.5 on a normal 2h chop. Vital Strike's extra two dice represent a 40% gain in average damage. Versus a target with DR5, Vital Strike's +7 represents a 56% improvement over the weaker base damage. Versus a target with DR10, 14.5 is a whopping 93% gain over 7.5.

In a scenario involving, say, an on-foot battle with a golem who ignores you while pursuing the squishy ally who triggered it (continually moving out of your threatened zone), Vital Strike compares favorably to Power Attack, where the greatsword attack ia +1/+1 attack/damage between BAB6 and BAB8 versus Power Attack, and +2/-2 attack/damage from BAB8 to BAB12.

Take a low-fantasy/cash-poor 15pt-buy campaign in which the PC in question has a STR of only 14 and sword-and-boards a +1 longsword: 2d8+2 is 69% better than 1d8+2. Versus DR5, a 2d8-3 Vital Strike attack is 400% better than 1d8-3 (which fails to penetrate 37.5% of the time).

-- A great many combat feats only kick in when everything is going your way and you're performing your signature "everything, including the kitchen sink" penultimate maneuver. Vital Strike, otoh, shines when you're nerfed, keeping you viable.

I think everyone agrees that Vital Strike is poorly worded; but for what it does, by-the-numbers it's a pretty good feat.

What are the rules (especially as regards to legality in PFS) regarding this feat and gnomes (or any other race with innate arcane ability)? Can a 1st-level gnome fighter use the feat?

...I note that various races may now qualify for PrCs based on inate abilities rather than casting-class levels (with there accordingly being renewed interest in the moribund Mystic Theurge), and am curious if this leniency extends to feats.

Got an elf runt wizard set to run through Kingmaker. Took the hawk for Perception, but will probably grab Improved Familiar at some point.

Submit your favorite good, cheap, (and not boring) item exploits for use with this familiar feat.

Build experiment #2 for halfling cavalier chedderball

Note: NOT a hard-core DPR min/max build (I want some skills and RP hooks; also, character unlikely to be played high level, so maximum oomph beyond Mounted Skirmisher at 14th is roughly zero priority)

Concept: maximum melee cheese per level; looking for feat suggestions at the suggested locations.

Braggart Knight #2

halfling 25pt
STR-14
DEX+15 (bump 4th)
CON:14
INT:10
WIS:12
CHA+16

Racial Archetype: Outrider
Traits: Berserker of the Society, Dangerously Curious
Local Affinity: Lastwall

01 barb1 [Mounted Fury][mount's move+10][rage:7r], Raging Vitality
02 fight1 [Dragoon:(Mounted Combat)(Skill Focus:Ride)]
03 cava1 [Gendarme][Ride by Attack][Challenge 1/day], Boon Companion
04 cava2 STR>14,[Order of the Cockatrice:(Dazzling Display)]
05 cava3 [Cavalier's Charge], Indomitable Mount
06 cava4 [Challenge 2/day][Expert Trainer]
07 cava5 [WT:Spears][Banner+1][Power Attack], Shatter Defenses
08 cava6 (this level is really boring; why not go shopping?)
09 cava7 [Challenge 3/day], Trick Riding
10 cava8 [Steal Glory][Challenge bonus damage +2][Spirited Charge]
11 cava9 Deadly Stroke
12 cav10 [Banner+2][Challenge 4/day]
13 cav11 [Challenge 4/day][Mighty Charge][Gendarme FEAT], FEAT (Dazing Assault?)
14 fight2 Mounted Skirmisher
15 barb2 [Quick Reflexes or Reckless Abandon], FEAT (Extra Rage?)
16 cav12
17 cav13 FEAT (Stunning Assault?), ...etc

Alignment: CN, but pretends to be LG (bluffs that he's a paladin to avoid will save magic); teller of tall-tales

Strengths: 10 feats & features by 4th, easy massive damage vs save-sucked foes at 7th
Weaknesses: tepid will save, swallow whole hors devours, limited rage rounds
Annoyance: waiting until 10th for "free" Spirited Charge

In re a possible revamping of existing modules to conform to a new normal average party size of six:

(Original post in the "Polite Discussion: thread for context.)

...Just double the bosses & solos! Two creatures is equivalent to CR +2! (Core 398).

Oh, joy! All those single BBEM monster encounters will now have two. Most of these (IMNSHO) are "non-Superstar" and designed to maul one or two PCs within an inch of their lives before they're gunned down. Double them up, and you'll see a massive increase in character deaths, especially in situations where placement at the beginning of combat puts a PC between them. Why? Because the brunt of dished-out damage is usually borne by only a couple PCs in an encounter. If 4-player >>> 6-player average represents a 50% increase, imagine the one or two PCs who take the hit in single-BBEM encounters now taking 50% more. Yeah. Bodies will litter the floor.

And this in a campaign where PC death, aside from a prestige freebie or two, represents a viscous smack to WBL (unlike, say, in Living Greyhawk, where level-loss gave you time to catch up). The deleterious effect will be particularly pronounced in the Tier 3-4 range when most PCs have neither fame nor cash. I had a character I enjoyed immensely get killed in LG at 2nd and 3rd levels, both times while playing the mod which would have leveled her, resulting in her dropping to XP levels 0.5 and 1.5 respectively -- a huge hit level-wise, but I could keep playing the same character without a serious impediment with WBL once caught back up to XP equivalent to when the character died. I.e., I lost the time but not the character. PFS players do not have such an option -- they lose both time and the character, and a certain percentage will elect to bow out if several months' worth of effort in a pride-n-joy character is completely vaporized -- and that, of course, will be bad for the campaign.

= = = = =

Idea for financing Raise Dead: pay with XP as a third option in addition to existing straight money or prestige, or in some combination. (The in-game explanation would be that, lacking personal funds, you were indentured to a patron who assumed payment; your compensatory labor for them took considerable time during which your "adventuring skills" grew soft.) Forfeiting 4 XP is the closest match to 3.x's losing one-and-a-half. (The other details of level loss shouldn't prove insurmountable.)

What results is a mechanism for enabling well-loved characters (of at least second level) to survive meat-grinder scenarios.

"...It uses your base attack bonus (possibly allowing it multiple attacks per round in subsequent rounds) plus your Wisdom modifier as its attack bonus. It strikes as a spell, not as a weapon, so for example, it can damage creatures that have damage reduction. As a force effect, it can strike incorporeal creatures without the reduction in damage associated with incorporeality. The weapon always strikes from your direction. It does not get a flanking bonus or help a combatant get one. Your feats or combat actions do not affect the weapon...."

-- Spells and supernatural abilities (e.g., Inspire Courage) apparently do, however.

So, does Haste (or Boots of Speed, et al) grant it an extra attack?

(My assumption is no, given that the Spiritual Weapon isn't a targetable creature; but thought I'd ask anyway since I observe no instance of the question being asked previously in the messagebase.)

Tips for the aspiring angry flower: "has" (or "have", or "haven't" or "hasn't") and "got" do not belong in the same sentence when "got" is used in a possessive sense.

"I have a college degree" ...OK
"I got laid by Netiquette Nazi!" ...OK
"Goblins haven't got grammar." ...Bzzzzt!

No! Wrong! You FAIL English. You will now be lashed.

(Almost everyone is doing this, even various Big Cheeses in the midst of their own critiquing errant verbiage in Superstar submissions. For the love of huge matinees, please make it stop.)

(I note, with considerable amusement, that all three Jacobs (Jacob Trier, Jacob W. Michaels, Jabob Kellog) in the 2012 Final 32 have the same avatar.)

Contestants must spar while wearing self-made dragon LARP consumes and wielding Nerf versions of medieval weaponry.

"Three men enter; one man leaves!"

Shirtless barbarian theme; straight-class (something I almost never do):

Help me fill in the feat and rage power holes, or suggest alternatives. Build must be PFS-legal. INT seems excessive, but I want to max out several skills. Rage powers which can only be used once per rage (or per day) are annoying, and I don't like paying "taxes". (Critical Focus seems like a shoo-in for 9th, but I'd prefer something more flexible and interesting than just a chancy bonus.)

STR:14, DEX:14, CON+17, INT:(14 or 12), WIS:(12 or 14), CHA:07

1. b1 Raging Vitality
2. b2 [Guarded Life]
3. b3 Ferocious Tenacity
4. b4 [Reckless Abandon]
5. b5 Power Attack
6. b6 [Guarded Life, Greater]
7. b7 Pushing Assault
8. b8 [Quick Reflexes?]
9. b9
10 b0
11 11 [Greater Rage]
12 12 [Come and Get Me]

Leveling: take an extra round of rage (rather than hitpoint) every barbarian level.

Variant: one level of Fighter[Unbreakable] for [Endurance][Die Hard], and take the feat Deathless Initiate at 7th. Forfeits Barb12, saves end up +1/-1/-1 Fort/Ref/Will, -1 attack (loses Reckless Abandon+4), -1 DR, and loses Come and Get Me.

Weapons: bardiche, greatsword, javelins
Armor: Curly chest hair
Equipment: Cloak of Resistance (maxed as best able), Efficient Quiver, Winged Boots, Wrestler's Mask, Ioun stones and other baubles,

Note: build emphasis is on being virtually unkillable, not dishing out maximum DPR. Superstition chain not being taken because it interferes with ability to receive party healing (and we'll have lots of nonlethal damage which quickly melts away when said healing is received).

1. ____?
2. ____?

There is an absurd amount of cruft in the books which eats Immediate actions (and taking one also gobbles up next round's Swift action).

1. cavalier1 (mount + full-plate proficiency)
2. monk[sohei] (flurry in armor)

...so, as early as 2nd-level, I'm flurrying in full-plate with a temple-sword? At 10th, I'm a sohei6/cava4 with Horse Master for a full animal companion, and own Gloves of Dueling to juice the heck out of probably two-dozen Weapon Training-applicable weapons.

(Counting down the seconds for AM FLURRY IN FULL-PLATE.)

...without taking a level in a class which grants it?:

1. Fast-talker (trait - social)
2. ...?

1. ... Barbarian[Hurler] (archetype)
2. ... Far Shot (feat)
3. ... Distance (ranged weapon enhancement)
4. ... ??

Quote:

So, by your reasoning, since a katana does more damage than a pick does, then a katana is a better tool for tunneling through rock with.

The problem is here isn't "appropriateness", but two oversights in the game-machinics:

1) Paizo should have made smashing objects analogous to coup de grace -- then the advantage of the pick over the sword is clear: it's a 4x crit weapon. If all attacks are automatic crits, a stone wall falls apart twice as fast under the pick.

2) Picks (and to a lesser extent axes) need updated text entries denoting special effectiveness at destroying objects. (Case in point: according to p173 of the CRB, under "Smashing an Object", you can't even use a pick because the section specifies bludgeoning or slashing weapons!)

...I'm gonna guess it's too late for anything to get tucked into the 5th printing....

Right now, the game mechanics do not permit a miner to mine by swinging a mining pick! (I.e., the argument in the other thread was moot because you can't even use a pick to break down a stone wall in the first place.)

"That rock will *never* break if you use a piercing weapon! You need an axe or a hammer!"

Fix: stationary objects should be subject to automatic crits per coup de grace, with hardnesses and/or HP tables upped accordingly. Certain weapons would be especially effective, such as picks versus stone and axes versus organic material like wood (and both being ideal for sundering armor and shields).

How does this weapon operate? (No accompanying text in Gnomes of Golarion).

My assumption is yes:

* Unlike a haversack or bag of holding, an EQ is clearly designed to store sharp things.
* The arrow-quiver compartment is roomy enough for a "stack" of shurikens.
* Since ammunition is magically produced for the user, its orientation inside the quiver is irrelevant.

Just wanted to make sure of something that, insofar as I am aware, is not illegal at the moment: using stat-buffing items to meet the hurdles of stat-dependent feats (e.g., a STR:11 halfling wearing a +2 belt of giant strength and taking Power Attack).

I.e., can a barbarian who becomes lawful alignment (for any reason, whether voluntarily to temporarily learn a multiclass, or involuntarily - losing his ability to rage for the duration) and then ceases being lawful alignment resume raging?

....now stop rolling those eyes at me like that -- this is actually a serious issue.

Is it really harder to stay being a barbarian now than it is to stay being a paladin?

(Ex-ex-monks have the same problem, btw.)

UC: Flurry of Stars (Ex): A ninja with this ability can expend 1 ki point from her ki pool as a swift action before she makes a full-attack attack with shuriken. During that attack, she can throw two additional shuriken at her highest attack bonus, but all of her shuriken attacks are made at a –2 penalty, including the two extra attacks.

Q. Must all of the attacks during the full-attack be shuriken attacks? For example, if I am a monk/ninja adjacent to an adversary, may I Flurry with one unarmed strike, 5' back, then throw three shurikens (all attacks at -4) by invoking Flurry of Stars at the beginning of the sequence?

I have a dim recollection of this being tangentially referred to in a thread a month or more back.

...Can you do this? If so, does cost remain the same?

(Example "Vest of Resistance" instead of "Cloak of Resistance", using the chest slot rather than the shoulders slot.)

The Ki Mystic archetype does not modify or replace a monk's Ki Pool class feature, and both Ki Pool and Ki Mystic features say you gain a Ki Pool.

So...will a Ki Mystic monk have two pools of Ki points (totaling up to, in the case of a 4th-level Ki Mystic, (WISx2)+2+(monk/2)?

Bonus Feat

In addition to normal monk bonus feats, a maneuver master may select any Improved combat maneuver feat (such as Improved Overrun) as a bonus feat. At 6th level and above, he may select any Greater combat maneuver feat (such as Greater Grapple) as a bonus feat. At 10th level and above, he may select any maneuver Strike feat (such as Tripping Strike) as a bonus feat.

...grammatically, this implies that a Manuever Master gets two feats at monk1 (rather than just having maneuver feats added to the list available to chose one bonus feat from) -- is this the designer's intent?

I am assuming than ninja levels and monk levels do not stack for purposes of Ki if there are fewer than four monk levels, or the monk archetype chosen forfeits Ki.

Correct?

While wearing brass-knuckles, cestus and assorted other monk weapons which modify unarmed strikes, what's the word on how they stack with Ki or items like Amulets of Mighty Fists? (I'm assuming all dissimilar bonuses stack; and usage of the weapons does not preclude employing feats which modify unarmed strikes.)