Intelligent items usually activate themselves as they please, using their own actions to do so. Could a creature with an intelligent item also activate the item with the creature's own actions?
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The Hallajin Key intelligent item has imprecise hearing 60 feet but no precise senses at all. Does this mean all of the key's single-target abilities require a DC 11 flat check?
My PFS party fought a morrowkin yestersay, and we noticed that the crit fail effect of Swallow Future inflicts doomed 4. The effect even mentions that this is likely to cause an instant kill. Fortunately, it's not a death effect, so it's susceptible to Breath of Life. How does this work? Does the creature now have doomed 4 and will die if it increases or they gain the dying condition?
I uploaded the examples on Reddit. I get the feeling they are not allowed since the entrapped creature would have to break down the wall twice.
The old spell, Resilient Sphere, gave the force field AC 5. The new spell, Containment, doesn't provide the AC at all. What should its AC be treated as?
I'm planning on GMing my first PFS scenario soon. I'm also planning on reporting the event. Is there anything in particular I need to do to be an Event Organizer?
I've gotten conflicting answers from a few threads about whether a GM can or must use the legacy or remastered version of a creature in an adventure. On the one hand, GMs are prohibited from altering any mechanics presented in the adventure. On the other hand, GMs are also required to use the remastered rules where possible. So which stat block is the GM supposed to use?
I'm preparing to run a PFS scenario that includes harpies, and I'm told I have to use the legacy harpy stat block, which has this ability.
Since the effect lasts for 1 round, it ends at the start of the harpy's next turn, so there is no effect to extend. I guess I can treat this as an exception and let the expired effect be extended anyway? But more importantly, when the harpy does extend the effect, are the affected creatures still able to attempt a saving throw to become unaffected and get temporary immunity?
I'm planning to run a PFS scenario containing a battle with legacy harpies (the ones that had Captivating Song). I thought it would be as simple as just using the remastered harpy (the one with Stench), as normal for implementing the remaster rules. But upon closer inspection, these encounters also contain variants of the legacy harpies. The only differences between legacy harpies and these variant harpies are that the variants have higher levels, higher stats to match, and one extra offensive ability. Should I have the remastered harpies fight alongside these legacy variants? Or should I do with the remastered stat-block what the author did with the legacy stat-block to create the variants?
Sometimes spells prevent a target from using hostile actions, or the spell ends if a creature uses any hostile actions. A hostile action is one that can harm or damage another creature, whether directly or indirectly, but not one that a creature is unaware could cause harm. For instance, casting fireball into a crowd would be a hostile action, but opening a door and accidentally freeing a horrible monster wouldn’t be. The GM is the final arbitrator of what is a hostile action. Is harm just any adverse effect? For instance, say a creature under invisibility casts slow on a pursuer to flee them. The caster has no intention to fight the pursuer. Would a GM typically consider slowed to be harmful in and of itself, therefore making slow still a hostile action in this case?
I'm reading through a scenario I plan to GM, and I see that the first combat encounter is against a Rolling Incant. It seems to have an ability invalidated by the remaster and another invalidated even before then. The first is its immunity to evocation magic. It can also replenish HP whenever a non-cantrip evocation spell runs afoul of this immunity. The evocation trait no longer exists, so this immunity does nothing. And seeing has its AC is low and its own spells are fueled by its HP, this monster seems to really need that evocation immunity. The monster is from Bestiary 3, so it's probably not getting remastered for a while. As GM, I am apparently empowered to address errors that arise due to rules updates, but I'm not sure how to address this. Replacing references to "evocation" with "spell damage" might make the monster too tough, but ignoring the immunity entirely might make it too easy. The second issue is with its Engulf ability, which allows it to Stride twice and try to gobble up anything in its path. This monster has no land Speed to Stride with, and unlike a fighter's Sudden Charge, the Strides can't be replaced with Fly. I guess I could just allow it to use its fly Speed instead, so this issue isn't as bad.
Wizards get a feat called Irresistible Magic. You’ve studied ways of overcoming the innate defenses against magic that dragons, otherworldly beings, and certain other powerful creatures have. Any creature that has a status bonus to saving throws against magic reduces that bonus by 1 against your spells. Plenty of legacy dragons have the entry "+1 status to all saves vs. magic" written next to the save modifiers. But many of the dragons in Monster Core instead state "+1 status to all saves vs. {specific magic tradition like arcane or primal}". Does Irresistible Magic still work against these less wide-ranging defenses?
The Axe weapon group has this critical specialization: Choose one creature adjacent to the initial target and within reach. If its AC is lower than your attack roll result for the critical hit, you deal damage to that creature equal to the result of the weapon damage die you rolled (including extra dice for its striking rune, if any). This amount isn't doubled, and no bonuses or other additional dice apply to this damage. So if I use an Axe weapon with Hand of the Apprentice and I crit a faraway enemy, can I damage an adjacent creature, or is that creature disqualified because they are beyond my character's reach?
To receive Credit for running a scenario, I have to pick a character to receive the Chronicle as though I had used them to play the scenario. This allows the character to gain any and all rewards that the players could have achieved in a single playthrough. Then to play the scenario as a player later, I would have to use a different character that doesn't have a Chronicle for that scenario yet to receive Credit. And if I had already played that scenario as a player, I'd also have to use a Replay. Alternatively, after running the scenario, I can forgo receiving a Chronicle (but not other rewards for running the scenario), but I would have to earn it again to acquire it later. Is my understanding correct?
Effects that happen when a creature "first enters" the area usually don't have a stipulation for how else the effect happens. Effects that happen when a creature "enters" the area usually also say "or starts/ends its turn in the area" or some other way the effect can happen. Is "first enters" meant to be interpreted more liberally than "enters?" For instance, would Frightful Presence or an Ice Mummy's Great Despair activate when the monster approaches the creature, while Stench or a Cinder Rat's Fedit Fumes would not?
If you want to disable a hazard with Thievery, you use the Disable a Device action. If you want to disable a hazard with a different skill listed in the hazard stat block, you use an unnamed 2-action activity that does the same thing as Disable a Device except using the chosen skill. It technically works as written, but why didn't they just write Disable a Device as a general skill action like Recall Knowledge or Identify Magic?
While it's my policy not to wade in on ambiguous rules, especially those that cause significant debates, in this case I feel that there's a genuine community consensus that the wording is a bit off and it would violate the "too good / too bad to be true" rule by being too bad to be true if you can't use Strength-based Strikes so I recommend allowing them. This is not an official FAQ or errata or anything, but I feel so strongly that not allowing Strength-based Strikes will cause huge problems for you and whatever few groups are denying Strength Strikes that it's worth saying something in this one case. It certainly does literally say what you quoted though, so an erratum or change in the remaster wouldn't have been remiss.
You're welcome!
Does this game account for relative motion? For instance, if an effect depends on someone entering an area, what should that motion be relative to for it to count?
Snake Fangs allows the caster to Swallow Whole, sending the target to an extraplanar space resembling the inside of a snake's stomach. So it's not the caster's real stomach. Can damage dealt to the stomach still affect the caster, or does it only matter for Rupturing the stomach?
The target becomes undetected, not just to sight but to all senses, allowing the target to count as invisible no matter what precise and imprecise senses an observer might have. I've heard that since it says the target "counts as invisible," see the unseen can't reveal the target because the target only counts as invisible rather than actually being invisible. Why does that matter? There's no restriction on for what purpose the target counts as invisible. How is that not functionally equivalent to being invisible?
One for All lets you prepare to Aid with the same action, allows you to replace the usual check for that Aid with Diplomacy, and gives that Aid the bravado trait. But the "usual" check is decided by GM fiat. If I were using words of encouragement to bolster an ally's efforts, I'd imagine the GM would tell me to roll Diplomacy for the Aid. None of the other skills make sense. Was this feat written under the assumption that the usual check would be more set in stone?
The Leap action states that for a horizontal Leap, you land in the space where your Leap ends, and for a vertical Leap, you're jumping onto an elevated surface. Many interpret this to mean that the action doesn't end until you hit the ground, so you can't use any remaining actions until then. But I think this interpretation is too rigid and causes a number of features to not make sense. Leshy Glide: A single action that lets you glide while falling. It's not a reaction, and the description reveals that it's not supposed to be a reaction. The intent seems to be to Leap off a cliff then Leshy Glide to fall more slowly. Wall Jump: This feat only does anything if you end your Leap next to a wall with no ground to land on. Soft Landing: This spell from Dark Archive tells you it can be cast while falling and even cites noninstantaneous falling as the reason you can do this.
The Angoyang can inflict fascinated with Slow Blink. If the Angoyang attacks the target, they can make another save at the start of their turn. Fascinated ends if a creature uses hostile actions against the target or its allies.
Some creature families have a set of rules that can be used to turn other creatures into members of that family. This usually entails increasing level by 1 and increasing most of the check and DC modifiers by 1. What's confusing me is the increases and decreases to Hit Points. The werecreature is straightforward enough. The creature gets a massive amount of HP, and the explicit reason for this is to offset the silver weakness. Likewise, the vampire has its HP lowered by a massive amount, and this is explicitly to offset its new fast healing and nonsilver physical resistance. Then I look at the ghoul adjustments and I see that HP does not increase at all. And the divine warden gets the same HP as an elite adjustment. And I don't understand the reasoning behind either decision. The divine warden's abilities don't look much weaker than the ghoul's. Is the ghoul's stench (or paralysis for legacy ghoul) really so powerful that the HP couldn't be increased? Does it have something to do with the immunities and becoming undead? And the ghost creation rules say "Do not modify the ghost's Hit Points due to its new level." Huh? Was I supposed to be doing that for the ghoul? Also, I remember that the elite adjustment increases the creature's level by 2 when used on a level -1 creature. Do similar precautions need to be taken when using a -1 monster to create a ghoul? Would such a ghoul be level 1 instead of 0?
There's a player character in my campaign with Constitution -1. That means if he goes 0 days without food or water, he starts taking damage. Is it supposed to be a minimum of one day before the damage starts?
You can make a nonlethal attack to knock someone out instead of killing them (see Knocked Out and Dying on page 410). Weapons with the nonlethal trait (including fists) do this automatically. You take a –2 circumstance penalty to the attack roll when you make a nonlethal attack using a weapon or unarmed attack that doesn’t have the nonlethal trait. You also take this penalty when making a lethal attack using a nonlethal weapon. Spells and other effects with the nonlethal trait that reduce a creature to 0 Hit Points knock the creature out instead of killing them. The lack of any mention of spell attacks getting a penalty is usually interpreted to mean that nonlethal spell attacks aren't a thing. But could it be that nonlethal spell attacks simply don't have the circunstance penalty? It says that weapons and unarmed attacks suffer a penalty when used for nonlethal attacks, but nothing about spell attacks being disqualified.
I don't see anything in the vampire creature abilities about the vampire turning to ash if destroyed. Does a destroyed vampire leave a body behind?
The remaster turned the belt of giant strength into the bracers of strength. The old item allowed you to catch a rock as a reaction. The new one gives you the Bear Hug action, which has you Grapple and deal a minor amount of bludgeoning damage if you succeed. More importantly, a critical success with this Grapple causes the target to suffocate until freed. Not "has to hold its breath or start suffocating." Just unconscious and making saving throws to stay alive (though the DC starts at a measly 20). That's effectively a -6 to AC, and since the target can't act, they can't Escape. The only way the target can get out of this is if an ally of the target foils the Grapple or the user fails to renew the Grapple. And some creatures CANNOT fail to renew the Grapple. Suppose Grendel himself got his hands on some bracers of strength. He has a fist attack with Grab. So if he uses his hand to Bear Hug someone, he can use Grab to extend the restrained condition forever. Against a single creature, it's game over. I'm not saying it's broken or anything. At these levels, a critical success being an instant kill isn't out of the question. I just thought it was interesting.
Trying to wrap my head around how bane works. This is my current understanding. If I cast the spell, all enemies in the area when I cast it need to pass a Will save or take the penalty until they're not in the area anymore. If an enemy that isn't in the area ends up in the area, they need to pass the Will save or take the penalty until they're not in the area anymore. If I Sustain the spell, the area gets bigger, and any enemy in the area that isn't already taking the penalty needs to pass the Will save or take the penalty until they're not in the area anymore. If a bane area starts overlapping with a bless area, both spells try to kill each other. The bane caster rolls a counteract check against the bless effect and the bless caster rolls a counteract check against the bane effect. The success of each check depends on the rank of the opposing effect and the opponent's spell DC, so both spells might end early or both could stay up. Is my understanding mistaken?
This table gives the Bulk of a creature for the purpose of carrying a creature. Does this include the Bulk of any equipment on the creature's person?
Lightning Swap lets you Interact to stow any number of things you are holding then draw up to two weapons or one weapon and a shield. I know detaching a shield strapped to your arm is one Interact. Is strapping the shield to your arm also its own Interact, or is it done as part of the Interact to draw the shield in the first place?
Actually taking off the backpack doesn't seem to be required anymore, though it still takes 2 actions to get a stowed item.
Is there any consequence to just leaving the backpack open?
Could I activate a shifting rune to turn a weapon into an uncommon one, such as a clan dagger? Do I need access to the weapon to do so?
I've never been a GM for a PFS game, but when I GM other campaigns, I usually use joke images in place of a monster's given token art. For instance, I'd replace:
My primary reason for doing this is to prevent accidental metagaming. Some of my players are often GMs themselves, so they'd recognize the monsters instantly otherwise. My secondary reason for doing this is that my players and I find it funny. Nothing about the stat blocks changes. Just the artwork used for the tokens. If I were to GM in PFS, would I be allowed to do this? Or am I required to use the official art presented for the tokens?
My wizard has reached level 7, so I'm an expert in spellcasting. Pathbuilder is telling me I'm also an expert in my class DC. Is Pathbuilder mistaken? The Wizard class makes no mention of my class DC increasing beyond trained.
In the Bestiary, there was a creature ability called Sneak Attack that allowed a monster to deal extra precision damage under the following restriction. When the monster Strikes a creature that has the flat-footed condition with an agile or finesse melee weapon, an agile or finesse unarmed attack, or a ranged weapon attack, it also deals the listed precision damage. For a ranged attack with a thrown weapon, that weapon must also be an agile or finesse weapon. I can't find this ability definition in Monster Core, though many monsters in Monster Core still use Sneak Attack, which comes with a description such as "The kobold warrior deals an extra 1d4 precision damage to off-guard creatures," or "The dragon's Strikes deal an additional 3d6 precision damage to off-guard targets." Is the aforementioned restriction from the Bestiary still in effect, or will any Strike do? If it doesn't specify Strikes, can spell damage be enhanced?
Drain Soul Cage [free-action] Frequency once per day; Effect The lich taps into their soul cage's power to cast any arcane spell up to the highest rank the lich can cast, even if the spell being cast is not one of the lich's prepared spells. The lich's soul cage doesn't need to be present for the lich to use this ability. Is the lich intended to spend the actions required for the spell, as with a wizard's Drain Bonded Item?
If your familiar dies, you can spend a week of downtime to replace it at no cost. You can have only one familiar at a time. Did this make it into the remaster? The closest I can find to it is this line in the Pet feat. Special You can gain a new pet by retraining this feat, releasing any previous pet you have. If you later gain a familiar or other companion that uses the Pet feat, you can immediately retrain this feat. Actually, I guess that answers my question with a yes. I've just never considered the possibility of feats granted by class features or other feats being retrained like this.
I critically fail to Long Jump across a chasm, but the normal Leap distance is enough to get me next to the edge on the other side. I successfully Grab an Edge, but I still critically failed the Long Jump, which normally knocks the user prone. Does that mean I fall because I was knocked prone while "Climbing"?
I got a pleasant surprise when looking at Administer First Aid. Success If you’re trying to stabilize, the creature loses the dying condition (but remains unconscious). If you’re trying to stop bleeding, the creature attempts a flat check to end the bleeding. Success If you're trying to stabilize, the target loses the dying condition (but remains unconscious). If you're trying to stop bleeding, the target benefits from an assisted recovery with the lowered DC for particularly appropriate help.
Escape uses your unarmed attack modifier or, alternatively, Athletics or Acrobatics. Does this mean the MAP is lessened by the fist's agile trait? If so, does that only happen if the unarmed attack modifier is used for the check instead of Athletics or Acrobatics?
According to the Cover rules and the accompanying diagram, the corner of a wall counts as blocking the line. Is the same true if the line grazes the corner of a creature's space, granting lesser cover?
A wasp swarm uses Swarming Stings against a creature with 1 HP and the Diehard feat. The creature critically fails the Reflex save, taking double piercing damage and exposing them to Wasp Venom. The creature critically fails the Fortitude save, taking poison damage and becoming clumsy 2. What happens? A. Creature goes to dying 2 from Swarming Sting's piercing damage because they crit failed. They then go to dying 4 because they crit failed the Fort save. If either the piercing damage or the poison damage is at least double their max HP, they die of Massive Damage. B. Creature only goes to dying 2, treating everything as one instance of damage. If the piercing and poison combine to be at least double the creature's max HP, they die of Massive Damage.
If a Strike has the deadly trait, how does that trait interact with the Strikes of high level monsters that don't rely on striking runes? For instance, the ancient cloud dragon has this horn attack. Melee [one-action] horn +34 [+29/+24] (deadly d12, magical, reach 20 feet), Damage 3d12+17 piercing Does a critical horn Strike deal only 2*(3d12+17)+1d12 because the horn has no greater/major striking runes? Actually, never mind. The extra dice for the deadly trait are apparently included in the trait for the relevant monster Strikes. Melee [one-action] jaws +36 [+31/+26] (deadly 3d10, fire, reach 20 feet), Damage 3d10+18 piercing plus 2d6 fire and Improved Grab
Aid got buffed in the remaster, lowering the default DC from 20 to 15. But why is the default DC static to begin with, instead of being commensurate to the difficulty of the task? Any training in a skill means it will be trivial to Aid with that skill at later levels. Is that the point?
I'm trying to understand eidolons because I want to be a Stand user. So if an eidolon fails a saving throw and just straight-up dies (as with Scare to Death's crit effect), the eidolon drops to zero HP and can't be bought above zero HP until it's no longer dead. While dead, the eidolon also can't act. The eidolon also unmanifests because it's reduced to zero HP. The summoner doesn't suffer the can't act restriction, but the summoner shares their Hit Points with the eidolon, and they are also subject to the same effects that affect Hit Points. This means that although the summoner is alive, they cannot exceed zero HP until the eidolon is brought back to life. The eidolon whose body... will only appear... if the summoner... Manifests the Eidolon... This seems too problematic. Does the eidolon just not exist while unmanifested? Would that keep it from being dead? Or does the summoner die when the eidolon dies and vice versa?
One of my players wants his familiar to Avoid Notice. Until now, I've never considered the notion. Can familiars do exploration activities? Do they need to be Commanded to do a specific exploration activity? Can a creature Avoid Notice if it never rolls initiative in the first place? Does it just roll Stealth but only use it to determine its state of detection?
The adamantine dragon loses its resistances and gains a bonus to speed once it's reduced below half its Hit Points. Is this effect permanent, or can the dragon reverse the effect by restoring its Hit Points to half or higher?
I only see two significant differences between a composite shortbow and a shortbow. 1) The composite shortbow has the propulsive trait, letting you add half your Strength modifier to the damage. This is a benefit of the composite shortbow.
That drawback is entirely eliminated if you add a +1 potency rune to both weapons, since the Price of each weapon become the Price of all its runes combined, regardless of the original weapon. Does this mean that (for any character with Strength modifier exceeding -1) there is absolutely no reason to use a +1 shortbow as opposed to a +1 composite shortbow?
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