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So, I was planning on running a bounty hunter(slayer), and saw this ability.

At 6th level, when a bounty hunter attempts a grapple combat maneuver check to deal damage, he can choose to add his sneak attack damage to the grapple damage for that attack. He takes a –5 penalty on the combat maneuver check if he does this. This sneak attack damage is nonlethal damage, unless the bounty hunter is able to deal normal damage with a grapple and chooses to do so. This ability replaces the slayer talent gained at 6th level.

And going through the feats, I found this feat.

Whenever you successfully maintain a grapple and choose to deal damage, you can spend a swift action to deal your sneak attack damage to the creature you are grappling.

So, does this mean on a successful grapple check, including the -5 penalty, I can apply my sneak attack damage twice?

So, I'm playing a trox. Specifically, a trox magus. He and his clan were have dwarves as patrons, as they rescued his clan from duergar long ago. Back on point, I'm buying armor. For a large, the price is doubled. For a non-humanoid, it's quadrupled. Now, trox are monstrous humanoids. Do they technically count under humanoid, or do I have to pay 4 times as much?

This is not me trying to start any rules lawyering arguements, it's just about a guy trying to save some money. On what could be a technicality.

My GM wants to know if the unnatural aura evolution effects vermin. He thinks it would because all the vermin are technically animals, and in multiple fantasy stories and movies, when a creature or person with a similar ability would walk through an area, even the rats and bugs run or don't approach them.

So, flat out, do they?

So, in the spell description of transformation, it says that you can't casr spells. But under the alchemists alchemy class feature, it says you don't technically cast spells.

Although the alchemist doesn't actually cast spells, he does have a formulae list that determines what extracts he can create. An alchemist can utilize spell-trigger items if the spell appears on his formuale list, but not spell-completion items (unless he uses Use Magic Device to do so). An extract is “cast” by drinking it, as if imbibing a potion—the effects of an extract exactly duplicate the spell upon which its formula is based, save that the spell always affects only the drinking alchemist. An alchemist can draw and drink an extract as a standard action. The alchemist uses his level as the caster level to determine any effect based on caster level.

So, can I still use extracts while under the effects of a transformation spell?

So, I was planning on making a kasatha ranger(a regular one, not the one who uses two bows). I was planning on taking the two weapon fighting combat style, but my friend pointed out that...

This feat replaces the Two-Weapon Fighting feat for creatures with more than two arms.

Now, I was wondering, since I was planning on using a ranseur and a guisarme, can I follow the rules for two weapon fighting, or am I forced to forever only have one off hand attack? I am only using two weapons.

So Iwas reading through the Technology Guide, and found the Savage Technologist, and am reaalllly interested in playing one, but I am confused by their rage.

A savage technologist can enter rage as a barbarian, except she gains a morale bonus to Strength and Dexterity instead of Strength and Constitution, and she does not take a penalty to Armor Class. She retains the bonus on Will saving throws. When a barbarian ability would increase the savage technologist's Strength while raging, it increases her Dexterity instead. This ability alters rage.

The part I'm confused on is the entries of adding the dex into the rage. It says it replaces con when you rage, but that when you would gain a bonus to strength, instead apply it to dex. This gives me three possibilities, one given to me by a friend.

1. It's a typo, and it's supposed to replace any con bonus through raging with dex.

2. You get the base strength bonus, the dex gets the increases and you get the con bonuses as normal, but only increasing by the same amount as the difference between rage and greater rage, so you'd get +2 con at greater and +4 con at mighty.

3. My friend thinks it means that other effects from rage effect it as so, but for greater and mighty rages, it effects both str and dex.

I really don't know which is right, if any of them are.

Are class abilities special qualities?

I ask this having been looking at a thread discussing the skeleton template. It says that the skeleton loses most special qualities, keeping qualities that improve their melee or ranged attacks, as long as the ability is extraordinary.

If you animated the body of a barbarian, would it stll be able to rage, and if so, use surprise accuracy while raging? Would a fighter's corpse keep it's +2 for axes and +1 for bows? Would a monk skele keep it's unarmed strike damage and FoB? Would a ranger keep his +2 favored enemy bonus against humanoid(human) and still be able to mark quarry?

Now before anyone says it, the template says they lose class HD, not class levels, so if this does work, a 1 HD human skele could have up to 20th level class abilities, provided that:

1. Class abilities ARE special qualities. Most important part.

2. Are extaordinary abilities.

3. Improve the skele's ranged or melee attack rolls.

I really do feel a little dumb asking, but I just want to be sure. Else and zombies could be stronger than we thought. I expect a resounding 'No.' But, stranger things have happened.

So I was reading through the archetypes of the ACG, when I found this little gem of what I assume is ignorance.

At 2nd level, a hex channeler can call upon her patron to release a wave of energy from herself or her familiar. A good witch channels positive energy (like a good cleric), and an evil witch channels negative energy (like an evil cleric). A witch who is neither good nor evil must choose whether she channels positive or negative energy; once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed.

Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the witch. The witch can channel energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier (minimum 1). This otherwise functions as a cleric using channel energy, except the witch does not require a holy symbol to use this ability. The hex channeler uses her witch level as her cleric level for all other effects dependent upon channel energy (except increasing the amount of damage healed or dealt). The hex channeler can choose whether or not to include herself or her familiar in this effect.

This burst heals or deals 1d6 points of damage. Every time the hex channeler is able to learn a new hex (including major or grand hexes), she can instead increase her channel energy amount by 1d6.

Now here's the abuse:the extra hex feat. You can take it multiple times, and as the bold shows, every time the hex channeler is able to learn a new hex, they can instead gain 1d6 of channel energy. As there is no limiter, such as max of 10d6, you can get a max of 19d6 channel energy.

Am I reading it wrong, or can you actually get 19d6 channeling with this archetype?

So, would these two feats work together to let you just move through groups of enemies?

Say you opened with jabbing style, stepped past the first guy, downed him with two more hits plus extra damage from jabbing style, activating ICF, and since you are using jabbing style still, could you just strike and 5-foot step through the crowd, smacking everyone in the face because of jabbing dancer?

So in the ACG, there's a rogue archetype called the underground chemist. He has the following ability.

At 4th level, an underground chemist can deal sneak attack damage with splash weapons. The attack must be her first attack that round, qualify for dealing sneak attack damage (such as against a flat-footed target), and be directed at a creature rather than a square.

So, would this deal damage against just the single target, or if all enemies in the splash area, would they all take splash damage? The lack of specificity made me want a definite answer so that this ability cannot be abused.

So I am confused to the point of my head hurting. Under the verminous hunter's vermin focus, I'm confused on the woriding of the leech.

Leech:The creature gains a +2 competence bonus on grapple combat maneuver checks, and deals 1 point of bleed damage every time it succeds at a grapple to damage an opponent(this bleed stacks with itself). These benefits increase to a +4 bonus and 3 points of bleed at 8th level, and a +6 bonus and 5 points of bleed at 15th level.Bleed damage from this ability does not stack with itself.

So, which is it? Is it another typo in the new book, or does it only stack at one stage of progression, but not at other levels of progression?

So I was reading through the ACG, and I started reading the skald. I got to song of strength performance, and I had to ask this question: Do melee attacks and combat maneuvers count as strength checks or strength based skill checks?

At 6th level, a skald can use raging song to inspire his allies to superhuman feats of strength. Once each round while the skald uses this performance, allies within 60 feet who can hear the skald may add 1/2 the skald's level to a strength check or strength based skill check.

Obviously, it wouldn't work with weapons modified by weapon finesse, or combat maneuvers modified agile maneuvers, but would it work with it normally?

So, as stated above, I want to uderstand how these two interact, as they say they stack. The reading:

Rapier Weapon Mastery(EX): At 20th level, when an inspired blades threatens a critical hit with a rapier, that critical hit is automatically confirmed. Furthermore, the critical threat range increases by 1(this increase to the critical threat range stacks with increases from the keen weapon special ability and similar effects) and the critical modifier of the weapon increases by (x2 becomes x3, for example). This replaces swashbuckler weapon mastery.

This ability doubles the threat range of a weapon. Only piercing or slashing melee weapons can be keen. If you roll this special ability randomly for an inappropriate weapon, reroll. This benefit doesn't stack with any other effects that expand the threat range of a weapon (such as the keen edge spell or the Improved Critical feat).

I ask about the order in which these abilities take effect. Does it go keen, then RWM, or RWM, then keen? The fact that it doesn't specify is just bad, because even though it's a 20th level ability, having an auto crit from between 13-20 seems pretty ridiculous, even if we don't go into the critical feats. Bleeding critical four times in one turn? Seven if they dual wield rapiers? Freaking scary and ridiculous... If it works that way.

Hi, me and my mounted magus again. So, I was readng through the APG and I noticed this: Mounted Skirmisher.

Now, obviously I was like, 'OMG I need this!' But I just wanted to be sure on it's limits.

First, and I'm sure it's a no, does the movement of a charge, if less than half your mounts movement, still let you use a full attack action? I ask because it only states when your mount moves, not on a move action.

Secomd, is the full attack action restricted to a regular full-attack action, or could I use spell combat?

Third, for concentration checks, what does a charging mount count as? Is 10+ spell level or 15+ spell level? Since the minimum movement is 10 and the max is double your move speed, would the distance travelled change the check?

So I know in a recent FAQ that they changed how mounted charging woks. But what about non-charging movement?

Example: 7th level human cavalier riding a horse has an dwarf next to him. The dwarf uses the withdraw action and gets 40ft away. On your turn, your mount moves 40ft, as it's full move speed is 50, meaning it's only a move action.

Does that count as you also using a move action, or can you still use the full-attack action?

Say that you are playing a character that has gotten three or four arms, either from the vestigal arm alchemist discovery, or you've created spell that does it. How would this modify the magus's abilities? Spell combat is assumed you only have two arms, as you can only do it with light or one-handed weapons. But with more arms, you could wield a two-handed weapon with spell combat. It would also modify it as spell combat acts like two-weapon fighting, but multi-weapon fighting replaces twf, so could you use spell combat as mwf, like if you had a scimitar, two kukri and the open hand for the spell?

First off, besides being a kasatha or another race with quadramanial capabilities, or the extra arms you can get by being an alchemist, is there any other way to get more than two arms?

Second, if you do have more than two arms, what happens if you use all four to wield something like a greataxe? If two arms give +1.5 stength, would wielding a weapon as such increase the amount of damage even more? I'd say if yes, it'd only be applicable to hafted weapons, as greatswords and one handed weapons don't really have the room to do so.

Third, this seems pretty obvious, but if you have 2+ arms and you're a magus, can you wield a scythe and still do spell combat and spellstrike?

So a while back, I was asking questions about a mounted magus. Something that some suggested I do is get the familiar arcana, go to a big city and pay to have my familiar have polymorph any object cast on it to change it from, and this was one of the examples given, 'a lizard to a wyvern.'

If I were to do this, would my now polymorphed familiar still count as a familiar? After some thought, it didn'sound legitimate, but I just wanted to make sure.

^The relevant part of the post I talked about. ^

If you make a melee attack, and your target drops to 0 or fewer hit points as a result of your attack, you can make another melee attack using your highest base attack bonus against another opponent within reach. You can make only one extra attack per round with this feat.

Does whirlwind count as a melee attack? I ask because it says 'a melee attack' and not 'an attack action', and it's a full-round action that is a single attack against multiple enemies. If it works, does that mean if you down or kill someting you can keep on a spinnin'?

Say you're an 8th level sorcerer. You have the silent and still spell metamagic feats. You see some enemies get around the melee characters and come towards you. An unseen caster has countered a few of your spells that you've tried casting, so you decide to cast a silent still flaming sphere.

Can the spell still be countered, despite the fact that there is no somatic, verbal or material component to recognize and try to counter?

So this is a continuation of my mounted magus question that I didn't feel like resurrecting. Mounted Magus thread

So, say you have an ally who is a quadraped synthesist. You two become friends, and he takes the mount evolution. How would combats work in terms of initiative, attacks, etc?

Say I were to take the dimensional agility/assault/dervish feats. If combat is treated as normal for a rider and his mount, if I used dimensional dervish, would the synthesist gain the benefits of the feat, allowing him to attack with me?

In other words, say you want to make a wand of hostile juxtoposition(first spell I found that would meet my question's needs).

School: conjuration (teleportation)

Level: Sorcerer: 5; Wizard: 5; Summoner: 4; Witch: 5
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Components: V, S, M (a coin)
Range: close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: one creature of your size or smaller
Duration: 1 round/level or until discharged
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: yes
Source: Ultimate
Combat Summary: You create a dimensional link with a targeted creature, and switch spots with it.

You create a dimensional link to the target creature. When attacked or the subject of a spell that deals damage to you, you can spend an immediate action to cause yourself and the target creature to teleport and switch places. The target then becomes the target of the triggering attack or spell instead of you. If you fail to teleport out of the area of an effect, that effect might still affect you. If the target creature cannot fit safely into the new space without squeezing, or you try to teleport the target into an occupied space or a space it could not normally stand within, the juxtaposition fails. Further, if the target is unconscious or dead when you attempt to switch places, the juxtaposition fails. Once you have used it to teleport once, this spell is discharged.

Now with most of the classes it's a 5th level spell. But if you're a summoner, it's a 4th level spell. Does this mean that a summoner could make wands of hostile juxtaposition and other classes couldn't?

So, one of our party members has been... Arguing with our GM about bleed. I'm the only one in the group with an account, so I was nominated to ask the questions.

1. What bleeds stack and what bleeds don't stack? I've looked a lot of them over, but am not having the best time. Bleeding Critical says'the effects of this feat stack', which I assume means with itself and other bleeds. The Bleeding Attack Rogue Talent states it doesn't stack with itself. It doesn't say whether it stacks with others.

2. Say that you are a 13th level fighter with the Bleeding Critical feat. You use a +2 keen scimitar, so you have a good crit chance. You go toe-to-toe with a higher level fighter and manage to force him to flee. He makes it to his monk buddy who has ranks in heal. Does the monk have to roll a heal check for each seperate bleeding wound? Because say instead of two it's 7 different bleeding wounds. If you have to roll 7 heal checks(minimum, if he's lucky), that's still a lot of bleed damage coming in.

Pretty obvious. Say you are 15th level Trox ranger who uses firearms. Your 'firearm' in questipn is actually a cannon. Your highest favored enemy type is Humanoid(dwarf). Your group is passing through the Darklands when you're set upon by duergar. Can you cast Named Bullet on your cannon's ammunition? The spell only specifies the target as being 'a piece of ammunition or a thrown weapon'. A cannonball is ammunition right?

So this came up a while back in our group. We have a magus with a belt of giant strength. He comes from the higher ranks of society, wo he likes to keep himself clean and thus bathes regularly. Does that mean that eveytime he bathes, the bonus only ever counts as a temporary bonus?

Do shield armor penalties apply while you're carrying them, or only while they're equiped?

To be more specific, spells like cure light wounds mass. It says 1d8+1 per caster level (max of 25). How does one get the +25 worth of healing per caster level when max caster level is 20?

Besides the maximize metamagic.

How much would a wand of permanency cost? Since you have to provide 2,500 gp per spell level, what would it be?

Say you invested 10,000 gp in it just for spell levels. Would it work on 4th level spells and below? And it would probably be multiplied by 50 since it's a material component, so it would change it to 500,000 gp for a 4th level spell, right?

So, my group was playing through a home made game. We were going to pass through a forest notorious for bandit and goblin attacks, so as an alchemist, I took my dex-based mutagen so if we encountered anything, I could be ready with my bombs. Upon taking the mutagen, my GM informed me that I had burst out of my leather armor.

His reasoning for this is because in all pictures where you see an alchemist mid-transformation, whatever clothing they're wearing is being ripped apart because of the transformation. I brought up the fact that no where in any book does taking a mutagen cause you to destroy any clothing or armor you're wearing. So, if you take a mutagen, is your clothing/armor destroyed, and if so, could I make something that functions like wild armor like druid's get for their wildshape ability?

So in our group, we have a power word wizard who wants to be your typical power hungry, eventually end boss mage. One of our allies, a suli, has stopped his character a few times from killing people who our mage felt 'deserved it'.

Using the rules in the UC, it states that somewhere on every outsiders body is written their True Name. He wants to find the suli's true name, but it was brought up that most native outsiders are partly human, whose true names are not as easy to learn. He, as you've no doubt deduced by now, wants to take control of the suli and force him to do the wizard's will. No where have I seen anything in the true names area about native outsiders, so how would it work, if it can work?

Can a magus take arcane discoveries(found in the Ultimate Magic)? A magus is basically half fighter half wizard, so could half his levels count for selecting them? It means he has to wait longer to unlock such knowledge, but he could craft constructs or magic weapons faster or memorize spells faster when he prepares them.

So, my friend is playing an evil aasimar magus. At 7th lvl, he took improved familiar to gain a Cacodaemon. He brought up the arguement to the GM that he is ofan evil alignment and an outsider, so he should be able to gain the benefits from the soul lock ability that the Cacodaemon has. I said no because he has to be an outsider with the evil subtype, but wants me to be sure.

"Soul Lock(Su) Once per day as a full-round action, a cacodaemon can ingest the spirit of any sentient creature that has died in the past minute. This causes a soul gem to grow inside the cacodaemon's gut, which it can regurgitate as a standard action. A soul gem is a fine-sized object with 1 hit point and 2 hardness. Destroying ansoul gem frees the soul within, though it does not return the deceased creature to life. This is a death effect. Any attempt to resurrect a body whose soul is trapped in a soul gem requires a DC 12 caster level check. Failure results in the spell having no effect, while success shatters the soul gem and returns the creature to life as normal. If the soul gem rests in an unholy location, such as that created by the unhallow spell, the DC of this caster level check increases by +2. The caster level check is charisma-based.
Any evil outsider can, as a standard action, ingest a soul gem. Doing so frees the soul within, but condemns it to one of the we're planes(though the soul can be returned to life as normal). The outsider gains fast healing 2 for a number of rounds equal to its Hit Dice."

Sorry to post the whole thing. Didn't know how to make things links, and I wanted people to know what I was talking about.

Does getting Two-Weapon Rend count as a prerequisite for taking Rending Fury and its greater versions? I know that RF says that it requires the rend special ability, but TWR basically gives you rend.

So say I'm a medium human wizard. I cast undead anatomy on myself. I choose the form of medium zombie. Since I'm already a medium, do I get the +2 bonus to strength?

As stated above, I'm planning on making a mounted magus. I just wanted to ask a few questions.

Firstly, since the lance counts as a one handed weapon while mounted, would I be able to use it with spell combat while I'm mounted?

Second, since pool strike is a swift action, can I use it on a charge? Also, since spell strike gives a free melee attack, if I were to charge, would I get two attacks?

Lastly, would it be beneficial to multiclass cavalier? I know this isn't a rule question, but I'd like to hear opinions because it sounds good either way.

Can you wield two double weapons if they're sized for a creature smaller than you, and would this make you applicable to choose MWF?

So it says that 8th level, the monk is treated as having the ITWF and at 13th, being treated as having the GTWF, both specifically for FoB. Does this mean that if I split class and take the actual feats that I can still add the GTWF feat to FoB?

Under the description for the lance, it states that while mounted, you can wield it one handed. Does this mean that if had the TWF feat, I could wield and make charge attacks with two lances?

So, there' s a feat that requires cleave called Surprise follow through, which makes it so that if you successfully cleave, the second foe is denied their dex mod to ac. There's also an improved version which effects all foes attacked after the first opponent.

My question is, would it effect the cleaving finish feats? It states that it works when you use a standard action to use cleave or great cleave, so I know that it only activates then, but what if you're great cleaving and when you hit the final guy, you knock him unconcious and it activates your improved cleaving finish? You can start cleaving back the other way, but does surprise follow through stay active?

I have a question about favored class options, specifically for choices on abilities that you aren't high enough to use.

Example: The Grippli favored class option for gunslingers says 'Add 1/4 bonus on attack rolls when making a utility or a dead shot.'

Gunslingers don't gain access to the dead shot deed until 7th level, so can you start choosing that at first level or do you have to wait till 7th level?

Also, say you have an archetype that replaces a class feature that your favored class option allows you to slowly treat as a higher level. Can you take the favored class option for the archetypes alternate class ability or are you just burnt?

My friend also has a question: Are you allowed to a take feat before you can use it? He asks because it states in the Ultimate Campaign under re-training that if you have a feat that has another feat as a prerequisite and you re-train it, you still keep the second feat,even though you no longer meet the prerequisites or have it's use. He insinuates that taking a feat for which you don't currently meet the prerequisites now but will, as with Dimensional Agility and being a monk or magus, or another caster capable of learning diemension door. You would only have the feat, but until you meet it's prerequisites, you wouldn't have it's benefit.

So, my GM has tasked me with gathering information on the mysterious, monstrous, and terror-inducing Trox. I want to play one, but he wants me to find more information because the Bestiary 4 and Advanced Race Guide don't give enough information, as he is the type of GM who prefers the actual freedom of roleplay rather than being controlled by chances fickleness.

He wants me to get things like minimum and maximum height and weight, ages, coloring, what creature they're most likely related to(I persoanlly say spiders), whether they have live birth or lay eggs, whether they have one cute little Troxling at a time or give birth to hordes of little ones.

I am asking for your own opinions on their ecology, society, how they act towards other races, how other races see them, typical habitats. I call upon the infinite wisdom of the internet, and all the harshness and foolishness that entails.

I only ask this because the books says you can only train a magical beast if its intelligence is 2 or lower(basically 2 or 1). What if you were to use a spell or poison that affects intelligence on a magical beast,see what the average time for the creature to die,(or just meta-game and look it up in the bestiaries) cast a dispel magic or neutalize poison spell on the creature and then begin training it? If done fast enough, or with continued ability damage, you could keep its intelligence low and have a war trained magical beast. Then use enchantment spells to force it to be friendly, so it's still trained, but its score eventually heals to full, so you have a smart, (brainwashed) mount.

So, I don't know if I'm blind or stupid, but I haven't been able to find this information in the books.

So, lets say you're an Alchemist 12/ Master Chymist 3. From Alchemist, you get a base attack bonus of +9/+4. From Master Chymist, you get +3. Do you get a BAB of +12/+7/+2 or +12/+4?

Edit:
Now lets say you retrain and so you become an Alchemist 10/Master Chymist 10. Do you get a base attack bonus of +17/+12/+7/+2?

So I was reading through the Ultimate Combat Book and I saw that under the weapon descriptions and the scatter weapon quality that there was no mention as to whether you can or can't exceed the range.

I ask this because technically, the cone could be considered the first range increment, so couldn't you increase the range increment in the normal way, taking the cumulative penalty on all attack rolls, so a max of -12 on attack rolls? I only ask because it doesn't state it anywhere and don't want to abuse the system thanks to the obviousness of huge cone plus Far Shot feat at high levels leads to decimating battlefields.

So,first things first, I don't know if this is an actual rule, but a rule me and my group came up with is this: You may multiclass into the same class multiple times, as long as you choose a new archetype each time.

I.E., Dragoon 5/Rough Rider 3. Both are Fighter archetypes, but they give different abilities. For both, you combine the BaB, saving throws, and special abilities, but treat them as separate classes, since they're both archetypes, changing the base class.

Now for my question: If you were to multiclass into Monk two or three times, would you get the Wisdom bonus from the AC bonus twice or thrice, or would it only apply once?

My GM who I was talking with about said that yes, you would get the wisdom bonus added twice, but it didn't feel right to me. We play with a max number of classes at three. But if you were to multiclass monk three times, and you had Wisdom of 20, the ASM(Ability Score Modifier) would be +5, meaning that you would add 18 to you AC(Assuming you had 1 level in each).

I could see several of my party members abusing this, and ruining the game for all. I'm generally elected co-GM, meaning I do some of the nitty-gritty work. So in conclusion, am I right, or is my GM?