The Pick's page

What are the ways for a character to obtain both vital strike and enlarge person as a spell/sla/class feature by character level 6? I can think of the abyssal bloodrager. Are there any others?

Besides leveling up and the phylacteries of channeling, is there any way to increase the number of dice when channeling energy?

I am creating a vital strike focused ranger character for PFS. The feats below are what I have planned through to 11th level. The 7th level character feat is still open. Any suggestions?

toughness
power attack
weapon focus greatsword
furious focus
iron will
vital strike
devastating strike
improved vital strike
improved critical greatsword

Page 94 Ultimate Combat:
Crusader’s Flurry
You learned to use your deity’s favored weapon as part of your martial arts form.
Prerequisites: Channel energy class feature, flurry of blows class feature, Weapon Focus with your deity’s favored melee weapon.
Benefit: You can use your deity’s favored weapon as if it were a monk weapon.

Page 105 ACG:
Monk - Kata Master archetype says:
A kata master can use an unarmed strike or monk special weapon in place of a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon for granted swashbuckler class features and deeds.

The following is the pertinent information about a character to which this question may apply.
Classes: 1st level bloodrager, 1st level kata master monk, 1st level cleric of Smiad (Smiad's favored weapon is the greatsword.)
Feats: weapon focus greatsword, crusader's flurry

The character above can flurry with a greatsword because of Crusader's Flurry. Does the greatsword for this character counts as a monk special weapon so that it can be used in place of a light or one-handed piercing melee weapon for granted swashbuckler class features and deeds?

I am playing a Zen archer cleric of Erastil for PFS, and I am looking for advice on potential feat selection. The character will mainly provide party buffing support through spells and channels, but will also provide some damage support through archery. The character has 1 level of Zen Archer monk and the rest will be cleric levels. So far the character design looks as follows:

STR 10, DEX 15, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 13 (15), CHA 14
+1 to DEX and WIS, respectively, at 4th and 8th levels

Traits:
deadeye bowman, birthmark

Feats:
point blank shot – 1st level human bonus feat
selective channeling – 1st level character feat
precise shot – 1st level monk bonus feat
weapon focus longbow – 3rd level character feat
deadly aim - 5th level character feat
?????? - 7th level character feat
clustered shots - 9th level character feat
?????? - 11th level character feat

I am considering extra channeling and quick channel, or skill focus to augment important skills for the character. However, any other advice on feats would be appreciated.

Is it my imagination, or is the Channeled Revival feat (almost) utterly useless?

Take the following scenario:

AM Barbarian is reduced to negative CON at initiative 10 in round 1, and is therefore dead. Seeing this, dutiful cleric starts channeled revival as a full-round action at initiative 11 in round 1. By the time initiative 11 in round 2 comes around, AM barbarian has been dead for more than 1 round and cannot be revived. Unless the cleric starts the channeled revival before the barbarian is killed (or maybe at the same initiative in the same round as the barbarian is killed), there is no way that channeled revival can work.

Page 92 Ultimate Combat:
Channeled Revival
As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, you can expend three uses of your channel energy class feature to restore a dead creature to life as if you had cast the breath of life spell (Core Rulebook 251).

Page 251 CRB
Breath of Life
If cast upon a creature that has died within 1 round, apply the healing from this spell to the creature.

Does wearing a Phylactery of Positive Channeling permit a 7th cleric to have the prerequisites for the Channeled Revival feat?

Page 92 Ultimate Combat:
Channeled Revival
You can expend a large portion of your channeling power to reverse death itself.
Prerequisite: Channel energy 6d6 (positive energy).
Benefit: As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, you can expend three uses of your channel energy class feature to restore a dead creature to life as if you had cast the breath of life spell (Core Rulebook 251).

Page 526 CRB:
PHYLACTERY OF POSITIVE CHANNELING
This item allows channelers of positive energy to increase the amount of damage dealt to undead creatures by +2d6. This also increases the amount of damage healed by living creatures.

Page 94, Ultimate Combat:
Crusader’s Flurry
You learned to use your deity’s favored weapon as part of your martial arts form.
Prerequisites: Channel energy class feature, flurry of blows class feature, Weapon Focus with your deity’s favored melee weapon.
Benefit: You can use your deity’s favored weapon as if it were a monk weapon.

Does Brawler's Flurry count as a "flurry of blows" class feature for the purpose of being a prerequisite for Crusader's Flurry (or any other feat requiring such a prerequisite)?

If the favored weapon of a deity is a weapon that has both martial and exotic proficiency aspects (e.g. katana, bastard sword) does a cleric of that deity get proficiency in both the martial and exotic aspects?

The Wild Stalker ranger archetype from Ultimate Combat has an ability called Strong Senses that grants low light vision and a +1 to perception rolls or +2 to perception rolls if the character already has low light vision.

How does this play out on a character with darkvision? I am assuming that the character gets the +1 to perception and low light vision, although the low light vision may be redundant/useless.

A tome that grants an inherent stat bonus (e.g. Tome of Understanding) costs 27,500 gp for every +1 bonus. To get to a +3 bonus is it necessary to buy a +3 tome out of the gate for 82,500 gp, or can the character buy three +1 tomes over time for 27,500 gp each and use each one in turn to boost the stat to +3?

There has been comment on the boards about providing a generic "hard mode" in PFS. What about the other side?

Many players like playing interesting but mechanically inferior (at least combat-wise) characters. Others will like playing such kinds of characters occasionally. Players playing these types of characters may want the option for PFS scenarios and modules to be run on an 'easy mode' rather than as-written, in order to have a better chance of the character surviving.

Perhaps PFS could consider this too. It may result in attracting a wider base of players.

Is a magic item that is Pathfinder illegal but found on a Chronicle Sheet legal to purchase and use in PFS? The last comments from Developers and PFS I could find are here and here. Has anything changed since then? I couldn't find anything more recent on the forums.

The specific item I have in mind:

Can an efficient quiver hold a halberd?

Page 146 Core Rules
Halberd: A halberd is similar to a 5-foot-long spear, but it also has a small, axe-like head mounted near the tip.

Page 511 Core Rules
Efficient Quiver
The third and longest portion of the case contains as many as six objects of the same general size and shape as a bow (spears, staves, or the like).

Can paragon surge, which lasts 1 min/level, be used to obtain a spell or feat to fulfill a prerequisite for crafting a magic item, particularly if crafting the magic item takes longer than the duration of paragon surge?

Can a monk/bloodrager use a swift action to expend a ki point to get a ki power in a round and then as a free action turn on rage and retain the benefit of expending the ki point?

Also, once raging can the monk/bloodrager expend ki points to get the benefit of ki powers?

The closest discussion I have seen on the boards is here related to monk/barbarians. However, there is no alignment issue with bloodragers.

To me the analysis rests on the rule:

While bloodraging, a bloodrager cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or
Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate,
and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration.

So, does expending a ki point and using the ki power require "patience or concentration"?

The following 6th level character is a human, mobile, unarmored martial-type whose role is to get around the battlefield and straight up do damage with a sword. Any suggestions for a 7th level feat, or a train of feats from 7th to 11th levels?

STR 18, DEX 14, CON 12, INT 12, WIS 17, CHA 7

Monk 4 (Martial Artist)/Fighter 2 (Weapon Master)

Current Feats:
dodge
toughness
weapon focus nine-ring broadsword
combat reflexes
power attack
weapon specialization nine-ring broadsword
furious focus

Some ideas I currently have are nimble moves, acrobatic steps, iron will, improved sunder. Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

A first step to becoming the Borg.

An article on how a state can be dysfunctional.

If a character has a level in sorcerer with one bloodline and later wants a level in bloodrager with a different bloodline, the rules in the bloodrager entry in the ACG state:

"If the bloodrager takes levels in another class that grants a bloodline, the bloodlines must be the same type, even if that means that the bloodline of one of the classes must change. Subject to GM discretion, the bloodrager can change his former bloodline to make them conform."

If the character wants the former bloodline to conform to the later, what is the procedure in PFS? Can a GM simply agree and then note it on the chronicle, or is retraining the former bloodline required?

I posted this in another thread (Wheres the archaeology?) but it I think it has broader implications and thought that its own thread may be useful for discussion purposes.

Besides the enjoyment of playing the game, which is the greatest reward, there are three rewards in any PFS scenario:
1. xp
2. pp
3. gp

In my view, in every scenario meeting the primary success condition, which should be laid out in the VC briefing at the beginning so that everyone knows the goal, should net the xp, 1 pp and all of the gp. The primary success condition could be based on an archaeological goal, e.g. recovering an artifact, obtaining a specific piece of knowledge, etc., or anything else that might be interesting.

Meeting a secondary success condition, of which there could be several, should net the second pp. Having multiple secondary success conditions would permit some to be achievable through combat while others through role-playing, problem solving or even blind luck.

With this in mind, all scenarios should be designed with multiple paths to meeting the primary success condition, some of which may involve combat alone, some of which may involve no combat at all and some of which may involve a mixture.

Tying all of the gp reward to achieving the primary success condition, which would be known from the beginning of the scenario, eliminates the need to steal everything along the way just to ensure that your character gets all of the gold for the scenario.

Such scenarios may be relatively more difficult to design but would satisfy the desires of a broad base of player styles. Library of the Lion has so far been the closest I've seen to this type of scenario.

I also think that the practice of listing mundane items on a chronicle sheet should be eliminated entirely except for special items and boons. Obtaining access on the chronicle to special items and boons should be tied to achieving the primary success condition instead of some individual event in the scenario. Almost all of the items listed on chronicles now are available with sufficient fame, and almost all of the time the character already has sufficient fame to be able to purchase the item. Removing most of the items from the chronicle and eliminating the need to perform specific actions to get the special items and boons would enhance the ability of characters to entirely succeed in the scenario using whatever play style they want, without fear of losing out on some item or boon.

What do you think?

Besides paladin and ranger, are there any full BAB classes that provide access to spell casting?

My understanding of the rules around chronicle sheets is that at the end of a session, the GM is supposed to fill out the boxes for xp, fame and gp awarded, cross off the items not found, and then initial the various boxes next to each. The GM then gives the unsigned sheet to the players who fill out the chronicle number for the character, total in-game expenditures, total pre-game and after-game acquisitions (gold and pp) and the total pre-game and after-game gold acquired through sale of extraneous gear. After that, the GM then signs the chronicle sheet ensuring that the total remaining gold and pp are added up correctly after the expenditures, acquisitions and sales. The chronicle number may then be inserted on the ITS next to the particular purchases/sales that the character made under that chronicle sheet.

Is this essentially correct as per RAW?

As a player, I find that this process is generally difficult to adhere to as there is a fair bit of table variation concerning how the chronicle sheets are handled by GMs. Many GMs just fill out the xp, fame and gp awarded boxes, cross off the items not found, and then initial, sign and date the sheet before giving the sheet to the player. This is especially prevalent in on-line PFS play, but I understand that it happens in face-to-face venues as well. At that point, my read of the rules is that the player cannot add any items bought or sold to the ITS against that chronicle sheet because the GM has already signed the chronicle sheet before the character had a chance to log total expenditures on the chronicle sheet. The player would have to wait for the next session and make pre-game purchases to get the desired gear. However, if the GM once again just fills out the chronicle sheet and signs it before the player can add the total expenditures, then once again the player cannot log these items against the chronicle sheet. Following the rules (at least as I understand them), such a situation could prevent a character from ever acquiring items.

It has been my experience that when the GMs fill out, sign and send the chronicle sheet before the player adds the total expenditures for the character, the players simply fill in the total expenditures after the fact and the GM never sees what the players put on the chronicle.

Are such characters illegal for play in PFS?

I personally think that the process should permit players to consider purchases in between scenarios and then permit them to log the expenditures against the last chronicle the character received. The character is then ready to go for the next session with no at-the-table time sink before and after the game. This is already how a majority of on-line sessions are run, and from I have seen on the boards, how quite a number of in-person sessions are run. For players who play intermittently, this also permits them to get their characters into next-game-ready shape and them shelve them for play much later without having to revisit the technicalities of what they want to buy.

As for the possibility of cheating, rules don't stop cheating by those who will cheat anyways. People who would cheat on chronicle sheets are already cheating and getting away with it. Audits find mistakes, not cheaters (or at least not proficient cheaters).

As for character audits, whether an item purchased between sessions is logged against the last chronicle sheet or the next one is irrelevant because the gold and pp available for the expenses are still based on the last chronicle sheet. What matters in an audit is whether the total gold and pp spent are less than or the same as total gold and pp acquired, and whether any single large expenditure does not exceed the gold and pp limits for the character at that stage of development.

Can a character having 6 xp play a Tier 1-2 scenario before leveling up to 3rd level, or must the character level up once having 6 xp before it is played again?

I saw a line in a thread on these boards from Mike Brock dating back to 2011 that said that characters playing in a module are not allowed to be in another scenario until the module ends.

Is this still the case? If not, what happens to the character in the module should he die in the scenario between module sessions?

I am building a paladin of Shelyn. At 2nd level the character will take a dip into 1st level cleric and then proceed from 3rd level onward as a paladin again. As a cleric, the character takes the luck domain and the true strike spell as the domain spell. The character then buys a wand of true strike using 2 pp.

This build would result in virtually auto-hitting a good proportion of the time, and against evil things would result in much damage as the build will use power attack and a variety of single-hit damage buffs.

So, are wands of true strike legal?

Related to that, does the true strike bonus also apply to the critical confirmation should a threat be rolled? That would virtually guarantee the confirmation. Even if it doesn't, I can envision getting a wand of bless weapon (bless weapon is a 1st level paladin spell) and using it in tandem with true strike to potentially create a lot of messiness. Granted though that using two wands to buff takes some preliminary preparation.

So, are wands of bless weapon legal?

The martial artist archetype of the monk loses slow fall in favor of martial arts master at 4th level.

Is there any way for the martial artist to regain slow fall or a slow fall-like ability?

I can think of feather fall devices and like magic but I am looking for a non-magical solution.

Would taking a dip into quinggong monk do it?

How does a fighter generate 200 hp of damage in a round? And why would you want?