TreDawg's page

In 1e Undead were explicitly immune to nonlethal damage as part of their Undead Traits and the Undead Trait in 2e doesn't mention this interaction at all. The mechanical aspects of that trait are now the positive/negative energy flip and being destroyed when reduced to 0hp.

Once living, these creatures were infused after death with negative energy and soul-corrupting evil magic. When reduced to 0 Hit Points, an undead creature is destroyed. Undead creatures are damaged by positive energy, are healed by negative energy, and don’t benefit from healing effects.

In every undead creature I could find they had specific immunities to the Unconscious condition, probably because they are destroyed at 0hp, but not Nonlethal damage.

Creatures such as Golems don't have immunity to nonlethal as part of their traits either but the immunity is explicitly stated in the stat block of the creature.

Does this mean that Undead in 2e are just as susceptible to nonlethal damage as they are to lethal damage since being dropped to 0hp causes them to be destroyed?

Thanks guys.

I didn't consider Monk Vows as I remember them being really restrictive but I'll have another look at them.

I was thinking about dipping Monk, definitely the Unchained one, because it would be really good with blowing through charges on Chill Touch, Frostbite, and Elemental Touch.

Hi All,

I recently got Occult Adventures and I'm extremely excited by the Esoteric Magus Archetype. I've always wanted a Monk/Magus hybrid that just worked right out of the box without having to "get good" when they hit a certain level or use weapons other than the Unarmed Strike.

Now, I really like all of the replacement class features but I have absolutely no idea what Ki Arcana is supposed to do.

I can't use it for any normal Monk/Ninja related stuff because unless I multiclass I don't actually have the abilities to spend the Ki points on them.

I suppose there's the Chakra stuff in the book but a lot of that seems like garbage unless you invest a ton of feats into it and even then I don't think it would be worthwhile.

The best I can think to do with it is to double dip on Extra Arcana and Extra Ki to get 4 bonus points at the expense of 2 feats instead of 2 bonus points for 1 feat which also doesn't seem worthwhile.

Am I missing something with this class feature or is it almost entirely worthless without being Ninja 2/Magus, UC Monk 3/Magus, Ki Mystic 3/Magus, or Monk 4/Magus?

Any help would be appreciated as I'm at a total loss for the actual application of this alternate class feature.

Please let me know if there are any questions.

Thank you,
TreDawg

Hi All,

I had a disagreement with another player at my game about how the spellstrike ability works in regards to critical hits. I spent a little time searching but couldn't find anything that definitively came down on one side or the other.

So, the question: When using spellstrike with a basic, unmodified, scimitar at level 2, does the critical threat range for the strike get automatically modified by Keen?

Spellstrike: At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks. This attack uses the weapon’s critical range (20, 19–20, or 18–20 and modified by the keen weapon property or similar effects), but the spell effect only deals ×2 damage on a successful critical hit, while the weapon damage uses its own critical modifier.

I was reading the bolded section like an equation where the critical threat range is X*2. X being 1 (20) 2 (19-20) or 3 (18-20) * 2 (keen or similar ability).

For example: A magus is spellstriking with a basic and unmodified scimitar and casting shocking grasp with it. He rolls a 15 on the attack roll and it hits. Does this cause the hit to become a critical threat?

While the individual bloodline abilities for Destined are very strong, the bonus feats and spells they get I think are the weakest.

I'm in the process of trying to make a Bloodrager for a 15pt buy game and he's spread so thin that I don't want to choose a bloodline that doesn't have Iron Will as a bonus feat.

As for the Fly checks, you can make Fly (also Intimidate, Ride, and Acrobatics) checks normally while Bloodraging. I think the same applies for normal Rage as well.

I first built the character as human and after looking at the halfling stats, I'm going to stick with human.

That -2 to str just hurts too much on top of the lower damage dice.

The morningstar might be pushing it but I think the rest fit just fine.

Dropping that and getting the MW backpack should do the trick.

I think I'm all set now, thanks for all the help and any further advice is always welcome.

I have a 13 str so I get can power attack but a chain shirt, buckler, and scimitar is already 34lbs of my 50lb light load limit.

I like to load up on weapons to beat DR too so I've got a morningstar, dagger, and spiked gauntlet. That brings me up to 40 of 50 before any gear.

The idea of a Halfling is good though so I might re-do it and see how that turns out.

Masterwork backpack seems like a good idea. I might be just barely scraping by with that.

I should have mentioned that I'd be starting at 1st level so muleback cords are out and I'd still want that slot open for a cloak of resistance.

I was thinking of getting lighter armor than a chain shirt but it's pretty much 5lbs per 1 ac and getting my weight low enough would mean sacrificing 2 or more ac which I'm loathe to do for a front line fighter.

Hi All,

I attempted to give roll20.net a try and the game I tried to join was using the encumbrance rules.

This is the first time in my 20+ years of tabletop gaming experience that I've had to deal with item weight.

Being excited for the new Swashbuckler class I tried to make one but just having a chain shirt and all the normal adventuring gear (backpack, bedroll, rations, waterskin, etc.) put me over the light load limit which pretty much kills the Swash.

Are there any special tips or tricks to get the weight of your gear down?

Thanks for the help.

Hi All,

The title says it all.

Does the Morningstar work with the new Swashbuckler abilities such as Swashbuckler Finesse and Precise Strike even though it's also a bludgeoning weapon?

A few levels of aberrant sorcerer and then dark tapestry oracle into mystic theurge sounds really cool for this idea. I'm not sure how strong it would be mechanically though.

If you're allowed to use 3.5 stuff then check out the Alienist prestige class from Complete Arcane. It's all about summoning crazy tentacle monsters and going insane while doing it.

Also, check out these guides.

Walter's guide to the Magus if you thinks a Magus strikes your fancy.

Zolthux's Guide to the Gish if you'd prefer the Eldritch Knight route.

I've got a few suggestions for you.

1. You don't need Improved Unarmed Strike. You get to make a Melee Touch Attack as part of most attack spells (such as shocking grasp) which is different than an Unarmed Strike. Melee Touch Attacks do not provoke attacks of opportunity although casting in melee will (unless you defensive cast).

2. Look into the Eldritch Knight prestige class instead of straight wizard/sorcerer past level 1. You get full BAB with it and only lose 1 casting level. You'll have to be fighter 1/wizard 5 or fighter 1/sorcerer 6 before going into it though.

3. If going Eldritch Knight also look into Weapon Finesse with their extra combat feats as well as the Magical Knack trait to make up for the 2 lost caster levels.

4. I highly recommend getting Arcane Strike if you'll be not casting semi-frequently. It's a good boost to damage for a swift action especially if you'll have a higher DEX than STR.

5. If you're holding a shield and a weapon, which hand are you using to cast? To get past this you can get a Weapon Cord (Ultimate Equipment) but that takes a swift action to retrieve so you can't draw it and do something like Arcane Strike or use Quickened Metamagic in the same round. You could also use a buckler instead of a light shield but if you cast with your buckler arm you lose the shield bonus it provides in the round that you cast.

Outside of those, I personally like the combination of the Sohei monk archetype and the Empyreal sorcerer bloodline (it lets you use WIS to cast & for monk stuff like AC) and then go into Eldritch Knight with it at level 8.

Technically I think RAW would allow you to take Acute Darkvision, but as a GM I certainly wouldn't allow that trick and I think most would find it incredibly cheesy. Acute Darkvision should probably have been written to replace Ferocity and the Regular Darkvision that 1/2 orcs get.

Also, I think without stretching things you will find this character to be about as powerful as the last. Archery is very powerful, typically yeilds far more damage than a sneak attack specialist, even one with four arms.

Thanks, my DM is very RAW focused which is why I wanted to make sure. It can never hurt to ask. I surely wouldn't allow it if I were in charge as well.

This character will be less synergized with the fighter in the group which is why I think the DPR will be lower. That might turn around once I get things like Haste and Good Hope though.

Hi All,

I'm in a game right now where I feel like the DM is frustrated with the power level of my character (Rogue/Vivisectionist 4 armed freak) and I'm making this character to try and tone down my offense while still filling the Rogue-ish Arcane-ish slot.

For stats I'd be rolling 4d6 drop the lowest and selecting from the best of 3 sets. I have to roll in front of the DM so I won't know my stats until then. For available material we're using all core books. I'll be getting no traits for free and will be starting at level 5 or 6. I'll also be taking the +1 round of bardic music favored class option for the half-orc until I get lingering performance and then I'll probably be taking skill points. I would take human but with the limited performance that archaeologists get I figured I'd have to take extra performance at some point which would negate the extra feat.

With all that said, here's the build I've got so far.

Alternate Racial Traits

Acute Darkvision replaces Orc Ferocity
Scavenger replaces Intimidating
Skilled replaces Darkvision

Feat Progression

1. Point Blank Shot
2. –
3. Precise Shot
4. Rogue Talent - Combat Trick (Rapid Shot)
5. Extra Traits (Fate’s Favored, Criminal – Disable Device)
6. –
7. Lingering Performance
8. Rogue Talent - Weapon Training (Short Bow)
9. Manyshot
10. –
11. Deadly Aim
12. Advanced Rogue Talent (Feat – Arcane Strike OR Opportunist)

My major concerns:

1. By RAW, can I take Acute Darkvision even if I'm replacing the vanilla Darkvision with Skilled?

2. I've never played a ranged build before so I have no idea what the optimal feat progression is past Rapid Shot, especially with the luck bonuses factoring in.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hi All,

Sorry if this topic has been brought up and answered before but I couldn't find anything with the forum search or googling.

Assuming Aroden died, what happened to his body?