Vakil Smallen's page

Thanks.

I'm DMing a Starfinder game and the party is facing an incapacitator robot. I just need some clarification about the rules because a few things are confusing me.

In the first round, the robot managed to pin a player with a successful melee attack that was more than 13 above the player's KAC.
In the second round, does the robot need to roll again to maintain the pin? Or does the player roll to free themselves? If the robot as the attacker needs to roll, are they going for the same target number set by the player's KAC (as modified by being pinned)?
I think what's confusing me is Pathfinder's combat maneuver bonus vs defense rules which Starfinder doesn't seem to have.

Also, related by separate question. The robot only has one action per round as far as I can tell but the description seems to suggest it could fire it's pistol while grappling someone. Can someone confirm for me that it can't use its pistol in the same round that it is attempting to maintain a pin?

Thanks.

On the srd page for the Artificer class, there is a line that says

"Spell statistics (casting times, etc.) remain unchanged, although no components are required and the artificer is considered the “caster” for the purposes of CL." CL here presumably means caster level.

So, artificers are allowed to create tech that can effectively imitate any spell, arcane or divine, up to 4th level. My question is, at what Artificer class level do they get access to each level of spell? Can they attain any spell? I'm interpreting caster level to imply duration, DC, damage dice, etc., but does it also imply access to spell level? Can a 1st level artificer create a lightning bolt gun?

Would it be possible to request individual items? I really, really just want to download Hall of the Flesh Eaters for a campaign I'm currently running. I can wait for the rest of the downloads for a time when things slow down, but I've tried to download this one item probably 15-20 times in the last three days with no luck.

The rule for Cackle says "Any creature that is within 30 feet that is under the effects of an agony hex, charm hex, evil eye hex, fortune hex, or misfortune hex caused by the witch has the duration of that hex extended by 1 round."

If a witch cackles every round after successfully applying a hex, does that add 1 additional round every time? Or can it only add 1 round ever?

I assume I know the answer to this but I want to double-check with the community. I'll attach the image of what I'm talking about. If the player wants to travel from D2 to B3, I assume they must follow the path I have outlined in red, thereby receiving AoO from both enemies labeled C1 and C2. The player wants to travel diagonally directly from square C2 to B3, thus eluding an AoO from enemy C2. I am correct to believe he can't do this because technically he would moving through a square occupied by an enemy, even if its only half the square, right?

[IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l555/eirefrance/iowdhqwoqehdfeuihcfe_zp scb4c9fbd.png[/IMG]

Thanks. Actually, I just realized I hadn't fully expressed my question. Would an Alchemist's bomb (fire damage) overcome DR against silver?

Just a clarification. If a creature (in this case a wererat) has DR10/Silver, someone with a magic weapon that has a +4 bonus still will have 10 HP reduced from their damage. Is this correct?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/dervish-dance-combat

Based on the prerequisites, I don't see why any weapon that could be "finessed" can't be used with it. I have a player in the Jade Regent AP that wants to use it. I'm inclined to let him, but I'm curious why it was restricted to scimitars only before I do, in case I'm missing a legitimate reason why it should be restricted.

Vakil Smallen wrote:

The rules say that cackle extends a hex 1 round. If a witch cackles every round, can they continue extending the hex indefinitely?

Well. Eventually they are going to get rather tired or hungry ...

But it's not limited to 1 extra round per hex; it goes as long as the witch cackles (plus 8 rounds afterwards), right?

The rules say that cackle extends a hex 1 round. If a witch cackles every round, can they continue extending the hex indefinitely?

So, one of my players readied an action that says the following:

"Ready Action: Evil Eye vs Attack, Evil Eye DC16 or -2 attack for 8 turns, mind-affecting.
Trigger's just going to be having any sort of hostile-looking target."

Well, in the next round, a previously unseen enemy (an ettercap on the roof) drops a dead body into room. It lands right next to the player with the readied action, invoking a save vs fortitude or the player is sickened.

I'm wondering if I should have him use the readied action on the dead body, which is a hostile, if inanimate, target. Certainly, dropping from the ceiling implies an attack. What I would do is make him roll a perception check with a DC of 10 to see if he realizes what it is before he uses his readied action. Does this seem fair?

I am of the opinion that this is a flank, because it crosses one of the corners of the enemy's square. My player is saying technically it isn't (though he's happy to concede because the players are the ones flanking). I thought I would get clarification. Is this flanking?

Battle Map

So, making an Acrobatics check allows one to move past a foe without attracting an AoO, with one caveat:

"You cannot use Acrobatics to move past foes if your speed is reduced due to carrying a medium or heavy load or wearing medium or heavy armor."

One of my players is in difficult terrain and threatened and wants to move squares. However, the Core Rulebook says:

"Move 5 Feet through Difficult Terrain
In some situations, your movement may be so hampered
that you don’t have sufficient speed even to move 5 feet (a
single square). In such a case, you may spend a full-round
action to move 5 feet (1 square) in any direction, even
diagonally. Even though this looks like a 5-foot step, it’s
not, and thus it provokes attacks of opportunity normally."

He is knee-deep in a pool inside a cave complex, the floor is slightly slick. After posting a question earlier on this messageboard, I determined that counted as difficult terrain. However, the above paragraph says "in some situations..."

So, I have two questions: 1) It it ONLY the speed reduction caused by armor that negates that ability, or any speed reduction? 2) Would this be considered difficult 'enough' to hamper a player's movement to the degree that he attracts an AoO?

That makes sense. Thanks.

What about a maximum AC bonus from Dex, like armor does? Like a maximum Dex bonus of +2 to AC?

Would wading knee-deep in water (in this case, in a shallow pool inside a cave complex where the floor beneath the pool is rock with bits of sand) cause a character to be flat-footed?

Thanks. Actually, I'm the DM, so I'm not too torn up about it. I just read the entry but missed that last sentence. Thanks!!

Would a witch's evil eye affect a Giant Spider, since, as a vermin, it's immune to mind-affecting spell like charm? Is a hex min-affecting?

If a first level cleric wants to use a scroll with Cure Moderate Wounds, the Core Rulebook says

"If she meets all three requirements but her own caster level is
lower than the scroll spell’s caster level, then she has to make
a caster level check (DC = scroll’s caster level + 1) to cast the
spell successfully."

So, Cure Moderate Wounds is 2nd level spell, requiring the cleric to be 3rd level before he or she can cast it. Does that mean the DC is 4 (3+1) or 14? And does the caster get a wisdom, use magic item or spellcraft bonus to their check?

Well, my question is more about tying up someone who you aren't grappling. The DC is related to the CMB of the person doing the tying, not any kind of rope use skill, right?

Vakil Smallen wrote:

redward wrote:

I don't know the answer, but I will ask an additional question: if you're using both hands to grapple/pin someone, how do you get the rope out to tie them up?

That would explain the -10 penalty. You have to grapple with one hand while holding the rope.

I do get that, but is there an additional move action necessary to produce the rope (whether from your belt, a backpack, or some other place)? Or do you need to have initiated the grapple with rope in hand?

Not that I see.

I don't know the answer, but I will ask an additional question: if you're using both hands to grapple/pin someone, how do you get the rope out to tie them up?

That would explain the -10 penalty. You have to grapple with one hand while holding the rope.

So, Pathfinder doesn't have rope use like 3.5 (at least, as far as I can tell) if you want to tie someone up as a prisoner. The Core Rulebook has a section on "Tie Up" described this way:

Tie Up: If you have your target pinned, otherwise
restrained, or unconscious, you can use rope to tie him up.
This works like a pin effect, but the DC to escape the bonds
is equal to 20 + your Combat Maneuver Bonus (instead
of your CMD). The ropes do not need to make a check
every round to maintain the pin. If you are grappling the
target, you can attempt to tie him up in ropes, but doing
so requires a combat maneuver check at a –10 penalty. If
the DC to escape from these bindings is higher than 20 +
the target’s CMB, the target cannot escape from the bonds,
even with a natural 20 on the check.

So, from my reading, it would work like this: If the target is unconscious or not resisting, he or she is automatically tied up, no check is necessary. And no matter how skilled or unskilled the person tying them up is at using ropes, the DC to escape is related only to the Combat Maneuver Bonus of the person doing the tying up.

However, if the target is conscious, you would have to make a CMB vs CMD roll like any other grapple check.

Is this a correct reading of the rule?

And, if so, why would how good you are at grappling affect how good you are at tying an unconscious person up?

But which Knowledge type is it? You mention religion? Is that the one I would use?

Most players know a skeleton is hurt by bludgeoning weapons, but a character might not. What kind of a knowledge check would be rolled to figure that out?

Most players know a skeleton is hurt by bludgeoning weapons, but a character might not. What kind of a knowledge check would be rolled to figure that out?

I just started DMing the Brinewall Legacy. In the first section, Fires over Brinestump, a map of Brinestump Marsh is included with letters for all important locations in the swamp. Every lettered location in the "In the Marsh" section is on the map, except for "L", the Brinestump Caverns. I don't see it on the Brinestump Marsh map or on the Sandpoint hinterlands map. The description just says that its along the cliff. Is this a misprint, or are the caverns not quite on either map?