alisdair smith's page

I posted a thread about how the hurtful feat worked here:
http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rnie?Hurtful-Feat-Attack-Bonus#20

blackbloodtroll noted that some free actions can be taken out of turn as per FAQ here:
paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9shq

this then brought up the concept of using enforcer or cornugon smash as part of an attack of opportunity to trigger the hurtful feat and get an extra attack at that point.

alisdair smith wrote:

but if you can make swift actions at any point... what is the point of an immediate action? Immediate actions work exactly the same as a swift action but can be taken out of turn specifically.

Not exactly.

You can take a Swift action, any time you could take a free action.

Most free actions can only be done on your turn, with exceptions like talking.

The linked FAQ notes that some other free actions can be taken as part of an attack of opportunity, such as Grab, Trip, Pull, and Push.

So, it may be, that other free actions can be used as part of an attack of opportunity, such as the noted Enforcer feat, and the Hurtful feat, triggered by the Enforcer feat.

Do you understand now?

so, could something like this work? either doing nonlethal damage in some manner as part of an AoO to trigger Enforcer, intimidate for free and use hurtful?

I thought only immediate actions can be used out of turn, but blackbloodtrolls logic was worth querying

Hi All,

I initially posted this as a reply in the hurtful feat discussion over on the advice board, but thought it might be better placed here...

what attack bonus do you use for the hurtful feat?

e.g.

say I've got a level 11 character with a BAB of 9... so two attacks normally at 9/4 respectively.

i've also got cornugon smash.

my AB when taking into accounts Dex (slashing grace), weapon focus, sword scion trait and a +2 weapon is therefore

+16/11 normally.

I use power attack which at this point reduces those to 14/9 respectively

I successfully intimidate my opponent so use a swift action to get another attack...

what is that attack resovled as? +16? +11? +14? +9? or something else?

I'm wondering as my swash/wiz/eldritch knight/hellknight signifier will be taking this chain as it is quite fitting (hellknights emulate devils, cornugon smash!)

likewise, if i used the above with haste...

i'd be on +15/+15/+10 with power attack, I then would get another attack, as a swift action from hurtful... if thats also at +15... thats pretty effective as the build would eventually have a BAB of 17

with cats grace, haste, greater heroism, a +5 weapon, weapon focus, greater weapon focus and sword scion the characetr would have an AB of...
17 + 7 (dex) + 1 (haste) +4 (greater Heroism), +5 (weapon), +2 (greater weapon focus) +1 sword scion... so an AB whilst hasting of
+37/37/32/27/22
drops a bit to +33/33/28/23/18 when power attacking but thanks to the above he'd be on +33/33/33/28/23/18 with hurtful right?

Hey guys, I am heading towards eldritch knight/hellknight signifier combo, as such I will usually be wearing at least a mithral be eat plate, but obviously I will have spell critical to worry about, my theory is choose a spell that is worth casting as part of spell critical and prepare it as a still spell.

I will probably be taking extend spell too, so if it's a spell that combines with that too.. great.

Hey guys,

so i'm pondering the possibility of a magus/wizard build and how playable it'd be.

theory would be to go with magus up till 5th, take a level of wizard (scryer), then back to magus for another level. Then take Eldritch knight from levels 8-17 and finally top off with either 3 more levels in wizard, or 3 levels in something like hellknight enforcer.

For Magus, i think the first arcana would be totally open to suggestions, but the level 6 arcana would be Broad Study.

the result of the above is a character with the following at the end (assume 22 intelligence)

BAB of 16 (so 4 attacks vs the magus' normal 3)
Spells:
0 - 9/day
1 - 4 magus + 4 wizard + 1 specialist + 4 from int, so 13/day
2 - 3 magus + 4 wizard + 1 specialist + 4 from int, so 12/day
3 - 4 wizard +1 specialist +1 from int, so 6/day
4 - 4 wizard +1 specialist +1 from int, so 6/day
5 - 3 wizard +1 specialist +1 from int, so 5/day
6 - 2 wizard +1 specialist +1 from int, so 4/day
7 - 1 wizard +1 specialist, so 2/day

saves of 11/6/12

has access to spellcombat and spellstrike with any of the above spells
has a bonus to initiative from scryer
has spell recall to make the magus spells go a little further if needed
can scribe scrolls and gets 3 other bonus feats
gets to cast additional spells on criticals from spellcombat

cannot cast the wizard type spells with armour on, or has to use arcane armour training to do that... if picking up the latter, swap the final 3 wizard levels for hellknight, netting a couple more abilities and slight ability to ignore ASF without using any kind of action.

It FEELS like the above character would be pretty versatile and probably more useful than a magus outside of combat due to access to the wizard spell list.

I've got a swash/wis/ek/hellknight im playing that ends up with marginally better BAB (17), slightly worse saves and 3 9th level spells a day, but this feels like it'd be pretty comparable, especially if the right traits/feats and spells are taken.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Hey guys and gals.

playing in a cool campaign with a friend of mine, I've DMd a lot but not actually had a chance to play Pathfinder till now. I have spent probably around a week tweaking a character to get to something I quite like the feel of, but hoping for some suggestions!

firstly, DM gave everyone an additional 10 hp on character creation, I also took a flaw from the 3rd party flaws book for a bonus first level feat. He has also given anyone with low light vision, darkvision. We rolled stats with a very generous 2d6+6 reroll any 1s.

We've already started play, so I'm a little limited in terms of whats already in place. I'm level 2 currently.

I have a swashbuckler/wizard elf currently:

Stats: 13,20,12,18,12,15

traits: Magical Knack, Silent Hunter (I'm a bit tempted to swap this for Underlying Principals?)

Level 1: Swashbuckler, Weapon Focus (Longswords), Slashing Grace (Longswords), Arrogant (Flaw - -2 perform and diplomacy)
Level 2: Shadowcaster Wizard (Teleportation subschool, Opposed: Necromancy/Enchantment), gains scribe scroll

I took shadowcaster as i like the theme of it, DM is also letting me take the regular level 5 feat, as I already have darkvision, also it feels like compared to a bonded item, it's better generally? especially combined with split slot down the line?

So, as it stands he has a pretty respectable +8AB and does 1d8+5 with the masterworked cold iron longsword he made, and 1d8+4 with the masterworked alchemical silver longsword he made.

onto the plan:

Level 3: wizard - pick up extra panache feat

Level 4: wizard - increase charisma, this gives him a fairly respectable panache pool of 5 to call on, I love the opportune parry and riposte rules, and it's already meant he's avoided taking damage.

Level 5: Wizard - point blank shot

Level 6: Wizard - Split Slot, hoping to make good use of this

Level 7: Eldritch Knight - Weapon Focus (Longbow), Power Attack, Diverse Training

Level 8: Eldritch Knight - +1 Intelligence

Level 9: Eldritch Knight - Dimensional Agility (use shadowcaster to store an extra dimension door)

Level 10: Eldritch Knight

Level 11: Eldritch Knight - Precise Shot, Dimensional Assault

Level 12: Arcane Archer - Enhance Arrow (magic), + 1 Intelligence

Level 13: Arcane Archer - Imbue Arrow, Dimensional Dervish

Level 14: Eldritch Knight

Level 15: Eldritch Knight - Quicken Spell

Level 16: Eldritch Knight - + 1 Intelligence

Level 17: Eldritch Knight - Improved Critical (Longswords), Greater Weapon Focus (Longswords)

Level 18: Eldritch Knight - Spell Critical

Level 19: Arcane Archer - FEAT?

Level 20 Wizard - + 1 Intelligence

Ends up with saves of Fort: 10, Ref: 14, Will: 10
BAB of 17
Level 9 spells (CL 19)
185 skillpoints

Basic idea is that he has quite a few ways to cast spells eventually (quicken, imbue, spell critical or regular cast)

Between being able to shift 15' and dimensional assault he has some fun ways to get about the battlefield, and thanks to slashing grace and power attack can deliver fairly good damage when combined with something like cats grace, and unlike arcane strike, doesn't interfere with my actions. He has the bow and a good dex to utilise it, also able to use it as a means to deliver spells at unusual range or simply as a means to start major fights (or something he can fall back to if needed). I figure he'd probably prepare the keen edge spell until he has improved critical to more reliably refill his panache pool too.

I know I could go scimitar and dervish dance for more damage, but that doesnt really appeal to me, i prefer longswords visually.

The above seems the be about the best I can get in terms of spellcasting, saves, skills, combat ability.

I did look at instead going Eldritch Knight, Hell Knight Enforcer, but the character is actually on the run from Cheliax currently (stopped of in Nadal and essentially stole the secret of shadow casting). Also whilst the hell knight would get 1 better level of spellcasting, his saves would be significantly worse, he'd have a worse class skill list, and their abilities don't mesh so well with swashbuckler/high dex characters, also as I didn't go a scryer, I can't get into it till so late, Id also end up with a worse BAB, I could MAYBE persuade my DM to let me swap specialty if there was a real good reason for a build change, but it would be a pretty big change I think.

But I'm looking for advise/suggestions on feats to take, have I gone a terrible route in the outline above? Should I swap about what level I take various classes? I know that the arcane archer levels imply I should go heavy on the archery route, but the party doesn't really have anyone capable of hitting things in melee either, and I really fancied starting with swashbuckler.

Hi Folks,

so, I have a character that uses the Swashbuckler class from the playtest along with the slashing grace feat, he has been using a longsword, but had wondered at the possibility of using a bastard sword instead... If I were to burn a feat to get proficiency with a bastard sword, could I then use the slashing grace feat from the ACG to count it as a 1 handed piercing weapon for use with all swashbuckler class abilities (including the swashbuckler version of weapon finesse).

And if I could, would it be worth it?

(originally he was a Cad Archetype fighter, using an elven curved blade, but the swashbuckler doesn't allow for that weapon in any way currently (hope it will change) but the classes agile fighting style and parry-riposte mechanic is exactly how I imagined this guy to fight)

other notes... I have no desire to use a rapier or scimitar, neither weapon fit the image I have, nor the model that perfectly sums up how he looks (the models sword is pretty long, which is why I'm thinking bastard sword might be cool, but trying to weigh up the pros and cons mechanically too)

Hey folks, any help in building a Mystic The urge to be?

Starting level of 4th.
30 points to spend, though I'd also like suggestions for a 20 point version.

Elf race.
Will take a flaw so assume one bonus feat at 1st level.

Cleric wizard seems the obvious choice.
Any archetypes??
What specialty for wizard?
Deity/domains for cleric?
Familiar or arcane bond (assuming an archetype doesn't replace the ability)?

The only 'obvious' feat to pick up seems to be theurgy, anything else?

Hey Guys,

so, I'm based in Birmingham UK.

I run a standard Pathfinder campaign on sunday evenings with some friends (where I DM), there's no desire to stop that and move over to PFS from the players (they're used to somewhat higher powered stuff than PFS seems to allow).

But I'm interested in finding a group that either play by post or use one of the various online gaming apps to play. I'd really like to get involved in PFS, initially as a player and then perhaps branch out and DM once the 'normal' campaign I'm running is over.

Alternatively do any of you know of a PFS group in birmingham that plays on a day other than sundays?

Cheers in advance!

Alisdair

As the title says, would the above combination be workable?

any suggestions on how to MAKE it workable?

presumably it'd require the following:
6 levels of magus for the arcana that lets you use magus abilities with spells from another class

Dervish Dancer? lack of medium or better armour means it'd need to be dex based, so scimitar with dex to damage is a requirement?

Hey guys,

so, I'm interested in a traditional fighter/wizard type.

I'm torn between two 'builds'

Fighter1/Wizard5/Eldritch Knight3/Arcane Archer4/Eldritch Knight7

OR

Fighter1/Wizard5/Eldritch Knight3/Hell Knight Enforcer4/Eldritch Knight7

Key points:

Character will be an Elf. 30 points to spend, using flaws (from the options:flaws document available here at paizo) Want to use Elven Curved Blade, I considered the idea of going with Aldori Dueling Sword as well.

I don't want to use Magus.

[u]For the first version of the character I was looking at the following:[/u]

str 13
Dex 19
Con 10
Int 18
Wis 12
Cha 10

Wizard is a Transmuter (with transformation sub specialism) up Dex to 20 at 1st level with that, switch to increasing Str to 14 at 4th level when picking up +1 Dex due to leveling.

Fighter side is a Cad archetype (for the skills it gives as it's a single level dip)

Magical Knack and Arcane Graduate Traits.

Flaw: Albino
Feats:
1st: Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (Elven Curved Blade), Weapon Focus (Longbow)
3rd: Arcane Armour Training
Pick up the other required feats for Arcane Archer before entering it at level 10.

Finishes up with a BAB of 17 and 9th level spells (barely)

[u]The Hell Knight 'Build' I'm not so sure on...[/u]

He'd still be an Albino Elf.

Same stats and traits? Or should the focus move away from having quite so much dex in favour of some Cha, Con or Wis?

Would Paladin be a better option than fighter for this character? Or would a different Fighter Archetype be more suited?

Hell Knight Enforcer needs medium armour proficiency so kind of seems like you should at least be wearing that?

Hi Folks.

Recently made the switch over to Pathfinder and looking for some advice on a Gish build.

Couple of things first, race has to be Elf, Wanting to be more Dex based rather than Strength based, will probably use a Longbow + Elven Curved Blade.

Only Pathfinder material is being used, so no 3.5 stuff. Flaws from the Player Options: Flaws document are fine.

Characters are being built at 4th level.

Its points buy, but we get 29 points to play with.

I was thinking:

Stats:
12
16 (18)
14 (12)
16 (18)
12
10

Fighter (Lore Warden) 1 / Wizard 3

Flaw:
Scrawny (-5 vs bull rushes)

Feats:
Weapon Finesse (level 1 feat)
Dodge (fighter feat)
Weapon Focus (Elven Curved Blade) (from Flaw)
Scribe Scroll (wizard feat at 2nd)
Arcane Armour Training (level 3 feat)

Traits:
Magical Knack (for the CL increase)
Rice Runner (to get Acrobatics)

Take Arcane Bond with a ring rather than a familiar.

School Specialization:
Transmutation with Necromancy and Enchantment as Opposed.

Plan would be to get up to:
Fighter (Lore Warden) 1 / Wizard 5 and pick up Arcane Strike + Extend Spell

Then get to:
Fighter (Lore Warden) 1 / Wizard 5 / Eldritch Knight 3 and pick up Weapon Focus (Longbow), Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot from the EK and level feats.

Then get 4 levels in Arcane Archer before going back to Eldritch Knight for the remaining 7 levels.

Ending up on CL 17 BAB 17.

Thoughts? Suggestions?