alreadytaken's page

Fiend Totem with Hamatula gains even more ground over Beast Totem if you're using rules where you can upgrade charged items with more charges. Then you just need a Quickrunner Shirt and upscale it to 5 charges. I rarely need more than 5 "pounces" per day but if you need more just buy another shirt and swap between combats. Even if your GM doesn't allow charged item upscaling then just buy 10 shirts and swap them between combats. You'll get a pounce per combat PLUS the Fiend Totem (or whatever other totem you want). Beast Totem is essentially 3 rage power slots for pounce. The natural armor is useless to many barbarian builds (e.g. CAGM) and the claw attacks are generally worse than a 2H weapon unless you're cheesing natural attacks somehow.

My group has never played that Uncanny Dodge lets you take actions before your first turn in the initiative order, it just lets you not be flat-footed. An immediate action is still an action you have to take. Is there an official ruling on that somewhere?

I realize this is an old thread, but if anyone is still paying attention, Superstition gives its bonus regardless of whether or not you are raging. You only have to make saves against friendly spells while raging though.

Otherwise, the spell itself would annul all the non-lethal damage that it converts, since it provides DR 5/lethal.

The ability states that you only get the DR 5/nonlethal if the attack deals nonlethal damage normally, so it wouldn't provide DR 5 against the converted damage either way. I'm not sure how much of a basis for your interpretation that is though.

Also, the spell DR and Invulnerable Rager non-lethal DR would not stack.

I agree on this point. DR generally does not stack.

Why are you differentiating between when the damage is applied for whether or not DR works? At one point in time you're not taking any nonlethal damage. Then, at another point in time after the ablative armor kicks in, you are taking 5 points on nonlethal damage. Why would it skip DR only in this situation? Normally the DR would apply whenever you take the associated type of damage.

I have the same question, but with an added complication: Invulnerable Rager. The Invulnerable Rager archtype for the Barbarian provides DR equal to half your class level and nonlethal DR equal to your class level. How does this interact with ablative armor?

Furthermore, what happens if an attack deals both lethal and nonlethal damage? Would ablative armor provide or increase the invulnerable rager's nonlethal DR against the nonlethal damage and then convert 5 points of the lethal to nonlethal? Would you combine the 5 converted points with the base nonlethal damage done before applying nonlethal DR or would they be applied separately?

alreadytaken wrote:

Rob McCreary wrote:

Actually, her stat block is correct. She gets ice storm as a 3rd-level spell at 6th level from her winter patron (Ultimate Magic 83). The winter witch prestige class's hyperboreal patronage adds those spells to a winter witch's spell list at the listed class levels, not as spells of that level, so wall of ice is a still a 4th level spell, but it was added to Nazhena's spell list when she took her third level in the prestige class (she also gets it from her patron at 6th level, so either way she gets it, but it's still a 4th-level spell).

Sorry, Jim. :)

I don't follow. The patron description says that they get the spells added to their spells known at the listed levels but does not say that it changes the spell level, which would mean that Ice Storm is still a 4th level spell. The only difference I see between this and the Winter Witch's Hyperboreal Patronage ability is that Hyperboreal Patronage only adds it to their list while the Winter Patron adds it to their known spells (i.e. don't have to make a check to learn it). I still don't see anything that changes the spell level in either case.

It's true that the patron description doesn't say the patron spells change their level, but a 6th-level winter witch cannot cast a 4th-level spell. All of the witch patrons grant nine spells at points when a witch can cast them - spells which, for the most part, a witch would not otherwise be able to cast. It doesn't make sense for a patron to grant a spell that a witch can't cast. All witches get ice storm as a 4th-level spell; winter witches get it at one level lower because they are winter witches, and it fits their theme (and ice storm is not that powerful of a 4th-level spell anyway).

Ok, so it is completely implicit. Maybe I'm in the minority here but I really don't like that it's implicit. There are potential benefits to adding a spell to your class list before you can actually cast spells of that spell level, so it is not obvious to me that this is implicit. For example, casting scrolls of spells on your spell list of a higher level than you can cast currently. Otherwise you would have to have UMD to use a scroll of it. I see the point here that the spell is already on their class list but at a higher level, but it's still confusing since the text does not say it modifies the spell level.

Actually, her stat block is correct. She gets ice storm as a 3rd-level spell at 6th level from her winter patron (Ultimate Magic 83). The winter witch prestige class's hyperboreal patronage adds those spells to a winter witch's spell list at the listed class levels, not as spells of that level, so wall of ice is a still a 4th level spell, but it was added to Nazhena's spell list when she took her third level in the prestige class (she also gets it from her patron at 6th level, so either way she gets it, but it's still a 4th-level spell).

Sorry, Jim. :)

I don't follow. The patron description says that they get the spells added to their spells known at the listed levels but does not say that it changes the spell level, which would mean that Ice Storm is still a 4th level spell. The only difference I see between this and the Winter Witch's Hyperboreal Patronage ability is that Hyperboreal Patronage only adds it to their list while the Winter Patron adds it to their known spells (i.e. don't have to make a check to learn it). I still don't see anything that changes the spell level in either case.

I think you're confusing "use" and "wield." If you attack, you're using the weapon, which requires your off-hand. Just because you then let go and are no longer wielding the weapon with your off-hand doesn't negate the fact that you've already used a weapon with that hand, and thus lose the buckler's AC bonus until your next turn. You then regain the AC bonus at the beginning of your next turn, so it would apply against enemy AoOs while you move, up until you attack again.

However, I agree it's not necessarily that cheesy, since you're trading reduced damage for increased AC.

Yeah, you are correct, but only because (as I was unaware) the buckler specifically states that you lose it's AC bonus "until your next turn" if you attack with the appendage wielding the buckler.

I'll also note that you would not even threaten any squares when holding a 2H weapon in one hand, so it's a bit worse than just not getting to take any AoOs. However it might work well with a Bastard Sword as I mentioned.

Interesting this seems like a cheesy way around it my dm wouldn't go forbit

Cheesy? It would only work with bucklers, since they are strapped to your arm and thus would not require an action to pick up. Plus it appears to be well within the RAW unless you can point out something I missed. This is a pretty common tactic. How do you think a wizard holding a staff, a 2H weapon, casts spells?

Buckler wrote:

You can also use your shield arm to wield a weapon (whether you are using an off-hand weapon or using your off hand to help wield a two-handed weapon), but you take a –1 penalty on attack rolls while doing so. This penalty stacks with those that may apply for fighting with your off hand and for fighting with two weapons. In any case, if you use a weapon in your off hand, you lose the buckler's Armor Class bonus until your next turn. You can cast a spell with somatic components using your shield arm, but you lose the buckler's Armor Class bonus until your next turn. You can't make a shield bash with a buckler.

Emphasis mine.

This is misleading in that it is incomplete. With a 2H weapon, it is a free action to remove or re-grip your weapon with one of your hands, and you can do each once per round (i.e. ungrip and grip, or vice-versa, once per round). So you could release your weapon with one hand at the end of your turn to allow you to get the buckler bonus between turns, and re-grip at the beginning of your own turn to make attacks again. This would have two side-effects:

Basically, you CAN get the buckler bonus to AC in between your own attacks, but at the cost of being able to make AoOs unless you use a 1-or-2H weapon and are OK with the lower Str damage bonus when in "defensive" (1H) mode.