nthrun5000's page

Hi Rafim, I found your post while considering a similar build focused around battering blast. Here are some thoughts I've had

A the Karma Prayer Bead would give you an additional +4 CL, though its a limited use/day and very expensive item. You'd need to find another +1 CL somewhere to make it worthwhile in the end, though it would advance your progression in earlier levels.

I hadn't seen Secret of the Impossible Kingdom, that's a nice find. There is Gifted Adept, +1 CL trait on a single spell, but its a Magic Trait not a Regional Trait. Similarly there is the Wayang Spell Hunter regional trait that would reduce metamagic costs on Battering Blast. Taking these two traits is identical effect to the two you selected, but the regions are different, if that matters to your game.

Also, that +90 Bull Rush check is amazing, and it's worth considering taking Bull Rush related feats/items. Some work, some don't.

Greater Bull Rush (requires Power Attack, Improved Bull Rush) makes your enemies movement provoke AOOs. Your allies would love that. This line of feats also gets you +4 on your check, which is almost another 5 feet of movement.

Merciless Rush lets you deal your str mod in damage when you bull rush. Spiked Destroyer lets you make an AOO with your armor spikes when you Bull Rush, hard to say if these feats function with Battering Blast.

There are a variety of magic items that boost your Bull Rush check, the Crimson Thorny Ioun stone is a cheap +2, I might skip on the rest.

Nardoz Zardoz wrote:

Hi Mark!

What kind of action is it to activate the wizard arcane discovery Time Stutter? No action type is listed, but SLAs default to whatever action is required by the parent spell.

If Time Stutter requires a Standard Action (like Time Stop), all Time Stutter does is give you an extra move/swift action per each use.

The fact that Time Stutter has no activation listed, makes me think it is meant to be free, but a fellow player thinks it should be standard.

"You can briefly step out of time, pausing the world around you. This ability acts as the time stop spell, except that you gain only 1 round of apparent time. You can use this ability once per day plus one additional time for every 5 wizard levels you possess beyond 10th."

I think it's standard by default. An extra move and swift (particularly when the enemies are frozen, so no AoOs or the like) is still not too shabby.

Yeah, I suppose it isn't too shabby, just not as exciting as the text would initially lead you believe. Might be worth the feat, might not be, depends how well you can utilize those extra swifts and moves I guess.

Some clarifying text in the feat would be nice. I'm sure a lot people don't realize the action cost on their first read through. But I won't hold my breath for it.

EDIT: Oh and thanks for answering! I don't want to seem ungrateful. Paizo's willingness to interact directly with the players is one of the things I really like about you guys.

Hi Mark!

What kind of action is it to activate the wizard arcane discovery Time Stutter? No action type is listed, but SLAs default to whatever action is required by the parent spell.

If Time Stutter requires a Standard Action (like Time Stop), all Time Stutter does is give you an extra move/swift action per each use.

The fact that Time Stutter has no activation listed, makes me think it is meant to be free, but a fellow player thinks it should be standard.

"You can briefly step out of time, pausing the world around you. This ability acts as the time stop spell, except that you gain only 1 round of apparent time. You can use this ability once per day plus one additional time for every 5 wizard levels you possess beyond 10th."

From what I can recall, one of the reasons SLAs were allowed to qualify for item creation feats was a number of monsters that have such feats, but lack any "real" spell casting.

Here is my short list after some searching for "Wondrous Item"

Cthulhu (Wondrous Item)
Kostchtchie (Wondrous Item, Arms and Armor, Construct)
Baphomet (Wondrous Item, Arms and Armor, Construct)
Nocticula (Wondrous Item, Arms and Armor, Construct)
Pazazu (Wondrous Item, Arms and Armor, Construct, Rod)
Formian Queen (Wondrous Item)

Someone better tell the Demon Lords their builds aren't legal anymore.

James Risner wrote:

Legowaffles wrote:

Honestly. I'd be happy if they actually gave us the reason it was change.

My guess is it was something a previous dev member pushed to do and now he is gone no one is defending SLA counting as pre reqs.

No. All three of us thought it was an interesting idea.

So don't leave us in suspense. Why did the dev team reverse direction on this FAQ?

I had an old PC that was a Wizard/Diabolist and I used the Imp Companion's SLAs to qualify it for item crafting feats. It seemed like a very reasonable use of my imp companion! Too bad it's an illegal build now.

I think the FAQ ruling affects the Rage Prophet PRC

"At 2nd level and every even level thereafter, a rage prophet learns an additional spell from his spirit guide. These spells are in addition to those listed in Table: Oracle Spells Known. Like spells from an oracle’s mystery, the rage prophet cannot exchange these spells for different spells at higher levels. The rage prophet must be able to cast oracle spells of the listed level to learn one of these spells from his spirit guide. The rage prophet treats the spell as an oracle spell of the listed level. The possible spells are arcane eye (4th), augury (2nd), divination (4th), dream (5th), find the path (6th), helping hand (3rd), see invisibility (2nd), shadow walk (6th), speak with dead (3rd), spectral hand (2nd), spiritual weapon (2nd), unseen servant (1st), vision (7th), and whispering wind (2nd)."

Note that it never uses the term "spell list". It also doesn't fall under the category of a class modifying its own spells known, since the Rage Prophet PRC modifies the Oracle list. Most of the spells are already on the Oracle list, but Spectral Hand isn't.

There could be other PRCs out there that have similar problems.

I am really getting tired of this over use of extremely vague terms like "niche" "concept" "not distinct enough" and so on without even trying to attempt to define the terms you us.

Its a common tactic used when someone is trying to push their opinion as fact and its pretty easy to see though.

You don't like it that's fine. Don't buy/use it. But trying to pretend that you not liking it makes it factually bad/wrong/poor is low brow at best.

Ah, that's a fair point. I work as an art critic for a newspaper and I'm in the habit of writing my subjective opinions as objective descriptions (as a matter of the newspapers' style guidelines). I tend to cut out "It's my opinion" or "I think that" or other such phrases that would indicate I understand my opinion to be subjective and not fact.

But I think my examples in regards to niches and concepts are clear enough. A rogue and slayer overlap the same niche. As a matter of design principle, I think adding fewer classes and supporting the existing classes is a better way to provide options. These classes have portions that are backwards and forwards compatible with non-hybrid classes (spell lists, most importantly!). But in the end, they will undoubtedly get less support than non-hybrid classes. A future supplement writer designing an archetpye will be way more likely to write a Rogue or Ranger archetype than a Slayer archetype.

3.5 had a bunch of base classes that received little to no support beyond their initial publications (Hex Blade, Dragon Shaman, Duskblade, Healer, Spirit Shaman, Marshal, etc). Because of that, many of them rarely see use (if they do, its likely a dip). If Sorcerer's and Bloodrager's select from the same set of Bloodlines, I bet the Bloodrager will see more use and therefore be a better product (in my opinion).

Reading the playtest, here's my initial responses- broken into 3 main topics.

Fail to Create new Niches: Other new classes in PF have offered unique niches not filled by existing classes (Bombs for the Alchemist, Summoners with their single bound unique monster, Magus combining fighting and casting into a smooth system). These new classes extrapolate on existing classes and fail to fit into their own unique spots. In a campaign, an NPC slayer won't seem too different than an npc rogue. The only class which seems to have a unique niche in the playtest is the bloodrager. This leads me into the next problem.

Unnecessarily Reiterating Old Content: A slayer doesn't seem to different than a rogue or ranger because it reprints a ton of existing material. The biggest offender though are the slightly adjusted and reprinted Bloodrager Bloodlines, Shaman Spirits and War Priest Blessings. These classes reprint a ton of existing content, in a slightly new package. Take a look at "Slayer's Finesse", Slayer's can select Weapon Finesse as a Talent. What a waste of text space! Just indicate a bonus feat list, quickly and cleanly.

Diluting Support for other Base Classes: Many of the new base classes (I'm thinking Oracle, Witch, Cavalier, Summoner) are under supported when compared to the original base classes in the Core Rule Book. There are way more Cleric Domains than Witch Patrons for example. It's a shame these new hybrid classes aren't "backwards compatible" offering new options to the classes they hybridize. More disappointing the new hybrid classes aren't "forwards compatible", meaning that if a future book publishes a new Sorcerer Bloodline, it won't be compatible with the Bloodrager, unless a special blood rager variant is also presented.

These feats need some Errata.

1. Final Embrace is a redundant feat for any creature which already has constrict (as the Universal Grab ability works on creatures of the same size as of Bestiary2). I suggest the next two feats in the chain have their prereqs adjusted so as to not make Final Embrace a prereq when it is redundant for the creature (3.0 this would be legal, under Sword and Fists idea of Virtual Feats)

2. Final Horror should state whether you can stack this effect, moving up the chain of fear conditions shaken/frightened/panicked. I assume currently you can with RAW.

3. Final Embrace Horror and Final Embrace master both require Ability Focus(Constrict). Constrict isn't a legal option for Ability Focus, since it does not have a DC. If this was meant as a "feat tax" as suggested in another thread, it should at least be a legal feat option.

Am I missing anything here? Or has there been any ruling on these matters?

Alright, I've searched the boards and I see this has been talked over a few times, with different results.

Lets say my eidolon has 3 bite attacks, and the Grab quality. My eidolon full attacks, and grabs 3 different enemies. On its next turn, can it as a standard action, maintain those 3 grapples? Or would it only be allowed to continue the grapple on a single opponent(the grapple rules would seem to indicate this). Does the option to "simply to use the part of its body it used in the grab to hold the opponent. If it chooses to do the latter, it takes a –20 penalty" allow it to grab/grapple multiple opponents.

What does seem clear is that it could full attack, grab multiple enemies, and then at the beginning of its next action, drop the grapples as a free action, full attack/grab and repeat this each round.

Any official consensus on this?