stormRunner47's page

I suppose I see it now. If I do a full attack (Bite, Claw, Claw) and grapple on the last claw, then the Flurry of Maneuver would allow me to maintain the grapple (damage). For an "extra attack." I think.

If going with grappling, note that the Maneuver Master's free Flurry of Maneuvers maneuver (I'm so tired of typing maneuver...) can be used to make a free grapple check of any kind, including maintaining grapple, which is damned good.

The only problem i see with that is the wording:

...as part of a full-attack action, a maneuver master can make one additional combat maneuver...

This seems to disqualify it for use with the feats Greater Grapple and Rapid Grappler as those don't utilize a full-attack action.

I'm trying to fit Flurry of Maneuvers into the before mentioned action economy but I'm not coming up with anything... :(

Thanks, Grandlounge!

Here you can do a few things.

2.1) Release the opponent and take a full attack (this would be when you had haste, most likely) and full attack (see 1 above, but no rake)

2.2) Roll to maintain (make them prone with raging grappler) > pick an option (let's say damage)> do grapple damage > make rake attacks > do additional damage like constrict

Hmmm...so option 2.1 doesnt really require any feats, while...

option 2.2 CAN require quite a few (Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, Greater Grapple, Rapid Grappler, Raging Grappler from Barbarian), but does add more control and possibly more damage (3 maintain grapples + rake)

Also, I like the theme of the Dire Tiger (instead of an eventual Giant land squid for optimization). Anyway to get constrict as a tiger? Just Anaconda Coils?

I'm trying to understand the action economy with this Dire Tiger build. Explain it to me very simply.

1) Opening combat: I'm guessing I pounce with 5 attacks.
But if a grab connects...what happens? I'm grappling now. Do I lose all the subsequent attacks?
Am I supposed to release as a free action? I'd assume even if I immediately release, I still dont get those attacks back.

2) Starting my turn in a grapple: do i take the damage option from mantaining a grapple with rake? or do I do some release shenanigans?

Please help me understand. Thanks

Thanks for the advice, Grandlounge. I had a tough time understanding your point though. It seems your saying anything is fine, as the build is inherently powerful.

You did mention 5 attacks with pounce. That is true: Bite, Claw, Claw, Rake (Claw, Claw). But if I understand the Grab mechanic and grappling correctly, the moment one of those attacks initiates a grapple, all the rest of those attacks are lost. So effectively, I have only 1 or 2 attacks on initial approach.

Then, on the next turn while grappling, without Greater Grapple and Rapid Grappler, a Dire Tiger only has the damage option from maintaining the grapple once and a rake (Claw, Claw). Its nothing to scoff at, but seems pretty average.

Yes, with Planar Wild Shape, I have smite ONCE a day. With a CHA of 10, that doesnt provide an attack bonus though, just a damage bonus = to HD. The current build doesnt have Raging Grappler as that was the question whether to sacrifice spell casting for that.

Frostbite can be a bit funky with the action economy without Quicken.

I also still suffer penalties for the Grappled condition.

Also, as far as i can tell i dont need Feral Combat Training and didnt include it in my build, as Flurry doesnt add much here as I already have three natural attacks. The taking of monk was mostly for the Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple so I could save a few feat slots on my way up to Greater Grapple.

Trying to figure out all these convoluted mechanics.

So I have a skald that does this exact thing. Planer wildshape for smite is great (though better on the skald for the CHA).

If you want rage furious guardian' ulfen guard is a great way to get it. The reason is Raging Grappler (Ex) is an amazing rage power you can grapple and make enemies prone (this is not a trip) which helps you hit and maintain. You also when you 'succeed at a check to start a grapple, you can choose to deal damage as if you had also succeeded at a check to maintain the grapple'. This means you can catch and release with pounce to do a silly amount of damage.

I love the Raging Grappler rage power. It's why I've so debated whether or not to take a second level in Barbarian to get it. I don't know though...the options are thus:

1. I can take that second level of barbarian, but I lose out on some upper end druid spell slots, slow the progress of my existing casting, and lose some advancement of my animal companion.

2. I can replace the level of Monk with a second in Barbarian, but then I lose free Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple, which means I'd probably drop the eventual Greater Grapple and Rapid Grappler.

3. I can drop the idea of a full caster Druid and animal companion by making my build Druid 4, Monk X, Barbarian X.

If I'm interpreting this correctly...

Flurry of Maneuvers: At 1st level, as part of a full-attack action, a maneuver master can make one additional combat maneuver, regardless of whether the maneuver normally replaces a melee attack or requires a standard action. The maneuver master uses his monk level in place of his base attack bonus to determine his CMB for the bonus maneuvers, though all combat maneuver checks suffer a –2 penalty when using a flurry.

It seems unless I go full monk, the efficacy of Flurry of Maneuvers greatly diminishes.

If your DM is enforcing alignment restrictions then you may have an issue, Martial Artist Monk Alt class will allow you to combine with Chaotic Barbarian levels.

For that very purpose I've decided to go with a level in Bloodrager instead of Barbarian.

Technically, since I'm only taking 1 level in Monk, I could transition my alignment to Neutral (which I'm planning on doing anyway for RP) to take Barbarian, but Bloodrager has some interesting benefits as a 1 level dip when you take the Urban Bloodrager and Id Rager archetypes.

If the focus is on combat, I'd say 1 or maybe 2 levels of multiclassing is easy to do if there's a good reason. Losing a half level or maybe one level of casting is a fair trade for being much stronger at what a character does almost every round.

Yeah, from what you and Dave Justus have said, I'm thinking of being an Aasimar and choosing Druid Animal Companion with he following progression:

1)Druid (Lion Shaman) 1, Feat: Celestial Servant
2)Unchained Monk 1 (Bonus Feat: Improved Grapple)
3)Blood Rager 1 (Urban Bloodrager / Id Rager (Emotional Focus: Dedication)) Feat: Toughness
4)Druid (Lion Shaman) 2
5) Druid (Lion Shaman) 3 Feat: Natural Spell
6) Druid (Lion Shaman) 4
7) Druid (Lion Shaman) 5 Feat: Planar Wild Shape

Another pseudo-pounce options is the Unchained Monks Style Strike: Flying Kick. It’s taken as part of Flurry it Blows and allows the user to travel their Fast Movement Bonus before the Flurry. Pretty powerful.

Could someone help me understand Feral Comat Training? Is it necessary for natural attacks to take advantage of Feats like Improved Grapple and Greater Grapple?

Hey guys, I'm looking to take a character from level 1 to 20 for an upcoming campaign. Conceptually, my character will develop into a Neutral Good martial Druid that spends most of the day as a Dire Tiger. I've already spoken to the GM about scaling the Dire Tiger up and down depending on the power level of the Wild shape I'm using so as to remain consistent thematically.

Also because I wish to remain in Wild Shape for so long, I'm leaning towards taking the majority of my levels in Druid. His main method of attack will be pouncing and grappling his foes. This leads to some questions in build optimization.

1)As the Druid is 3/4 BAB AND my main method of engagement in combat will be pre-buffing followed all out melee, will my to hit be adequate?

2)How do I optimize my grapple and number of attacks? I will use the Dire Tiger's natural attacks with Grab to start all grapples. This provides a +4 to start and maintain grapples.The following are options I've researched. Are they worth? Any other options I don't know of?
a. The Brutal Pugilist archetype for the Barbarian is an option for reduced grapple penalties and increased CMB, but I'd need to take more levels in Barbarian than intended.
b.The Barbarian rage Power "Raging Grappler" provides damage on starting a grapple and the ability to put the opponent prone for additional penalties.
c. Should I be looking to pick up Improved Grapple and Greater Grapple - for the bonus to CMB and the second grapple check (damage)?

3) What do the monk levels add? Is it just WIS to AC and Improved Unarmed Strike in conjunction with Feral Combat Training for access to Improved Grapple?

Does Flurry of Blows from Monk really help? Dire Tiger already has three primary natural attacks.

4) What type of Druid spells lend toward a melee-centric combat style? I've heard of Strong Jaw and Greater Magic Fang. Never really played a Druid before. Intend on taking Natural Spell for tiger casting.

5) Attribute allocation? Was thinking STR>WIS>CON>DEX>INT>CHA, but maybe CON>WIS?

I'd appreciate any suggestions and level by level builds that would optimize this concept thanks. :)

Bump

Is there a more comprehensive list of Perception DC modifiers than is listed at d20pfsrd? Shouldn't things like cover and concealment increase the DC of Perception checks.

Just looking at cover there is Partial Cover, normal Cover, and Improved Cover - each which might feasibly make it more difficult to perceive something.

Similarly, concealment and its varying degrees feasibly makes creatures/objects more difficult to see. However, it seems that invisibility is the only thing associated with concealment that provides a DC modifier.

I am aware that concealment and cover interact with the Stealth skill and thereby indirectly alter the Perception DC by making it an opposed check, but what about for objects or creatures that dont have or choose not to make a Stealth roll - are there any static modifiers for cover or concealment i those cases.

Cover Example: Perception check to see a statue in the open vs. minimally covered by low wall vs. half covered by tree vs. almost completely obsured by foliage.

I'm sure these rules have been discussed extensively already. I have read several forums with convoluted answers. So here are a few questions with examples. (All rules references will be to material on d20pfsrd).

1) The Perception skill mentions DC modifiers for Perception Modifiers. What about opposed rolls like Stealth? Is an opposed roll a DC and do modifiers like Distracted, Distance to Source, and Through a Wall become bonuses to the opposes Stealth roll?

2)Line of Sight...Is it assumed that every PC, NPC with its eyes open has full 360° 'line of sight? Are there any rulings or precedences on the reality that many creatures have limited fields of vision?

-Say a thief wanted to sneak by a guard. There is no cover. It is normal light. By Pathfinder rules, without cover or concealment, Stealth checks aren't usually possible. Does having ones back turned grant concealment to creatures behind them and allow them to make Stealth checks?

-And looking at Perception DC modifiers would the sneaking creature get a +20 because they are effectively invisible to the creature whose back is turned?

3) Per the Perception rules, Perception checks can be either reactive, made in response to observable stimulus, or intentional. It seems realistic that every reactive Perception roll should be made with the Distracted penalty (if your not actively, intentionally perceiving, you're doing something else and so should be considered distracted). This is mostly opinion as I feel someone actively perceiving should be better at it than someone not actively perceiving.

I currently am roleplaying a Samsaran Psychic with a focus on Necromancy, especially the possession spells.

On d20PFSRD, the Possession spell description states:

"You keep your Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, level, class, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, alignment, and mental abilities."

-and-

"The body retains its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, hit points, natural abilities, and automatic abilities."

-and-

"You can’t activate the body’s extraordinary or supernatural abilities, nor can you cast any of its spells or spell-like abilities."

Most of this is clear except: "The body retains its...natural abilities and automatic abilities." How are these two things defined? Does it include all passive extraordinary and supernatural abilities, DR, Energy Resistance, Spell Resistance, Fast Healing, etc?

Also, how do feats work with Possession? What if the creature being possessed has Toughness? Does that still apply to the Hit Points of the body? What if the creature possessing has Toughness and the possessed creature does not--does the body gain hit points?

Hey, guys. I'm in a campaign right now running a level 4 Psychic that specializes in enchantment magic. I need advice, mostly about spell selection, to create a super subtle yet powerful enchanter.

My goal is to become similar to Killgrave (The Purple Man) from Marvel. I would like to subtly mind control people without detection until they become minions/loyal servants. What spells allow for this sort of subtle indoctrination?

Sure there's Dominate Person eventually, but im also looking for ways (either through spells or skills) to truly brainwash others into serving and following me.

Do any spells create lasting effects that could acomplish this? All i can think of is Sow Thoughts. Can Charm Person/Dominate Person actually change an NPC's views, or is it only the duration of the spell?

Or are such permanent changes only the purview of the social skills?

Also, being an Int caster, my diplomacy is a bit lacking. I've stacked my Bluff to 19 at level 4, but any advice in uping Diplomacy would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hey

I'm building a character right now that is a Sorcerer with the False Priest archetype. To complete the illusion, I've taken False Casting so people think I'm casting of my own power and not from the divine scrolls I'll have on my person.

The question is, how do I access these scrolls/wands without any one knowing?

I'm thinking I need some sort of bag of holding with the Handy Haversack function of drawing exactly what I'm looking for as a move action? I don't want to be fumbling around in combat for scrolls when others think I'm a cleric of sorts.

I would prefer that most magic items on my character also be concealed magically.

I'm pretty new to Pathfinder, so help me out on all the magic items and spells that will help me conceal myslef not only as a fake priest, but of anything magical.

Thanks

stormRunner47 wrote:

Wow, thanks guys for all your input!

Ive spoken to my GM about concealed casting and we will be ignoring the FAQ about manifestations, making feats like Cunning Caster and Concealed Spell unnecessary.

I disagree with this - while ignoring the manifestation FAQ you still have to deal with material verbal and somatic components - you can take feats for each of these but they can raise the spell level and makes it hard to use at level 1.

A single feat to do all the above without making you use metamagic (especially if the manifestations are gone) seems like a deal of a feat to me.

Sorry, that was in reference to the Psychic bloodline.

The false priest archetype really hurts a psychic sorcerer. They like that 9th level bloodline ability, especially in combo with id insinuation. The replacement's good, but it still hurts.

Also, I realized that with the False Priest archetype, Eschew Materials is replaced, so even if I had the Psychic Bloodline Arcana, I would either still need to pick up Eschew Materials, or take Cunning Caster to mask the use of the False Focus.

After further research, I've narrowed some of my favorite bloodlines down to Arcane, Psychic, and Serpentine. What do you all think of these with my character concept?

How good/bad would Cross-blooded be with any combination of Arcane, Psychic, and Serpentine?

Wow, thanks guys for all your input!

Ive spoken to my GM about concealed casting and we will be ignoring the FAQ about manifestations, making feats like Cunning Caster and Concealed Spell unnecessary.

Still, I'm thinking about taking Subtle Enchantment.

Looks like its between the Psychic and the Psychic Bloodline Sorcerer.

The Psychic class looks fun, but i was really looking forward to taking the False Priest archetype for sorcerer and pretending I was a cleric the whole time, both in and out of the game.

Any suggestions on magic items and feats to increase the effectiveness of the build (casting enchantment, illusion spells, using Bluff)?

Also, any recommendations for spells (both general utility and specific to a master puppeteer)?

Could someone give me a quick rundown of Cunning Caster vs Conceal spell. Im getting conflicting reports on different threads.

From what Ive learned:

Cunning Caster is an opposed check (Bluff or Disguise) vs Perception, Sense Motive, or Spellcraft. But most people say it doesnt disguise the "magic manifestations", only that YOU were the one that cast the spell.

Conceal spell apparently hides these magical manifestations AND your casting with a DC of 15 + Bluff ranks + CHA vs Per/SenseMotive/Spellcraft.

I'd prefer hiding the fact that a spell was cast completely. Pls help with understanding the complete way to be sneaky.

Also, what is the check to recognize these "magic manifestations?" Can and does everyone get a chance at recognizing them?

Thanks

Hey, guys. I'm relatively new to Pathfinder and this community. I've learned a lot from you all ready.

To get to the point, my friends and I are rolling characters for a new campaign:
-25 point buy
-starting at lvl 1
-using any official sources

Personality and Motivation
-Lawful (believes and follows a code of honor and works well with others to achieve his goals.
-Evil (acts selfishly when he can without discovery, sees others as disposable)
-Seeks personal power through money, influence, magical power

The vision for my character's abilities is as follows:
-Lawful Evil (I've already approved this with the GM)
-Can keep his true identity (alignment, goals, personality) a secret from NPC's and PC's alike.
-Doesn't necessarily need to be the party face, but would help to manipulate events
-Has the ability to cast without detection so he can manipulate environmental or social events while the party is interacting with them (will be avoiding most direct PC manipulation)
--Examples: mentally influencing NPC's, starting a fire, making illusions (all without other PC knowledge
-Relatively competent Blaster/utility in combat
-Ability to gather intel on others (including PC's through mind reading, surveillance)

The GM is okay with these shenanigans, as long as it doesn't destabilize the party. To prevent an meta info about my character being revealed to the other characters, any of these shenanigans would be texted to my GM in secret. My intent is to play a puppet master, not a "steal from the players and be a general jerk."

I was thinking sorcerer because I like the flavor, but I'm open to suggestions.

Any advice on class, magic items, feats, archetypes, traits, spells, and Attribute allocations would be appreciated. Thanks!