hello! looking for fun more than power, so yeah elephant in the room STR is better for polearms for many reasons, but lets have some fun! :) i like the idea of twirling around a polearm and dancing around the combat field. the core of the build will be three unchained rogue levels, and either the shelyn bladed brush feat or spear dancing spiral. SDS is really feat intense but gives you the coveted "quarterstaff abilities" which opens up a whole can of nacho cheese to play with. possibly flurries, possibly aestetic style and other unarmed combat styles dependingg on your monk archetype, quarterstaff master, you know fun stuff. quarterstaff master itself requires either a level of magus or weap focus quarterstaff which is kind of a wasted feat unless you read it as a way to basically get weapon focus twice for your polearm (because you need weap focus polearm for the spiral chain anyway). what ideas or shinanegans can yall think of, and what classes would offer good synergy beyond the three UC roggue levels? i want active combat and not just standing still and rolling to hit. high dex, con, and int are my basic stats. :)
what ways exist to weild a weapon with just your mind. spells? class features/feat combos? dancing weapon does it, so on a related question, what classes/archetypes/prestige classes do we know can temporarily make weapons dance? i know magi get it at level 5 but cant use it for a while because its +4. any other magic items or monster powers out there?
so yes you can kind of play pathfinder 1e with chatgpt and i spent several hours saving a village from goblins, raised their lair, built a magical farm, and even formed a guild with those I met along the way. but it has some flaws, like long term memory, confusing npcs sometimes, etc. i even asked it to run both kingmaker and rise of the runelords for me and to my surprise it started both games correctly! but then after meeting lady jamanji, it forgot what it was doing, switched am my npcs around, and sent me on an adventure to get artifacts from the mwangai Expanse.
so what's my point? my point is: Dear Paizo, i would give you infinity dollars to develop one of your modules with the chat gpt api to be played all the way through solo with chatgpt as both the GM and the other players. Infinity dollars. :)
and no, i dont want to replace my GM. humans are fonts of creativity and i love that irreplaceable experience, i just want something to causually play on my phone throughout the day to scratch the itch until game night :) plus intrigue and stealth missions are soooo much more fun when your not holding up the game session or having your stealth be irrelevant because of the half orc in full plate walking behind you.... :)
Have any of you had a good chatgpt game experience?
just like the title, can mischievous tail attack with improvised weapons?
Evidence for it:
1. MT can hold objects
2. ImpWe aren't weapons, they are objects
3. MT can be used to attack. combat maneuvers (spelled out as legal in the feat description) are attacks.
Quote:
Mischievous Tail
Your tail seems to have a mind of its own.
Prerequisite(s): Dex 15, Grasping Tail, you must have a tail.
Benefit(s): You can use your tail for all purposes as though it were a free hand, though you cannot effectively wield weapons or shields with it (you can still carry such objects with your tail, as long as such an object could also be comfortably carried in a hand normally). In addition, you gain a +2 bonus on disarm and steal combat maneuvers and Sleight of Hand checks performed using only your tail, and combat maneuvers performed this way do not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Quote:
Improvised Weapons
Sometimes objects not crafted to be weapons nonetheless see use in combat. Because such objects are not designed for this use, any creature that uses an improvised weapon in combat is considered to be nonproficient with it and takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls made with that object. To determine the size category and appropriate damage for an improvised weapon, compare its relative size and damage potential to the weapon list to find a reasonable match. An improvised weapon scores a threat on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a critical hit. An improvised thrown weapon has a range increment of 10 feet.
Okay, I think I'm just about done shopping what kind of character I am making, and I'm hoping for some advice on how to sew it together! :) It's currently tri-class, and its feeling a bit diluted and aimless. Maybe a strong prestige class can help make sense of it?
I've settled on a tiny fox thief, that is such a good thief it steals the elements around it (via terrokineticist). I like all the flavor, fun, and twists of the character, but I'm struggling to rein it all in with the multiclasses. The character would dip in and out of fox shape, but predominantly hang out as a tiny fox and uses mischievous tail to steal like a boss.
Core character concepts: ROLE - melee with the option to shoot on surprise rounds, high rogue-like skills (disable/slight/acro) and magic traps. A big focus on stealth. I want a damage source that is irrelevant to size, like kinetic blast and sneak attack. Reach is good too.
Quote:
CLASS 1: Terrokineticist - archetype that changes (or steals) its elemental focus based off what ranger terrain you are in. Pure Aether is better for the thief concept, but after reading Terrokineticist it just sounded so fun to suddenly find yourself with a whole other toolkit for an encounter. I love the idea of elemental overflow changing my fur color as I walk into a dungeon or find a fire shrine in the middle of the woods. Really cool RP stuff.
CLASS 2: a trap springer class (so unchained rogue, slayer, trapper ranger, either of the seekers) the popular campaign trait for traps is not an option.
CLASS 3 - one level of Mouser so that I can flank inside enemy squares
RACE: Kitsune for free fox shape, i'd love to do 9 tails some day but no feat economy for it. +Cha or +int depending on how the classes work out.
20 point buy: In fox for the stat array would be either 6/22/14/10/10/16 or 6/22/14/16/10/10 depending. I prefer int in general, but mouser makes good use of Cha
Quote:
FEATS: For combat stuff, think "square domination." feats that I know I want are:
1. "Redirect Attack" (combined with Mouser it can be pretty powerful, though I'm worried about competitive CMB as tiny, Equality of All trait gives a +2, but the non perfect BAB hurts without feats)
2. Gasping Tail, Mischievous Tail - needed for kinetic blasting in fox form. KB specifically says KBs are never wielded and therefor should be good enough for Kinetic Blade/Whip. Once we get whip, the Fox would be in a sweet spot for the build.
3. Vulpine pounce/swift kitsune shapechanger - this is why people play kitsune right??
4. Lunge (optional) - to help with the foxes reach, but this might be moot by the time I get kinetic whip or something else with reach, like prehensile hair (if I do the rogue that gets hexes)f
I dont need the ranged suite of feats, i only want to shoot things that arent in melee. Tripping would be awesome too, just worried about the CMB. Tiny uses Dex to CMB which will greatly help in that department though.
focusing on rogue with a minor in kineticist makes midgame combat weak, lacking the major support features needed to tackle mid-end game monsters. even unchained rogue seems very lacking compared to other classes, being pretty gear dependant to check things like dr and high ac. kineticist make with a rogue minor, just feels like a kineticist behind on his high level wild talents and gets way less skills but brings major mass damage mechanics. vmc rogue could bring more flavor, but feels dirty and starves an already feat starved build. Esoteric Knight slows down everything, but brings some much needed feat support at the cost of damage. One of the million wildshape classes could bring a ton of needed utility in this build, and I could just give up on kineticist at that point, or just take a small dip in aether and call it a day.
What are your thoughts? What can you think of to help me steal the elements?? Should I just give up and play druid?? :)
equipment melds into you while shapeshifted, but usually still gives statistical benefits (other than armor and things you have to "use"). So the spirit oni feat turns on if you are wearing the mask. if you shapechange...does the gore manifest while polymorphed?
I'm inclined toward yes based off my read of the below polymorph rules, but I need some non biased opinions. :)
Quote:
Spirit Oni Master:
Through forbidden blood pacts, you have bound a spirit oni to your service.
Benefit(s): Whenever you wear a specially crafted oni mask (which costs 50 gp), you gain a primary gore attack dealing 1d4 points of damage. If you have poison use, you can apply poison to this gore attack as a move action.
Normal: Applying poison to a weapon is a standard action.
Quote:
Polymorph rules:
When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function).
This build isnt anything game breaking or anything, just wanted to be a firefox. What ideas do you all have? With two levels, and being a kitsune with fox shape, you can deal an extra 2d6 fire with a swift. Where can we expand it from there? 16 levels of druid for better shapes maybe?
Elemental Ascetic
Spoiler:
Elemental Flurry (Su)
At 1st level, an elemental ascetic gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. He gains the kinetic fist form infusion and it costs 0 points of burn instead of 1 point of burn. When using the kinetic fist form infusion with a full attack, he can make a flurry of blows as the monk class feature. He must use only his fists to make this flurry, no matter what other abilities he possesses.
Like a monk, he can use this ability only when unarmored, not using a shield, and unencumbered. He can’t use his kinetic blast without a form infusion, nor can he ever use his kinetic blast with the chain, extended range, extreme range, foe throw, flurry of blasts, many throw, or snake form infusions, or with any other form infusion that requires a ranged attack roll or ranged touch attack roll.
This ability alters kinetic blast and replaces elemental overflow.
Elementalist Shifter
Spoiler:
Elemental Strike (Su)
At 1st level, as a swift action, an elementalist shifter can charge her melee attacks with elemental energy. The elementalist shifter can charge her attacks only with an element she has chosen with elemental aspect. Once charged, each melee attack the elementalist shifter makes until the start of her next turn deals an additional 1d6 points of energy damage based on the element she chooses when taking this action (see Elemental Aspects). This additional damage increases by 1d6 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, to a maximum of 6d6 points of energy damage at 20th level. An elementalist shifter can’t use elemental strike while under a polymorph effect.
This replaces shifter claws.
There's a feat chain that lets you meld weapons into wildshapes, but I'm not sure if Battle Poi would work or not to turn all melee damage into fire. It needs fuel based off its description, but it never mechanically makes reference of it. what are your thoughts? If it did, then any extra damage like power attack or sneak attack damage would also be pure fire (crocodile domain with vivisectionist dip possily). Does the flame blade spell work with weapon shift?
Spoiler:
Weapon Shift
Your melee weapons meld into your animal form.
Prerequisite(s): Wild shape class feature.
Benefit(s): When you use your wild shape ability, any melee weapons you are wielding and proficient with meld into your new form. Select one of these weapons; while in your new form, your natural attacks deal the same damage type as that weapon. Your natural attacks also gain all of the weapon’s properties (such as disarm), other than the double weapon property and the fragile weapon property; moreover, when using this feat to grant the trip property to your natural attacks, you gain a +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks to trip an enemy, but you cannot drop your weapon to avoid being tripped due to a failed trip attempt. Weapon Shift does not apply a magic weapon’s enhancement bonus to your natural attacks, nor does it grant your natural attacks any of a weapon’s magical special abilities.
Battle poi
Source Adventurer's Armory pg. 2, Legacy of Fire Player's Guide pg. 22
Statistics
Cost 5 gp Weight 2 lbs.
Damage 1d3 fire (small), 1d4 fire (medium); Critical x2; Range —; Type fire; Special —
Category Light; Proficiency Exotic
Weapon Groups Flails
Description
This pair of arm-length chains has handles at one end and heavy fuel-soaked torch heads at the other. The weight of the poi is insufficient to deal physical damage, but the burning fuel deals fire damage. If you are proficient in battle poi, you are treated as if you have the Two-Weapon Fighting feat for the purposes of making poi attacks. Poi can be extinguished by spending a full round action smothering them in sand or submerging them in water.
if we were orc we could worship the fire god and heal, but gotta be kitsune for fox shape at least. If we went orc we could just wait for wildshapes I guess. You could take human guise and then racial heritage to be any other race, but thats a big investment.
Do you flank while in your opponents square, regardless of whether you spent panache to enter someones square? for example, could a tiny fox spend all day entering squares the old fashioned way and count as flanking with the second paragraph of the deed below? I feel like you would based on how it reads, but when I read how the deeds ability itself is defined, it makes me think it might only work while activated with panache.
Deeds read like this:
Spoiler:
Deeds
Swashbucklers spend panache points to accomplish deeds. Most deeds grant the swashbuckler a momentary bonus or effect, but some provide longer-lasting effects. Some deeds remain in effect while the swashbuckler has at least 1 panache point, but do not require expending panache to be maintained. A swashbuckler can only perform deeds of her level or lower. Unless otherwise noted, a deed can be performed multiple successive times, as long as the swashbuckler has or spends the required number of panache points to perform the deed.
The Mouser deed reads like this:
Spoiler:
Underfoot Assault (Ex): At 1st level, if a foe whose size is larger than the mouser’s is adjacent to her and misses her with a melee attack, the mouser can as an immediate action spend 1 panache point to move 5 feet into an area of the attacker’s space. This movement does not count against the mouser’s movement the next round, and it doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity. While the mouser is within a foe’s space, she is considered to occupy her square within that foe’s space.
While the mouser is within her foe’s space, the foe takes a –4 penalty on all attack rolls and combat maneuver checks not made against the mouser, and all of the mouser’s allies that are adjacent to both the foe and the mouser are considered to be flanking the foe. The mouser is considered to be flanking the foe whose space she is within if she is adjacent to an ally who is also adjacent to the foe. The mouser can move within her foe’s space and leave the foe’s space unhindered and without provoking attacks of opportunity, but if the foe attempts to move to a position where the mouser is no longer in its space, the movement provokes an attack of opportunity from the mouser.
I didn't think I ever needed to ask this question, but this DnD 5e designer (Jeremy Crawford) tweeted something that changed that. I am aware that this isn't DnD 5e, but his words have sewn doubt in our group that we are now politely fighting over :)
so... two missles....is it 1d4+1 rolled once and dealt to all targets, or is it 1d4+1 and then 1d4+1. I'm hoping there is something concrete in the spellcasting rules that generally addresses this, opinions won't be enough to sway anyone in my group haha.
I want to make a paw-caster. That's right, a former animal companion that turned into a sorceror after being awakened. I know there are better things it could take, but lets have some fun and build it anyway.
goals, a still spell mechanic, spells without somatic, eschew materials. In general, ways to cast spells without exclusively using the still spell metamagic +1 modifier. Spell-like ability builds could be useful too.
Question: I've seen a lot of things that specify that creatures without hands still cant wield weapons even if they get them (like through alter self). Is there a rule for that, or is it only a thing when specified? Basically, can a cat still spell alterself or use "a thousand faces" to become humanoid and cast spells like the best of them?
Psychic could work, but we already have one in the party that i dont want to encroach upon. I know there are mechanics for silent spell already (like oracle and mute musician bard) but is there any support for still spell out there? A lot of teleport spells dont have somatic
Natural spell would work if I go druid and just wildshape into itself, but i was hoping for spontaneous caster (possibly the wisdom sorceror, and a big cat that starts with a 15 wisdom).
So far, the most promising build is a wildshaping druid. If I can get them a prehensile appendage (like 1 level of a witch hex for prehensile hair), then that helps too, but that would leave just the rogue that gets hexes because it would hurt my brain too much to have a companion with a companion (plus my party would disown me haha).
Here is a list of all sorceror spells that I know of that have no somatic components:
Spoiler:
Arcane Pocket,True Strike,Hold Portal,Knock,Dweomer Retaliation,Emergency Force Sphere,Energy Hack,Imbue With Flight,Damnation Stride,Teleport,Wracking Ray,Contact Other Plane,Teleport Structure,Ice Crystal Teleport,Teleport, Greater,Phase Door,Teleport Object,Power Word Blind,Power ,ord Stun,Prismatic Sphere,Fiery Body,Mage's Disjunction,Time Stop,Teleportation Circle,Power Word Kill,Wail of the Banshee,Vacuous Vessel,Chastise,Feather Fall,Ventriloquism,Hypnotic Pattern,Blur,Steal Voice,Suggestion,Displacement,Geas, Lesser,Triggered Suggestion, Shout,Rainbow Pattern,Dimension Door,Suggestion, Mass,Resonating Word,Irresistible Dance,Charm Monster, Mass,Storm Step,Bilocation,Flare,Flare Burst,Interplanetary Teleport,Buoyancy,Anti-Summoning Shield,Unconscious Agenda,Sundering Shards,Fool's Teleport,Sotto Voce,Darkness,Silent Table,Tongues,Lover's Vengeance,Vision of Hell,Truespeak,Geas/Quest,Baphomet's Blessing,Lighten Object, Mass,Shared Suffering,Echolocation,Planetary Adaptation,Planar Adaptation,Deja Vu,Inveigle Person,Inveigle Monster,Treacherous Teleport,Spark,Lighten Object,Thoughtsense,Telepathy,Tongues, Communal,Sure Casting,Touch Of Blindness,Blindness/Deafness,Hypercognition,Subjective Reality,Wave Shield,Oath Of Anonymity,Fleeting Memory,Fleeting Memory, Mass,Mindwipe,Speak Local Language,Apport Animal,Liberating Comand,Liberating Command,Decrepit Disguise,Anticipate Thoughts,Apport Object,Light,Mindlink,Scales Of Deflection,Raven's Flight,Tail Strike,Heightened Awareness,Knock, Mass,Psychic Reading,Dream Reality,Night Blindness,Desperate Weapon
I've seen a few threads on skald healers and always wanted to take my own swing at it. It's for an official module with a bunch of other players, so I want to have a bit of fun rather than be super optimal, but I still have some wrinkles to iron out on the build.
The whole idea is built around the advanced Divine Fighting Technique for Sarenrae
Sarenrae's Mercy
Spoiler:
Initial Benefit: You take no penalty on attack rolls for using a scimitar to deal nonlethal damage. If your attack with the scimitar would normally deal additional damage (such as via sneak attack, the flaming weapon special ability, or the like), this additional damage can be nonlethal damage. You can also alter spells with the fire, good, or light descriptor and inflict spells so that the damage they deal is nonlethal damage instead. You can choose to apply this effect as the spell is cast.
Advanced Prerequisites: Great Fortitude, Weapon Focus (scimitar), Heal 10 ranks.
Advanced Benefit: Once per round as you strike a foe with a weapon and deal nonlethal damage with that attack, you regain 1d6 hit points as the warmth of Sarenrae’s approval and the conviction that you are doing the right thing to minimize suffering infuses your body and soul. If the attack that dealt nonlethal damage was from a scimitar, you instead regain 2d6 hit points. You can gain the benefit of this healing only once per round, regardless of how many successful attacks you make with the weapon.
I did a few dozen builds and like the Skald [boaster archetype] the most so far. The idea is to use the shield other masterpiece and use celestial totem/fey foundling/fast healer to keep myself and others up with the various skald tricks.
With Sarenrae's mercy at level 10: I can potentially heal each round for 2d6+(10 from totem)+(half con modifier)+(4 from fey foundling), plus 4+(half con mod) for vigor, plus Gr Path of Glory 5+(half con mod)+10 (from totem), with Ablative Barrier (spell kenning) to basically heal an additional 5 from every heal over time source (since non lethal and lethal are healed simultaneously). On top of that, Boaster's can give the party die hard and fast healer, and all the other good skald buffs.
After 10 I was thinking to focus on giving the party extra DR, stalwart and improved stalwart as well as discordant voice.
What other healing over time things are out there to help the build? Any magic items in particular I could look into? Any dips or prestige classes? I really think the build is missing channel, but its too feat starved already to do VMC oracle. The build worries me on needing to be up front and being a little multi-ability dependent. There is an evil half orc version of this build that subs the divine technique for fire gods blessing and Amplified Rage, but its way too cheesy, even for me! :)
Okay, so I came up with a fun idea, that sounds too fun so naturally I question the legality of it because fun things are often illegal. Like J-Walking.
Question: How far can we push the limits of the words "equipment resizes to match your new size" when it comes to size changing effects?
So I made a tiny race using the race builder. He's a tiny mouse that builds dollhouses with a diminutive thrush "Mauler" familiar. He builds a "dollhouse" saddle on his dim mauler, and at level three it grows three sizes to medium as a standard action. Does my tiny mouse race now fly in style inside his size medium dollhouse castle?
Heya, so It's been a few years since I've got to make a character and I got some ideas that I need help with. I can't seem to get the first 5 of this build to be realistic for a character that has to exist as it's concept from day/level 1.
Goal: Dex based Mouse sword fighter that rides a bird of paradise and wields a blade of grass! (without spells!!!)
Big goal yeah, I know. Anywho, if this character started at like level 6, I'd have no problems, but I wanted to start the RP of the character from level 0 so it has some challenges. I have a fun backstory that I wont bore you with but basically I don't have to actually BE a mouse (since a tiny mouse race doesn't really exist, and yes I'm making fun of your missed opportunity, Ratfolk)
Challenges (one at a time):
Size - Getting tiny without spells. No idea if I can be both bipedal and Tiny without reduce person. Weretouched shifters are at most small, which isnt the end of the world. Ratfolk are already small but are kinda crap. I was thinking of just going Halfling and making the "mouse" part of my vigilante costume (that would fit my backstory too). Halfling have a lot of feat/trait support for this style character and are overall fun sounding.
Bird of Paradise - this clearly needs to be a Thrush with the Mauler archetype (we allow mounting weird size appropriate things with the right saddle and the right skill checks). There is a lot of RP utility from being able to have the mount shrink back to tiny when going into a tavern, etc. Is there an AVENGER Vigilante that gets a familiar? Magical Child gets an awesome one but...spells (it's a campaign thing, so not negotiable really). Martial classes that can get familiar and have archetypes to kill their spells are Eldricht Guardian, Chosen One (pally), Divine Bound (ranger), carnivalist (rogue), Bonded Investigator (extracts are a go!! but no alchemist because tumor familiars are gross...), am I missing any?? If only there was a cavalier that got a familiar as its bonded mount...(there isnt is there???)
Blade of Grass: Exotic weapon, maybe a reskinned bladed scarf or just a masterwork Estoc to be shaped in an artsy way. I'm not too worried about this part.
So putting it all together, my best Lore start so far is that I haven't really gone vigilante "pro" yet, so I have a crappy costume that gets better at level 4. So something like Rogue 3 (the unchained version of carnivalist so that I can get the finesse training), then 2 Vigilante, 2 eldricht guardian. But tri-classing and jamming all the finesse and the mounted combat stuff in there is tough, and level 7 is already like a year into a game just to get into a good spot. Is there something more elegant I am missing to get what I want? Doing the same thing but with an actual animal companion I think delutes the whole "riding a bird of paradise" thing since its hard to get early game rideable birds. Since I probably cant realistically be tiny without spells, I might have to squeeze in Dragon Style so that I can charge through all those pesky friendlies (tiny can charge through whatever, really).
Feats
1: rogue finesse, Exotic weapon (Blade of Grass)
2: Mounted Combat (rogue talent, combat trick)
3: finesse training, Ride By Attack
4: (vigilante social talent)
5: Mounted Combat, shield of Blades (Vigilante talent/Power attack)
7: Spirited Charge
BAB+6 saves+4/6/4 skill points/40 (average 5ish per level before int)
strange yes... but I'm building a cohort that is a quadruped mount and I was hoping to make it a kineticist, but you "must have at least one hand free to aim the blast (or one prehensile appendage, if she doesn’t have hands)". are there any feats that can be taken by non specific races to achieve this?
class dips?: witch hex prehensile hair, alchemist discovery tentacle
magic items?: monkey belt but only 5 minutes per day
Hello! I'm making a character that uses a Kitana and I want to be able to do lots of energy damage with it. So far shifter archetype "Elementalist Shifter" gets me 6d6 as a swift, shocking 1d6, Elemental fist and Djinn style 1d6+wis... what other goodies am i missing? The multiclass barbarian variant could get me their elemental rage power for another 1d6 but kills my feats.
Tried working in kineticist with conductive but doesn't seem to work for melee. Any ideas?
20 levels of shifter is out of the question, so what else do we have? I've been trying to break this class all weekend... and I am failing hard hehe. Multiclass seems to be the only real way to solidify the class after level 8, and since the keystone ability of shifter isnt that attractive anyway I don't think it would hurt it too much to dip out of it. Shifter has lots of weaknesses, but there's another forum already for that, what are it's strengths?
strength list for me:
1. at will claws - pair with a race that has a bite already and you have a good/accurate sneak attack delivery device
2. Large form at level 4 - this is an early boost (in a way could be a disguised weakness if your fighting in a lot of enclosed spaces like in a pathfinder mod or something, but lets assume its a strength hehe)
3. prestige class friendly - the higher level you get with this class the less awesome it is so all those prestige classes you wanted to play suddenly sound attractive.
4. decent armor class options - lets admit keeping some wisdom while armored is kind of attractive? I could see some solid tank-like builds out of this class.
Shifters absolutely need mutated shape to stay at all competitive, so it looks like all builds will need that super high wisdom stat.
Possible prestige ideas that could be fun:
Dragon disciple - was I the only one disappointed at the lack of dragon shape for shifter?
Shadow dancer - a shadow jumping tiger with rogue talents sounds fun. Shadow dancer was always a weak choice for most other classes, but alas not for shifter! And you can use the shadow evocation in form since its not a spell.
Assassin - all of the yes. Fits great with the class I think and since natural weapons are great sneak attack delivery devices, this fits great.
Stalwart defender - would love to see a silverback stalwart defender or something like that.
Multiclass dips from other classes:
monk - 3 levels of flowing monk gives you a strong AC boost when fighting many enemies, also helps ease the feat burden a bit of getting feral combat training to really open up what you can do with your claws (including getting still mind for monastic legacy)
fighter/brawler - 4 levels of a fighter flavor of your choice goes a long way in getting the shifter caught up to the feat level of other martial classes.
sorcerer - only really for dragon disciple entry
ranger - only if it's ever clarified it shapeshifting hunter feat will work with shifter. RAW i would say no, RAI i certainly think this is reasonable with the ambiguity of how you read "A shifters can take feats and other abilities that require
wild shape; for the purpose of qualifying for prerequisites,
her effective druid level is equal to her shifter level." which sounds like it was meant to be a catch all for getting them access to wild shape feats but doesn't quite spell that out. (a discussion for another thread perhaps?)
Races:
I immediately think of Aasimar (Plumekith), Kitsune (with realistic likeness and fox shape for added shifter goodness), and Tengu (racial sub for the claws, even though they are redundant the granting of unarmed strike feat for meeting prereqs gives you a lot of steam to start some exciting feat chains at level 1, useless of course if you plan on taking monk though), and oreads have some interesting feats and really good ability score bonuses for a shifter
So all these years I've used this ability, I reread it today and my head exploded...
Ok exaggeration but still hehe just wanted to double check that I am interpreting all of this correctly. here is where I am hung up. All of these questions spawned when I decided to take an Imp familiar.
1. A creature cannot change shape to a form more than one size category smaller or larger than its original form.
- Imp has two medium sized forms (giant spider and boar). So I am assuming this is a generic rule that is broken if the book says so in special cases like this.
2. the creature does not adjust its ability scores (although it gains any other abilities of the creature it mimics).
- I always read this as you get what the polymorph spell says you can get but... rereading this it clearly says RAW that you still get the natural armor and ANY OTHER ability the creature has... So perfect example, with beast shape 1, giant spider doesnt get web, poison, etc, but with this reading of that sentence it does regardless of the fact that it is supposed to follow beast shape 1. I'm not saying this is broken or anything, otherwise whats the point of a spider form if you cant even web or poison? Plus... spiders are vermin anyway hehe, polymorph can't even do vermin.
3. This ability functions as a polymorph spell, the type of which is listed in the creature’s description
- Imp gets beast shape 1 as its format in it's stat block, but has two tiny forms. Usually I just see polymorph there as the format if it has tiny/large and small/medium. I'm guessing this was just another oopsie that breaks the rule because they accidentally said so.
As the ability reads:
Change Shape (Su)
A creature with this special quality has the ability to assume the appearance of a specific creature or type of creature (usually a humanoid), but retains most of its own physical qualities. A creature cannot change shape to a form more than one size category smaller or larger than its original form. This ability functions as a polymorph spell, the type of which is listed in the creature’s description, but the creature does not adjust its ability scores (although it gains any other abilities of the creature it mimics). Unless otherwise stated, it can remain in an alternate form indefinitely. Some creatures, such as lycanthropes, can transform into unique forms with special modifiers and abilities. These creatures do adjust their ability scores, as noted in their descriptions.
Format: change shape (wolf, beast shape I); Location: SQ, and in Special Abilities for creatures with a unique listing.
Not to complicate an already complicated ability but...
Would the Nature shamans true spirit ability qualify as a "class feature that functions as the druid animal companion ability"?
A bit of strange wording for sure, but I can see it both ways. I was just curious what the forums thought.
Companion Animal (Su): The shaman’s spirit animal takes the form of an animal companion of her choice, using her shaman level as her effective druid level. The animal retains all the special abilities and the Intelligence score of the spirit animal, but also has the statistics and abilities of an animal companion. If the animal is dismissed, is lost, or dies, it can be replaced in the same way as a normal spirit animal.
Hey everyone. On my mission to make the worlds most bad-expletive mauler familiar I stumbled upon shaman. Please tell me I'm doing something wrong, because this all seems to check out... (this is at level 20)
Spoiler:
nature shaman (halfling or racial heritage halfling) favored class bonus:
"Add ½ to the shaman’s effective class level for the purpose of determining her spirit animal‘s natural armor adjustment, Intelligence, and special abilities."
mauler familiar (pick any): this archetype gets a special ability:
Increased Strength (Ex)
At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, a mauler’s Strength score increases by 1. As a result of this ability, the familiar’s Intelligence score remains 6; a mauler can never have an Intelligence score higher than 6. (there is no cap)
nature shaman level 16 true spirit ability
Companion Animal (Su): The shaman’s spirit animal takes the form of an animal companion of her choice, using her shaman level as her effective druid level. The animal retains all the special abilities and the Intelligence score of the spirit animal, but also has the statistics and abilities of an animal companion. If the animal is dismissed, is lost, or dies, it can be replaced in the same way as a normal spirit animal.
So without being a halfling and using tiger stats I get 38 strength in natural form. Add halfling for caretaker and 10 free levels of nothing but tasty cappless str bonus from mauler, and I end up at 45. If I min maxed with a stronger pet I could go higher but hey I like tigers. This is without magic/inherent bonuses/etc. Tell me I am missing something obvious? Thanks!
I read up on all the controversy of how animal guide is worded, but my question is much more simple... can they take improved familiar to improve the base familiar still?
I want to say yes but the animal guide never really dies and isn't really dismiss-able:
"If a magical child’s familiar dies, its consciousness simply leaves its body, and the magical child can replace its body after 24 hours."
so I don't think it can ever actually qualify for the "Ability to acquire a new familiar" pre-req. I could see a GM ruling that replacing its body could qualify, but still.. you know, words and stuff. :)
I’ve been wanting to make a storm themed Djinn style caster for a long time now, because it just sounds fun. I’d prefer to be a druid focusing on annoying wind effects, electricity/lightning, blind/deaf shenanigans etc. I’m sure a wizard/sorcerer might do it better, but I heart druids.
Can’t decide between which Druid path to pursue.
Storm druid Archetype – seems obvious. 2 domains, immune to wind/deaf, can yell at people during storms, sounds annoying and fun! It also lets me get full benefit from djinn style by not giving me overlapping electrical resist.
Tempest druid – not as appealing as storm druid but damn if bend bolt isn’t fantastic!
Nature’s fang – I almost glanced right over this, but it looks like the way it reads, you can eventually add +5 to all your DC’s with studied target, so this could be super useful for a caster that generates a lot of DC’s. But losing wild shape is rough… because Air elemental whirlwinds is pretty thematic and ideal.
Master of storms (prestige class) – looks awesome and thematic, but losing domain progression, spells per day, and end game at will wildshape makes it less attractive (the prestige class curse if you will).
As for my remaining 5 feats I pretty much have to pick up the basic DC boosts, spell pen, and metamagics, but that sounds less fun. Because of Djinn's hefty requirements I have to put most of my stat points into wis and con, which doesn't sound so bad. Any thoughts?
Hello! So building a skald I ran into some controversy that I am surprised I could not find an official answer for.
skald clearly says two statements that contradict each other.
1. a skald learns a rage power that affects the skald and any allies under the influence of his inspired rage. This cannot be a rage power that requires the creature to spend a standard action or rounds of rage to activate it.
2. If a rage power can only be used a certain number of times per day or per rage (such as renewed vigor), each ally affected by the inspired rage song is subject to that limit (with once per rage abilities limited to once per inspired rage).
so it clearly suggests that you can have renewed vigor and describes how to use it in 2, but in 1 says you cannot take it because it's a standard action.
Anyone have better search-fu than me on this or am I just missing something? :) I found one reddit post that someone says no you can't have it, but literally almost every other skald built I see uses renewed vigor for allies.
Hello, I am trying my hand at a kineticist jedi build and I was hoping to find a "missing link" too bring it all together.
My goal is to figure out a way to use kinetic blade/whip with style feats. I know kinetic fist is a thing, but you know...jedi. :) There's a few styles that seem versatile enough to work with anything (like crane and blinded blade) but I was really hoping for some ninja-ry to use the unarmed stuff like panther style. Ascetic style comes so close but not quite. Can any of you think of a way through classes or feats to treat a generic light one handed weapon as either unarmed or a monk weapon?
Hello! Now I am aware this isn't the smartest thing to do.... but I'm interested in building a comedic themed grappler with the kitsune Fox Shape feat. The whole goal is to be a tiny grappling death machine of cuteness.
What kind of classes/feats outside of the obvious grapple/imp grapple can you think of to best outfit our little guy in a world of tall folk?
I'm very interested in sneak attack (leaning towards a slayer build with claws). Is any kind of constrict possible? white haired witch gets some fun things but I don't know if its really a strong enough grappler because of it's BAB.
Heya! I'm working on building the ultimate combat familiar.
I know familiars are awful at combat and die easy but who cares this is just for fun. :)
I've dug around the familiars and the highest strength familiar that I can find is the improved familiar Nycar. With the "Mauler" archetype he quickly gets his strength into the 20s. He also has ferocity and regeneration which means he potentially is hard to permanently kill without cold iron. His feats however are bad in my opinion.
race advantages?
Small sized creatures can potentially ride a "mauler" familiar
classes that directly buff familiars?
witch (beast bonded) - can give feats to your familiar at the cost of your own which may be counterproductive at times
rogue (carnivalist) - gives the familiar a small sneak attack
Bard (duetist) - buffs/heals/ability to sing bard songs
feats that directly buff familiars?
eldricht heritage - if your a beast bonded witch you can give your familiar eldricht heritage feats and give him awesome abilities. For example the Marid bloodline turns any familiar into an at-will-water-shooting version of Squirtle.
evolve familiar - eidolon evolutions
distant spell link - seems important if your throwing your familiar into combat
improved spell sharing - its a teamwork feat so its harder to pull off but basically buff yourself and your familiar at the same time
share healing - also a teamwork feat, but still handy if you can pull it off
spirit's gift - give it some really cool shaman abilities that last all day
telepathic link - not really combat handy in too many situations but still a solid pick
unfettered familiar - lets your familiar deliver touch spells without having to start next to you OR have line of sight, solid.
What kinds of things am I missing that you can think of?
so a few confusing wording questions. To my understanding Vital strike is a standard action and cannot be used in conjunction with other things that say they are standard actions (like how vital strike and spring attack was ruled a no no back in the day because vital strike is a specific kind of standard action, same thing with vital striking with touch spells). With that same logic I assumed that bombs and Vital Strike would be a no no since it is defined as a standard action, but in the bomb section it suggests that you can vital strike the first 1d6 of a bomb but not the rest of it since the rest of it is considered "extra damage." So my first question is:
1. Can you reeeeeally vital strike with a bomb or am I completely misinterpreting the vital strike attack action ruling?
2. Second question, if question one is for sure "yes," would that mean that a Rogue bomber gets his whole damage "vital striked" because as written the Rogues bomb does "damage equal to your sneak attack" rather than saying it does 1d6 and increases with level like the alchemist version.
VITAL STRIKE
Spoiler:
Vital Strike (Combat)
You make a single attack that deals significantly more damage than normal.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When you use the attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
BOMBER
Spoiler:
Bomber (Su)
Benefit: A rogue with this talent can make a number of bombs per day equal to her Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). These bombs act as alchemist's bombs, except they deal damage equal to the damage dealt by the rogue's sneak attack (the rogue doesn't add her Intelligence modifier to this damage).
BOMB DESCRIPTION (the portion regarding vital strike)
Spoiler:
On a direct hit, an alchemist's bomb inflicts 1d6 points of fire damage + additional damage equal to the alchemist's Intelligence modifier. The damage of an alchemist's bomb increases by 1d6 points at every odd-numbered alchemist level (this bonus damage is not multiplied on a critical hit or by using feats such as Vital Strike).
I have a question on how "The Bear's Jig" masterpiece works on an animal companion. The spell awaken breaks the animal companion link, but would the song do the same thing?
1. For example if I wanted to temporarily buff my Tiger animal companion with this, does he suddenly revert to a beastiary Tiger with a bonus 2 HD and stats (potentially making it weaker), or would he be the animal companion he is now (let's arbitrarily say my druid level is 10) with the bonus HD/class level and stats?
2. follow up question. Each time I use this version of awaken can the animal pick a different combo of feats/class levels?
I noticed that the clarification of "ceases to be an animal companion" was clarified in the animal archive rather than the spell, and I wonder if that clarification was only intended to be meaningful to an animal that permanently gained the spell.
The Bear's Jig
Spoiler:
The Bear's Jig (String, Wind)
Your music makes animals act like people.
Prerequisite(s) Perform (string) or Perform (wind) 11 ranks.
Cost Feat or 4th-level bard spell known.
Effect When played with skill, this song actually has the power to grant an animal temporary intelligence. Choose a non-hostile animal within line of sight that can see and hear you perform. This masterpiece affects the target as the awaken spell for as long as you maintain the performance. Abilities that extend the duration of a bardic performance (such as Lingering Performance) affect this masterpiece.
Use 1 round of bardic performance per round.
Action 1 full round.
Awaken
Spoiler:
You awaken a tree or animal to human-like sentience. To succeed, you must make a Will save (DC 10 + the animal's current HD, or the HD the tree will have once awakened). The awakened animal or tree is friendly toward you. You have no special empathy or connection with a creature you awaken, although it serves you in specific tasks or endeavors if you communicate your desires to it. If you cast awaken again, any previously awakened creatures remain friendly to you, but they no longer undertake tasks for you unless it is in their best interests.
An awakened tree has characteristics as if it were an animated object, except that it gains the plant type and its Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores are each 3d6. An awakened plant gains the ability to move its limbs, roots, vines, creepers, and so forth, and it has senses similar to a human's.
An awakened animal gets 3d6 Intelligence, +1d3 Charisma, and +2 HD. Its type becomes magical beast (augmented animal). An awakened animal can't serve as an animal companion, familiar, or special mount.
An awakened tree or animal can speak one language that you know, plus one additional language that you know per point of Intelligence bonus (if any). This spell does not function on an animal or plant with an Intelligence greater than 2.
Intelligent Animals
Source: Animal Archive
One of the surest ways to complicate the relationship between an adventurer and her animal companion is to cast awaken on the beast. The moment the spell takes effect, an animal companion ceases to be a class feature, and instead becomes a person—an NPC whose Intelligence has increased by 3d6 (potentially making it as smart as or smarter than the caster), and who has an increased Charisma score and knows at least one spoken language.
I am curious on the duration of Fox shape and similarly worded feats.
Fox Shape:
Fox Shape (Kitsune)
You can change into a fox in addition to your other forms.
Prerequisites: Cha 13, base attack bonus +3, kitsune.
Special: A kitsune may select this feat any time she would gain a feat.
Benefit: You can take the form of a fox whose appearance is static and cannot be changed each time you assume this form. Your bite attack’s damage is reduced to 1d3 points of damage on a hit, but you gain a +10 racial bonus on Disguise checks made to appear as a fox. Changing from kitsune to fox shape is a standard action. This ability otherwise functions as beast shape II, and your ability scores change accordingly.
I assumed that this modified their existing change shape, meaning that the duration was indefinite, but a fellow group member pointed out that all feats that say "This ability otherwise functions as X," where X is referring to a spell, that they follow that spells duration also. I see the word "function" as just the spells text that outlines what it does rather than the upper text meaning duration, material components, verbal/somatic, etc. (I know spell-likes specifically call out not needing verbal/somatic/material, but I don't even know for sure if this feat is spell-like).
Since this is a feat I would argue that feats have no duration unless specified, and this doesn't specify. So feats that function like spells but do not say spell-like or supernatural... do things like the spells duration apply?
I am pretty sure I already know the answer, I just want to clarify. :)
Magus Spell combat:
spell combat:
At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.
senario #1
magus spends a full round to use spell combat: nothing in left hand, sword in right hand. Uses spell to cast monstrous physique, then attacks with his sword that is still in his right hand.
VS.
senario #2
magus spends a full round to use spell combat: nothing in left hand, sword in right hand. Uses spell to cast beast shape and turns into a tiger. The magus no longer has the sword that he met the requirements of spell combat with because it's melded into his body and cannot make any further attacks with this use of spell combat.
Is this accurate? (I know with senario #2, you could just attack first, and beast shape at the end of it for next turn, but that's not the point of the senario) :)
1) plant shape natural energy damage: some plants have natural weapons that do energy damage instead or in addition to regular damage. It is my thought that since it's part of the weapons damage (rather than a su/ex/sp ability) that a character under the spell plant shape would also get it.
example: Viper Vine
viper vine:
Viper Vine
OFFENSE
Melee: bite +23 (2d6+8/19–20 plus 3d6 acid)
2) vital strike and strange natural weapons like this: I know that extra damage from things like flaming/holy etc. are not included in vital strike, but I was curious in cases like this where the actual weapon damage just happens to also do acid damage, does the vital strike do
A) 4d6 + 6d6 acid
B) 4d6 + 3d6 acid
I am comparing this to a monster like Efreeti who also get a 1d6 fire listed in their weapon damage but ALSO have a special ability that describes it as seperate damage.
Efreeti:
Offense:
Melee: 2 slams +15 (1d8+6 plus 1d6 fire)
special abilities:
Heat (Ex)
An efreeti's body deals 1d6 points of fire damage whenever it hits in melee, or in each round it grapples.
RAW to me makes me think A) is correct because both damages are listed in the same damage block rather than being listed separately as an added ability, but I am unsure do to the nature of the half-physical/half-energy damage and the many controversies of vital strike.
vital strike:
Vital Strike (Combat)
You make a single attack that deals significantly more damage than normal.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.
Benefit: When you use the attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
I am making a race and I have a question on the "Slapping Tail" offensive racial trait
Reads as follows:
slapping tail:
Slapping Tail (3 RP)
Prerequisites: None.
Benefit: Members of this race have a tail they can use to make attacks of opportunity with a reach of 5 feet. The tail is a natural attack that deals 1d6 points of damage plus the user's Strength modifier if Small, 1d8 points of damage plus the user's Strength modifier if Medium, or 1d10 points of damage plus 1-1/2 times the user's Strength modifier if Large.
Special: If a Large creature has the reach trait, its tail also gains reach.
It seems to be pretty obvious that you get a natural attack for attacks of opportunity. But I am curious if you can use the attack in non-opportunistic attacks (meaning do you just get a plain old secondary attack that has special rules during an AoO).
I was hoping to figure out a way to qualify for other races racial feats (for example a feat that says "prerequisite:human" etc). I know aasimars have a racial trait that you can take to allow you to qualify as human for feats, but is there any other similar way that you all can think of to have a race take another races racial feats?
This spell functions as magic jar, except you transfer your mind to a single object, animating it as if using animate objects, except your mind controls the object as if it were your own body. You cannot speak or cast spells while possessing the object. Because your original body is effectively dead while under the effect of this spell, this temporarily suspends disease, poisons, and other afflictions affecting you.
first few lines in particular... "functions as magic jar, except you transfer your mind to a single object"
1. read as no gem middle man, you go straight to the object, object already is possessed in the spell at this point. Single object meaning no multiples, not jumping mid spell.
... "animating it as if using animate objects,"
2. read as now that your object is possessed it is animated like following the animation rules.
So the spell "animate objects" says you cannot animate magic items, "possess object" does not. Even though possess object says "animating it as if using animate objects," the possession part is Magic Jar which has no magic item restriction.
So the main wording clarification I am looking for is... does possess object allow you to possess and animate magic items? :)
Do things that give bonus to damage (like touch spell weapon specialization) add to the healing portion of the spell or only when used for damage? The answer sounds obvious but a lot of rulings often surprise me :)
This came up in last weeks game so I tried doing some digging without much luck.
while engaged in combat, you can deliver touch attacks to friendlies without a roll, however if we wanted to voluntarily get hit by a "weapon," what part of your main AC (if any) is voluntarily ignored?
we were thinking something like dex, dodge, monk wisdom and AC increase, canny defense at least (because your not trying to avoid the strike).
still would have to get past enhancement, natural, armor, luck, misc magic
I wanted to make sure I was using this right. Draconic bloodline arcana adds +1 to damage of a spell for each die rolled. Does this mean the damage only goes to one person of my choosing?
Aoe spell (the easy one I think):
ice storm - 5d6 + 5 to everyone in the area because damage is done all at once
multi target:
first scorching ray 4d6+4
second scorching ray just 4d6
what about multi round:
frostfall round 1 - 2d6 + 2
frostfall round 2 - 1d6 + 3? or just +1 since it already did an extra 2?
frostfall round 3 - 1d6 + 4? or just +1 since it already did an extra 3?
"His wide glowing eyes can be seen peering behind blood splatter that covers its tiny face and paws almost as if it were discolored spots in its fur. The last thing I hear as the fluffy creature descends upon me with its sharp claws is a comforting purring sound, as if the creature was enjoying itself…"
So it’s been a very fun obsession of mine the last few weeks... Ive been building characters around the concept of a "doomsday kitten." This was first conceived in the last campaign I was in but I never got past level 7 in that game so I never truly got to play it and get it out of my system hehe. It revolved around 4 levels of druid, the focused shaper feat, and then all the evil-fluffy whimsy I could think of. :)
I'm curious what fun builds you guys can think of? :) The rules of the build revolve around the mentality that by level 13 the character must be able to be in cat form for 24 hours (meaning at least 8 levels of wildshape or some other cheese), from there on the flavor is up to you. Just remember the point is to have fun with it, not to necessarily be optimal. Here are some of my favs that I made...
1. Martial Kitten (4 basic druid, 4 martial artist, 12 Brawler)
build highlights - feral combat training, dragon style/elemental fist tree, medusas wrath tree, deadly stroke tree. This uses mostly the big cat forms (so not a true doomsday kitten). This is the highest consistent damage of the three listed but is basically 100% melee with less tricks than the other builds. BAB +18, fort +16, ref +9, will +12
2. Shadow Kitten (4 druid, 16 scout)
build highlights - deadly sneak, 8d8 sneak attack with vicious claws as a catfolk, eldricht heritage shadow for hide in plain sight, boar style feat tree, gang up and rending claws for even more d6s. Sneak attack has no size requirement so it can Roll as the small cats, so it’s true to the doomsday kitten theme. Very high DPS pounces from scouts charge, probably my favorite mix of flavor and efficiency. BAB +15, fort +9, ref+11, will +9
3. Dragon Kitten (8 druid, 2 sorceror, 10 dragon disciple)
build highlights - eldricht heritage for abyssal bloodline for an additional 6 str, full 12 levels of wildshape with the +4 feat, enough p/d to use planar wildshape, speaks with ghost sound for a super creepy effect. So this one stays in kitten form out of combat, but has full wildshape and dragon shape at its disposal inside combat. abyssal and dragon bloodline claws for some added flair, muddy spell list however, mostly tactical spells rather than damage spells. BAB +14, fort 11, ref 5, will14
others included a bard/sandman, barbarian, and even a cleric/green faith acolyte healer kitty (that is obviously less doomsday-ish. The most brutal version was a synthesis but synthesists are banned in my local group for obvious “what-was-pathfinder-thinking” reasons. :)
When reading spells like Elemental Body IV that says you can turn into huge elementals, does it mean "size huge" or the creatures named "huge elemental" in the book? Just curious if you can greater or elder polymorph.
I've been working on an arcane build for a melee companion/familiar. I wanted to share what I have and listen to your thoughts on other tricks/feats/spells that you can think of that supports the build (no summoners, too obvious, plus I've already played one recently).
Class choices:
Witch Beast-bonded:
was what inspired the idea, but I am sad that their spell list doesn't quite support it very well (plus witches are bad candidates for putting their familiars in harms way). I would take the Transformation tree focusing on beast/dragon shaping the familiar. A breath weapon build best supports this class, giving your familiar flyby attack and shooting breath weapons, but it's too bad the only witch that gets beast shape 4 (the really good one) is the animal tree that loses the other beast shapes and dragon shape. Healing and ward hexes will be important I think.
Sorcerer:
Less fragile familiars and has access to animal companions which have way better natural numbers (aside from the DR and SR that the familiars can get without spells). Access to all the great buff spells, and all the great other spells hehe. Less skills that witch or magus (due to stacking CHA instead of INT) which would be important for a familiar not the animal companion.
Wizard:
leaning more and more away from wizard as compared to the sorcerer.
Magus:
better familiar base attack and great spell list selection, but the better base attack doesn't compete with the higher spell selection of the 1-9 casters. Accessing beast shape 4 that much sooner makes me lean further away from Magus. But I am still exploring magus synergy.
Animal companion would be best choice, Constrictor snake will contend for one of the best polymorphed STR at 19 (not counting STR from leveling but it's 23 minus 4 since it's size large). I think the rhino had the same if not +1 better? I'm still reading up on the newer animal companions. Plus animal companions get more feats, so I'm leaning more toward using one over the familiar.
Familiars for Melee
the best polymorphed familiars as far as STR goes, Earth elemental, Cacoda Daemon, Cythnig Qlippoth all tie in first with a 16 base. The earth elemental would fall behind for it's hideous DEX if it weren't for the fact that its immune to crits and precision damage. The Arbiter Inevitable is only behind by 1 STR but has regeneration and can wield short swords proficiently (gogo magic weapons). The celestial animals are great too but typically have low strength scores (i think a polymorphed fox is the highest at 13?)
Familiars for Breath weapon (beast bonded witch only)
Cant beat the Faerie dragon and the Azata Lyrakien. With the human racial sub "Eye for Talent" they both have high enough CHA to take Eldricht Heritage feat-lines, including the amazing Marid bloodline that lets them shoot high damage water streams at will. A bunch of others can take the first and second stage of Eldricht Heritage but those are the only two I know of that can take all 3.
Human is my race of choice, just for the amazing "eye for talent." I'd be interested in other ideas for this kind of build.
Hello, I am a DM that had a question come up in our game about the use of charm person. There are a few quirks to it that gave a few separate questions i will try my best to ask without sounding confusing.
question one -
charm person states "If the creature (the one being targeted with the spell) is currently being threatened by you (the caster of the spell) or your allies (the spell casters allies), it recieves a +5 bonues to the saving throw"
The specific question is, aside from the obvious of being attacked directly, what is considered "threatening"? Here is our example as it happened in the session.
---- The PC's are attacking a castle by air. They see 4 guards who are sorcerers (that I will refer to as mages from here on out) mages ahead of them guarding the top of the castle. The party has invisibility and fly cast on themselves. The invisibility was removed from one party member allowing the NPC mages to see that person and begin attacking him. Are the PC's who are still invisible considered threatened since he is attacking a friend of theirs or is only the person being attacked threatened? Does the mere sight of a "guard" in a castle that YOU are attacking consider you to be threatened? (i do not want a philisophical answer just a strict rules answer)(note: I ruled that the invisible people would not be considered threatened for the purpose of charm person because the NPC mage did not know of their existence) -----
question two -
The PC Rogue popped out of invisibility to strike one of the NPC mages. On the mages turn he cast charm person on the PC Rogue (As said with the question above I ruled that he did not get his +5 bonus because the NPC mage had not done anything threatening to the PC rogue yet.) The PC Rogue failed his save and the NPC mage said to him "Jump down there (pointing at the distant ground below them where many troops were fighting each other) and help the fight. Do not worry I will cast feather fall on you" The spell says that the player would not do anythign obviously harmful without convincing and would not do something that they wouldn't ordinarily do without an opposed charisma check. (note: the PC Rogue already had fly cast on him, and the Mage said he would cast feather fall on him, removing any chance of this being suicidal) Regardless of if it was or wasn't something the character would do normally for someone he considered an ally, I gave him the opposed charisma check to give him the benefit of the doubt. He failed. So I ruled that he followed the order given to him. Is this a correct interpretation of the spell on my part?
The player was extremely upset with how I interpreted the reading on the spell, so much so that he threatened to quit a week later (still upset about the ruling). So I thought I would ask the experts.
I am currently playtesting a spellcaster Eidolon rather than the obvious melee eidolon. Combat in our games usually lasts about an hour out of game but only 6 rounds or so IN game, so in combat I usually get about 5 standard actions to cast spells (the 6th standard action is usually lost to boss mechanics or dealing with situations etc). So I am basing my personal playtest off of combat lasting 6 rounds. I'd really like to see what Ideas the comunity has to play off this same type of "alternate Eidolon build."
Evolutions:
Spell-like ability: is the obvious evolutions used. The problem with it is that the way it reads, it cannot be chosen more than once thus only giving the caster Eidolon up to 3 castings of the same spell.
Breath Weapon: This mimics a damaging spell, with the exception that it requires physical positioning of the Eidolon.
Web: This mimics entangling spells and can be used up to 8 times per day. Very usefull for the build.
Spell-resistance: not a necessity for the build but adds a lot to the strength of the "caster eidolon" and also mimics a defensive spell that is always on and doesn't take up your limited standard actions.
Ability bonus: bonus to Cha so you can cast higher level spells, or bonus to Con to increase your reath weapon and web save DC's.
Limbs (arms): to manipulate a lot of magical things in a dungeon, fingers may be handy. just a guess :)
Feats:
There are a lot of feat support for this in the 3.5 books like "night haunt (CA), the Fey Heritage feat lineup (CM), and a lot of spellike ability boosting feats (like "heighten spell-like ability"). These feats give me more spell-like abilities to add to my line-up for both in and out of combat situations like: charm monster, dimension door, deep slumber, summon nature's ally V, disguise self, confusion, unseen servant, dancing lights, prestidigitaion and much much more from similar feats.
Skills:
use magic device and spellcraft are solid choices. Plus linguistics helps, I know they can already speak all that the summoner can, but a lot of the enchantment spells that I got from some of my feats are language based, so speaking their language will help and you may not want to spend your summoners points on it since you only get 2+ int as skill points. (plus the built in decipher script part of the skill is handy).
Conclusion of the spellcaster Eidolon is that there are more than plenty of standard actions to keep me busy during the 6 rounds of combat that I expect on average (hell I could spend all 6 webbing people if i was half zoned out for the night), thus making the build very viable. I as a summoner can still cast summon spells if I need a more melee oriented pet to play with, lessening the risk of the Eidolons decreased survivability through feat choice.
The Summoner gets a level one ability called life link (su). "Whenever an Eidolon takes enough damage to send it back to its home plane, the summoner can, as a free action, sacrifice and number of hit points. Each hit point sacrificed in this way prevents 1 point of damage done to the Eidolon"
So the question is, is this truly intended to only be a free action (free actions can only be performed on your turn) or was this intended to be an immediate action?
Can you use the Vital Strike feat off of a pounce? Pounce allows you to take a full attack after a charge, and the vital strike feat allows you to make 1 attack at increased damage. I agree that If I COULD pounce and use vital strike, only 1 attack would happen, but the technical rules question I'm asking is "can you use an "attack action" as the wording of the Vital Strike feat in place of a full round attack action?"
The wording in arcane strike is a little nonspecific, the prereq is the ability to cast arcane spells but the description reads
"For every five caster levels you possess, this bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +5 at 20th level"
and makes no reference to arcane spellcasting levels. so the way this reads, if im 1 level wizard and 10 levels of cleric, i am caster level 11 for the use of this feat, or if I'm 3 levels wizard, 3 levels cleric and 10 levels of Mystic Theuge I'm caster level 26 for use of the feat. Has this wording been officially clarified or is there an errata?
This question is about the general order that feats and class ailities are applied in pathfinder. The specific example I have of this is in regards to some old 3.5 things that i wish to bring into my pathfinder game. Can I apply all my abilities in any order I wish? or does the order in which you took them matter? for example:
natural bond feat - add three to your effective druid level for animal companion, "this bonus can never make your effective druid level exceed your character level"
beastmaster prestige class - Treat the beastmaster as a druid whos level is equal to the beastmasters level + 3. If the beastmaster already has an animal companion from another class, her beastmaster class levels stack with class levels from all other classes that grant animal companions.
so the question is, if i am a 5th level ranger with the natural bond feat (making my animal companion druid level 5, then i take beast master, can I add the feat first and THEN add the +3 from beastmaster making my druid level 8?
On feat in particular that covers this topic (snowflake wardance) is out of wizards book and reads "you add your Charisma modifier to your attack rolls with any slashing melee weapon you wield in one hand."
I know that natural weapons count as weapons otherwise you couldn't take "weapon focus" and I already read another offical post that natural weapons do NOT count as unarmed strikes but for the purpose of feats like this do they count as a weapon wielded in one hand? I think I read somewhere else in the pathfinder book that for the purpose of a feat (that I forget) natural weapons counted as an offhand weapon, but I have no idea.
Is there a size ratio (ex. like small rider with a huge mount) that allows a rider to gain cover or concealment from people attacking within melee range without the DC 15 ride check? Enough cover or concealment to make a stealth check?
Hey, new to pathfinder and had an animal companion question. I plan on taking a tiger for my companion and in the beastiary they have a racial +4 acrobatics and +4 stealth (+8 in tall grass), so the question is do the animal companion versions get the racial bonus to skills?
Daeslan 3 has not participated in any online campaigns.
