
Necromancer |

Can we hear about the feral hunter? What kinda of buff does it get to replace the animal companion?
Animal focus is applied to the hunter instead of the companion, gains outflank on every summon nature's ally spell, gains wild shape excluding elemental and plant options, and adds an extra critter when casting summon nature's ally at level six and beyond.

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Slashing Grace, the mythical feat in question, does suggest using your Dexterity instead of your Strength for damage rolls.
It must be a one-handed slashing weapon that continues to be used one-handed:
"... add your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to that weapon’s damage. The weapon must be one appropriate for your size."
Fair enough, I was going based on what was quoted above which didn't include that bit.

magnuskn |

Someone said there was, then when the actual rule was quoted, the rule didn't say anything about Dexterity to damage.
Unless I am mistaken, the version of Slashing Grace which was quoted was only the one from the playtest document, not the one which Kudaku found in the actual book (and I am not even sure that Kudaku was citing a new Slashing Grace feat and not another one).
Dennis Baker wrote:Dervish Dancer and the Agile weapon property remain the only ways I'm aware of to get Dex to damage.Which make them flavorful exceptions. I think we agree there is no need to create more.
Magnskn,
As for piercing weapons not getting a Dex bonus, that makes no sense from a flavor standpoint. You jab someone with a piercing weapon with all your strength. Unlike a slashing weapon, there's nothing particularly dexterous about them. Not any more so than any other weapon.
Uh, the developers of the ACG flat-out said during the playtest period that they were going to add a DEX-to-damage option in the book, although they said that they would probably restrict it to certain weapon types.
And since the Swashbuckler is supposed to be the main beneficiary of said feats/options/whatever and the Swashbucklers shtick is to use one-handed/light piercing weapons, it would be bizarre if the developers would have decided to instead give out the option only to slashing weapons.

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Magnskn,
As for piercing weapons not getting a Dex bonus, that makes no sense from a flavor standpoint. You jab someone with a piercing weapon with all your strength. Unlike a slashing weapon, there's nothing particularly dexterous about them. Not any more so than any other weapon.
Maybe you do. My rapier wielders use a little more finesse when killing their opponents.

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Fair enough, I was going based on what was quoted above which didn't include that bit.
Yeah, I'd paste the whole thing at once in a spoiler, but trying to preserve some of the mystery for folks without the book yet... I imagine there's something satisfying about nibbling at crumbs throughout the day/week as folks grok the new material.
One thing that has been interesting to me is the ability via feats for any cleric/inquisitor to get access to warpriest blessings and the general sharing of access between all these via feats.

Necromancer |
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Kairos Dawnfury wrote:They made a Cleric Archetype that is a priestly type people were asking for.This.
I'd like details on the archetype, please?
Ecclesitheurge cannot wear armor or use shields, bonded object with holy symbol, and this...
Domain Mastery: At 1st level, when an ecclesitheurge
chooses his cleric domains, he designates one as his
primary domain and the other as his secondary domain.
An ecclesitheurge can use his non-domain spell slots to
prepare spells from his primary domain’s spell list.
Each day when he prepares spells, an ecclesitheurge can
select a different domain granted by his deity to gain access
to that domain’s spell list instead of his secondary domain
spell list. He does not lose access to his actual secondary
domain’s granted powers or gain access to the other domain’s
granted powers.

Jim Groves Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4 |

Jim Groves wrote:Maybe you do. My rapier wielders use a little more finesse when killing their opponents.Magnskn,
As for piercing weapons not getting a Dex bonus, that makes no sense from a flavor standpoint. You jab someone with a piercing weapon with all your strength. Unlike a slashing weapon, there's nothing particularly dexterous about them. Not any more so than any other weapon.
I take your point TOZ.
(oooh, that was really unintentional)
But I was referring to adding additional mechanics. Not pre-existing ones.

Jim Groves Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4 |
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Uh, the developers of the ACG flat-out said during the playtest period that they were going to add a DEX-to-damage option in the book, although they said that they would probably restrict it to certain weapon types.
And since the Swashbuckler is supposed to be the main beneficiary of said feats/options/whatever and the Swashbucklers shtick is to use one-handed/light piercing weapons, it would be bizarre if the developers would have decided to instead give out the option only to slashing weapons.
And maybe they did just that. I don't know.
You're missing the point the started this. If you start making Dexterity do the job of Strength as well as what it does already, across the board and not in one specific class, there is no point to Strength. Keep doing that, and you will run into problems.

Kobold Commando |

As for piercing weapons not getting a Dex bonus, that makes no sense from a flavor standpoint. You jab someone with a piercing weapon with all your strength. Unlike a slashing weapon, there's nothing particularly dexterous about them. Not any more so than any other weapon.
Perhaps for some weapons, sure, but the rapier seems to be an exception, much as the dwarven waraaxe or bastard sword make little sense in the slashing weapons category. In fact when plate armor enters the picture, I'd argue that using many piercing weapons to their greatest effect would be a very dextrous deed indeed.
I suppose this just means DMs should exercise a bit of latitude in order to match the intended flavor of this feat, if it's effect is reasoned out as you say. I just didn't see the connection, as even some bludgeoning weapons depend upon precision for greatest effect, such as fists and saps.

magnuskn |

And maybe they did just that. I don't know.
You're missing the point the started this. If you start making Dexterity do the job of Strength as well as what it does already, across the board and not in one specific class, there is no point to Strength. Keep doing that, and you will run into problems.
And as I said, I suspect that the writers put some restrictions on the DEX-to-damage ability, like Dervish Dance has. If it is limited to one-handed combat styles without access to two-weapon fighting, I think it has been proven enough times already with DD that STR based combat styles are more than just competitive with it.

Kudaku |
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I've been trying to post "hints" rather than full text from the book to avoid ruining the surprise for everyone, but in this case I feel we might be better off with the complete write-up for Slashing Grace to avoid further confusion. I'll put it in a spoiler tag for those who want to keep the surprise.
Prerequisites: Dex 13, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus with chosen weapon.
Benefit: Choose one kind of one-handed slashing weapon (such as the longsword). When wielding your chosen weapon one-handed, you can treat it as a one-handed piercing melee weapon for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon (such as a swashbuckler’s or a duelist’s precise strike) and you can add your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to that weapon’s damage. The weapon must be one appropriate for your size.
It's worth noting that as far as I know there is only one one-handed slashing weapon that can be used with weapon finesse, and that's the Aldori dueling sword. So if you want to be completely reliant on dexterity for melee attacks, you're most likely limited to the scimitar or the dueling sword. Alternately you could take one level of swashbuckler for Swashbuckler Finesse, which combined with Slashing Grace would let you use dexterity to hit and damage with any one-handed slashing weapon.

Jim Groves Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 4 |

Jim Groves wrote:Perhaps for some weapons, sure, but the rapier seems to be an exception,
As for piercing weapons not getting a Dex bonus, that makes no sense from a flavor standpoint. You jab someone with a piercing weapon with all your strength. Unlike a slashing weapon, there's nothing particularly dexterous about them. Not any more so than any other weapon.
Sure, but I was only speaking about new mechanics, and I am sure the swashbuckler needs some consideration too.
This is a thread derail though, which I contributed to, but I'm going to cease-and-desist now. :-)

magnuskn |
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I don't really suscribe to a "don't want to ruin the surprise" stance on this book. We obviously are asking for the most detailed spoilers possible and this is not a movie, but a rules book. :p
And, as I said two times before, it'd be downright bizarre if there were not a version of this for piercing weapons.

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Ambrosia Slaad wrote:The Mouser is a swashbuckler archetype - it seems primarily to be about "fighting things that are larger than me".For which class is the Mouser archetype?
Waiting until August 14th until I can get this?! ARRRRRRRRRGH!!!!
THE GRAY MOUSER!!!

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magnuskn wrote:And, as I said two times before, it'd be downright bizarre if there were not a version of this for piercing weapons.In the ACG at least, there's only a version for slashing weapons... searched through for "Dexterity" keyword just to triple check.
Then I strongly suspect there will not be many rapier toting swashbucklers.

magnuskn |

magnuskn wrote:And, as I said two times before, it'd be downright bizarre if there were not a version of this for piercing weapons.In the ACG at least, there's only a version for slashing weapons... searched through for "Dexterity" keyword just to triple check.
Okay, wow. What the hell? Could a developer come in here and explain their reasoning on that? Pretty please? Because that makes no sense at all.

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The million dollar question is if you can then use Weapon Versatility to treat any one-handed weapon as a one-handed slashing weapon and apply your Dexterity damage
"Beware! My one-handed earthbreaker is a slashing weapon, so I'm using my Dexterity for damage!"
I'd have to say no because it doesn't make it a slashing weapon, it makes it do slashing damage by changing the stance.

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I'd have to say no because it doesn't make it a slashing weapon, it makes it do slashing damage by changing the stance.
This FAQ button is lonely and wants your click.
I suppose the question on deciding how this works may come down to this section which discusses weapon classifications and damage types, and seems to indicate they are one and the same.
Type: Weapons are classified according to the type of damage they deal: B for bludgeoning, P for piercing, or S for slashing. Some monsters may be resistant or immune to attacks from certain types of weapons.
FWIW, I'm good with it being either way, but I certainly expect this to be a hot area for August since it's the first new opening to use Dexterity to damage in a while, alongside a large number of PFS swashbuckler rebuilds.

QuidEst |

Can anybody tell me if Shaman's Life spirit still has that useless Healer's Touch Greater Spirit Ability? "Touch up to six people and stabilize them as a standard action, plus get +4 on Heal checks" would be disappointing even at first level.
Do Shaman hexes still reference Charisma for duration?
Any spoilers on the universal Shaman hexes?

Tels |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Dennis Baker wrote:Dervish Dancer and the Agile weapon property remain the only ways I'm aware of to get Dex to damage.Magnskn,
As for piercing weapons not getting a Dex bonus, that makes no sense from a flavor standpoint. You jab someone with a piercing weapon with all your strength. Unlike a slashing weapon, there's nothing particularly dexterous about them. Not any more so than any other weapon.
One of the biggest problems, is that you can now get Dex to Damage with a longsword, but not with a rapier the most iconic fencing weapon in history!
One of my best friends has been fencing for 15 years since he was on the highschool fencing team and became captain. I have watched several fencing instruction videos (on his insistence because I was getting duels wrong in game and it bugged him) and read up on fencing. Every source will tell you that proper fencing is all about dexterity.
Speed and control is important in fencing. You need to be accurate in your strike, but graceful and quick. If you use your brute strength to stab someone with a rapier, you're going to see that rapier miss a lot.
It boggles my mind that the rapier doesn't get a Dex to Damage option, but a battleaxe does.
It is also a big funky in that you don't get Dex to Attack rolls with the weapon, unless it's also a finesseable weapon. So you've got Dex to damage with your Longsword! Cool! ... Can't hit s~@% though because your Strength is 10.
They basically just reversed Weapon Finesse. Instead of Dex to attack and Str to damage, we now have Str to attack and Dex to damage. As anyone who has number crunched before will tell you, you can have all the damage you want in the world, but that damage is meaningless if you can't hit the guy.

Kudaku |

I don't really suscribe to a "don't want to ruin the surprise" stance on this book. We obviously are asking for the most detailed spoilers possible and this is not a movie, but a rules book. :p
It's not so much "because I don't want to spoil the book for you" and more that I've seen Paizo ask subscribers to not post comprehensive spoilers for other products before they are released in the past.
Trying to hit a balance between driving you mad with my vague hints and getting asked to stop posting at the moment. ;)

magnuskn |
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FWIW, I'm good with it being either way, but I certainly expect this to be a hot area for August since it's the first new opening to use Dexterity to damage in a while, alongside a large number of PFS swashbuckler rebuilds.
Yeah, those incredibly iconic Swashbucklers with their longswords, scimitars, bastard swords, handaxes and battleaxes.
I guess this incredibly weird decision by the devs makes Jirelle kinda un-iconic, since she took the shmuck option of using a rapier instead of a proper swashbucklers weapon, like the battleaxe.
Man, all those Errol Flynn and Three Musketeers movies, why weren't they armed with the iconic effective swashbuckler weapons, axes and big one-handed slashing swords?
Can anybody tell that I am a bit upset at this? :-/
<not an attack on you, wakedown, btw. I am just irritated and confused at this decision, which makes no sense>
Anyway, I am going to bed, it's 01:00 a.m. here over in Europe.

Necromancer |

Can anybody tell me if Shaman's Life spirit still has that useless Healer's Touch Greater Spirit Ability? "Touch up to six people and stabilize them as a standard action, plus get +4 on Heal checks" would be disappointing even at first level.
Do Shaman hexes still reference Charisma for duration?
Any spoilers on the universal Shaman hexes?
Healer’s Touch (Su): The shaman
gains a +4 bonus on Heal checks. As astandard action, the shaman can move
up to half her speed and touch up to
six dying creatures. Each creature is
automatically stabilized without the
need of a Heal check.
Hexes are WIS based now.
Brief hex list--
Chant (Ex) a cackle that doesn't stack with cackle, Charm (Su), Evil Eye (Su), Fetish (Ex): The shaman receives Craft Wondrous Item
as a bonus feat and gains a +4 insight bonus on Spellcraft
checks to identify magic items permanently, Fortune (Su), Fury (Su), Healing (Su), Misfortune (Su), Secret (Ex) bonus metamagic feat, Shapeshift (Su) grows with level, Tongues (Su), Ward (Su) bonus to AC and saves, and Witch Hex: The shaman selects any one hex normally
available through the witch’s hex class feature. She treats her shaman level as her witch level when determining the powers and abilities of the hex. She uses her Wisdom modifier in place of her Intelligence modifier for the hex. She cannot select major hexes or grand hexes using this ability. The shaman cannot select a witch hex that has the
same name as a shaman hex.

Barachiel Shina |
Barachiel Shina wrote:Can someone explain why a feat to allow Dex to damage is such a scare? I mean if the prerequisites were heavy enough it shouldn't matter right? I feel like the designers from both WotC and Paizo have been avoiding this for years with their products with no real explanation for why it would be an imbalance?They have explained it on several occasions.
When you can get dexterity to damage, there is no point of the strength ability score at all. Dexterity already applies to a lot of game mechanics and adding damage to that list would basically make it the only physical attribute anyone cares about.
But if you make the prerequisites costly enough, and you limit it further by applying it only to a specific weapon, then it becomes balanced. It becomes a matter of:
---Should I have high Strength?
---Or should I pour 3 to 4 feats just to have Dex damage with one type of weapon?

Necromancer |

Any paladin stuff please.
Two archetypes:
Holy Guide gains Knowledge (geography) and Survival, Favored Terrain at third level (new mercies can be dropped extra terrains), and
teamwork feats (can also burn a smite to grant the feat to allies for a few rounds)
Temple Champion loses spells for domain powers and warpriest blessings tied to chosen domain.
There's also a small number of new spells.

Necromancer |

Another Shaman question, did they add a way for the Battle Shaman to get access to martial weapon proficiency?
None that I can find, but can choose weapon specialization without meeting the requirements. Whether or not this can be a weapon the shaman's not proficient with isn't one hundred percent clear.

Necromancer |

Thanks necromancer but very disappointing lack of stuff. Not even a feat.
I didn't have the feats chapter open:
Believer’s Boon Wis 13, alignment must be within one step of
your deity’s Gain that use of a 1st-level cleric domain ability
Believer’s Hands Believer’s Boon†, must be lawful good Use lay on hands once per day
That's the only one I see that's directly for paladins, but there's a lot of stuff tying into blessings that could complement the temple champion archetype.
twenty four pages of feats...

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magnuskn wrote:I don't really suscribe to a "don't want to ruin the surprise" stance on this book. We obviously are asking for the most detailed spoilers possible and this is not a movie, but a rules book. :pIt's not so much "because I don't want to spoil the book for you" and more that I've seen Paizo ask subscribers to not post comprehensive spoilers for other products before they are released in the past.
Trying to hit a balance between driving you mad with my vague hints and getting asked to stop posting at the moment. ;)
And here it is... :)
Every year some folks get our books way before everyone else. While I can't stop you from posting spoilers, I do ask that you keep it light. We've had problems in the past with folks posting entire sections verbatim. Not that I am seeing that here, but please keep it light.
Thanks and I hope you are enjoying the book.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

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What does it say on Page 95?!!?!?!
Let's get to the really important questions first. Like this one!
Page 95 begins information about hunter archetypes starting with the Divine Hunter!
It also has about 40% of the page allocated to showing the most male thigh-skin of any adventurer picture I think I've seen in some time... I would imagine for ventilation.