How many attacks does Twilight Knife get?


Rules Questions


5 people marked this as FAQ candidate.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

In another thread somebody brought to my attention the possibility that the spell, twilight knife (APG), only gets a single attack per round, whereas I believed it got one attack for every attack the caster got off. A gish spell, essentially.

Now I'm trying to find out the truth of the matter.

Seeing as you always waste the first round of the spell accomplishing nothing (as it has a standard action casting time, you generally don't attack anything that round) I had a hard enough time trying to find a good use for it under MY interpretation.

If the posters in the other thread are right about it only getting ONE attack a round, however, it is easily the worst 3rd-level combat spell in the game.

Though I welcome your interpretation of the spell, I prefer developer input if possible. To that end, please hit the FAQ button.

Grand Lodge

It's pretty poor for 3rd level. If it got an attack on the round it was cast, it would be about as good as spiritual weapon, one level lower.


The wording of the spell never mentions multiple attacks. It is very similar to Spiritual Weapon. The way it is worded I would say it only gets a single attack per round. The nice thing about it is the flanking bonus and the fact that it gets a 1d6/4 lvls Sneak Attack progression. It would be a good spell for a Dragon Disciple, Arcane Trickster or Eldritch Knight. As a straight Wizard or Witch you probably wouldn't want to take this since you don't really have a lot of combat prowess and probably won't want to spend much time in melee.


It's probably a pretty decent spell for a rogue (using a wand with UMD), when he often finds himself in a position where he doesn't have a flanker.
Since the knife goes in a position to flank, the rogue should get flanker bonus as well and with that sneak attack.

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 16

This was developed from the version I sent in so don't take me as the final voice but it was intended as just one attack.

The original mandate for this spell (and a few others) was to come up with something that helped out a particular spell casting PrC. I think this one was meant for arcane tricksters since it fits the theme of "roguery at a distance" as it were.


I kind of hope it makes it onto the final version of the Magus spell list. It seems like they might be able to get some decent use out of it.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Volaran wrote:
I kind of hope it makes it onto the final version of the Magus spell list. It seems like they might be able to get some decent use out of it.

More so than a wizard anyways. *tears page out of spellbook, crumples it up, and throws it away in disgust*


I had actually been planning on picking this up on my witch (who has the deceptive aspect). I'd never touch it as a sorcerer, but it seems like it has enough niche utility to warrant a wizard or witch adding it to their spellbook.

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