What are Highly Debated Rules Topics Crying Out For FAQ / Errata / Blog Treatment?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion

51 to 100 of 139 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>

Cross posted from the other thread for completeness.

mdt wrote:

Here's a couple you can add to your Pending Resolution/complex list.

A) Command Words activating more than one ability on a weapon - Can you have multiple abilities activated by a single command word on one item, and multiple command words on the item to activate powers in different ways (bringing up Frost, Flame, or frost and flame simultaneously for example).

B) Where the rules have not changed between 3.5 and Pathfinder, should the 3.5 FAQ be considered valid until and unless Paizo makes an official ruling in the PF FAQ.

Honestly, I thought both of the above were pretty well confirmed, but apparently there's enough people to argue against them that I got fed up with it and bothered posting them as questionable. I even got told that 3.5 and PF were different games entirely and therefore there was nothing in common between them. Silly me, I thought with Paizo advertizing it as 3.75 back during beta that it was based on 3.5.


Quick Draw shields interacting with Shield Throwing property from Adventurer's armory turns throwing a quick draw shield into a free action, even if it's not equipped (since it can be readied as a free action). Thus, if you can afford the weight and cost of 10 or 15 light quickdraw shields with that property, you can at the beginning of each fight spam 10 or 15 shield throws at an enemy in range.


Do the Sage and Empyrean archtypes in UM function in concert with Eldritch Heritage to allow the sorcerer to use his Int/Wis for the ability gained from Eldritch Heritage as well, or does it still use Cha.

Liberty's Edge

Jiggy wrote:
Howie23 wrote:

Proposed Questions That Have Been Addressed in FAQ:

1. Does the trip manouver with a weapon require the use of a weapon with the Trip Property? (Sort of Answered)

I guess I need to further clarify: the contention I've seen is entirely unrelated to weapons with the Trip quality. Rather, in an instance in which a character's only wielded weapon is not a trip weapon, does a trip attempt use said non-trip weapon or does it use your foot?

I can't remember why it's supposed to matter, since the weapon's bonuses are explicitly stated not to apply, but I don't want to leave a very adamant party unrepresented.

I just reread the description of the special features of weapon Disarm and Trip (page 144 and 145 of the CRB). They are worded quite differently : the Disarm special feature gives a +2 to CMB, while the Trip special feature specifically mentions that you can use the weapon to make trip attacks.

Since both the description of the CRB and the FAQ clearly indicate that you do not need to use a trip weapon to make a trip attempt, it seems that you cannot use a weapon without the Trip special feature to make trip attacks, which is consistent with the non-trip weapon's bonuses not applying to the CMB even though the CRB mentions that any bonus on the attack used carries to the CMB.

Apparently, a trip attack without a trip weapon is in fact an unarmed attack (which should provoke an AoO) and I guess that the Improved Trip feat takes care of this specific AoO

Sorry for the clarification/debating point :/


Can a Synthesist Summoner heal his 'Armor' using his spells, or does it always only supply half HP, since he can't heal it per the ability. This would mean the only way to get the HP back would be to kill the summon himself, and resummon the next day with half HP.


if a sythisist multiclasses, when fused does the eidolen's BAB replace the bab from sythisist, or their entire BAB?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

@mdt - That was it! Reach! Thanks, I couldn't remember.

Dark Archive

Amulet of Mighty Fists (Speed enchant) and multiple natural attacks.

Does it give 1 extra attack like haste or does it give +1 attack per natural weapon enchanted with it.


-how does trample really work? how far can the trampling creature move and can you be proned by the trampler?

-the whole "holding the charge" issue (as previously mentioned)

-"accidental" command word use

-what the hell is an aluminum falcon?

Liberty's Edge

Can't find the quote, so deleted.

-----

mdt wrote:
If he trips someone, and they get up, he can get an AoO on them for standing and he's more likely to crit (due to their prone penalties at the AoO).

You can’t trip someone when he is standing up. It is in the FAQ, here: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy88yj/faq#v5748eaic9nvd:

Quote:


When a prone character stands up and provokes an attack of opportunity, can I use that attack to trip the character again?
No. The attack of opportunity is triggered before the action that triggered it is resolved. In this case, the target is still prone when the attack of opportunity occurs (and you get the normal bonuses when making such an attack). Since the trip combat maneuver does not prevent the target's action, the target then stands up.
—Jason Bulmahn, 08/14/10

------

Tarlane wrote:


If an invisible creature is hit with glitterdust can he cast invisibility again, causing the dust that coats him to go invisible as well like a worn object, or does it keep him visible?
PRD wrote:

Glitterdust

A cloud of golden particles covers everyone and everything in the area, causing creatures to become blinded and visibly outlining invisible things for the duration of the spell. All within the area are covered by the dust, which cannot be removed and continues to sparkle until it fades
PRD wrote:
An invisible burning torch still gives off light, as does an invisible object with a light or similar spell cast upon it.

The invisible creature covered by glitterdust “sparkle”. That normally mean that it emit light and the light is not banished by casting invisibility again.

So unless you think that it is only reflected light casting invisibility again don’t help.


Diego Rossi wrote:
mdt wrote:


Bypassing Prerequisites by using +5 DC rule :

B) Can you take +5 to bypass the Caster Level Special Requirement for Weapon Enchantment (Bonus x 3 in Level).
C) Can you take +5 to bypass the Caster Level Special Requirement for Armor Enchantment (Bonus x 3 in Level).

There has been already a reply about this, by SKR I think, that special prerequisite is not in the description of the magic item, instead it is a general rule. Only the prerequisites in the item description can be bypassed. I will try to find the post.

And yet, there are people who say that the caster level requirements are not 'Special Requirements' because SKR put in the FAQ that Caster Level was not a requirement. I agree you can't, but it's still debated on the forums every week, and every week someone points to SKR's FAQ saying Caster Level is not a requirement even for weapons. In other words, it's not cleared up still.

Diego Rossi wrote:
mdt wrote:
If he trips someone, and they get up, he can get an AoO on them for standing and he's more likely to crit (due to their prone penalties at the AoO).

You can’t trip someone when he is standing up. It is in the FAQ, here: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy88yj/faq#v5748eaic9nvd:

Guess it's a good thing I didn't say he could trip him when standing up then, isn't it? What I said was he could trip him as an AoO, then get another AoO when he stood up (note, attack, not trip).


Templates, Augmentation, and Subtypes.

Does a creature that gains the Augmented Subtype still count as it's original subtype for purposes of Bane and Ranger FC, and so forth?

Example : Human is bitten by a vampire, becomes Vampire (Undead, Augmented Humanoid). Would they be in the same boat as a half-elf (who is both Human and Elf for Bane and FE) and be vulnerable to both Bane (Undead) and Bane (Human) as well as the same on FE?

Same would apply to Were creatures, which I had always understood that a human were creature was still considered a Human. If that is the case, then the vampire is the same thing. If not, then the were is immune to any bane except Bane (Werecreature) (which isn't in the lists).

Liberty's Edge

Does Empower Spell increase the dice portion of variable damage, or does it include constants and/or caster level adjustments? For example, does ray of enfeeblement cast by a 10th level caster (normally 1d6+5) do (1d6+5)*1.5 or (1d6*1.5)+5. This was stated as (1d6*1.5)+5 by Jason in this non-official forum post, but has never made it to the FAQ. Jason's ruling is different than the non-OGC clarification in the 3.5 PHB. The SRD text itself is ambiguous.

Edit: I have started thread for additional discussion In This Handy Link.

Liberty's Edge

In need of clarification:

Quote:

Conjuration [general rule]

A creature or object brought into being or transported to your location by a conjuration spell cannot appear inside another creature or object, nor can it appear floating in an empty space. It must arrive in an open location on a surface capable of supporting it.

I see a lot of people that interpret this as "you can't dimension door/teleport in mid air".

By RAW it say brought into being or transported to your location, not teleported to another location.

As ROI the intention seem to be to avoid people from creating,summoning or teleporting objects in mid aid above an enemy and killing him with the falling object.

So the intention is to bar people from teleporting in mid air, for example 100 meters above a specific location to survey the terrain before landing, or not?

A secondary question: if it is possible to teleport in mid air, it is possible to be teleported in mid air by mistake? Or the off target error is only on solid terrain?

Liberty's Edge

Can a wizard do a complete spell preparation, such as that which normally requires 8 hours rest, more than 1 time per day? If yes, is he still limited to the spell per day limits based upon his class level? For example, a 2nd level universalist wizard with 12 Int (stop laughing) can cast three 1st level spells per day. After a fine night's sleep, he prepares magic missile three times. On the way to the local wizard university to take Arcane Magic 102, a rapid dog attacks him. During the combat, the wizard uses two of his magic missile spells. After a two hour class, he rests for 8 hours; it's been a long day. What can he now do for spell preparation?


How a druid's animal companion behaves while being used as a mount, clarifications on when mounted creatures can make attacks, and whether or not you can cast a spell and have your mount charge and attack a creature int he same round.

Liberty's Edge

'Rixx wrote:
How a druid's animal companion behaves while being used as a mount, clarifications on when mounted creatures can make attacks, and whether or not you can cast a spell and have your mount charge and attack a creature int he same round.

Mounted combat is definitely a ripe topic for the thread. I don't know all of what you're communicating, but trying to put these as topics are questions:

1. Animal Companion as Mount: (what's the issue?)

2. Can a mount and rider both attack on a charge? How does a reach weapon, a mount's reach, Ride-by Attack, and/or a mount's spring attack interact with these? Can a mount and rider both take an AoO if provoked; if so does it require a Ride check to fight with a war trained mount? That Ride check is a free action; does that mean it must have been made during the rider's turn?

3. When a mount is charging, may the rider also make actions such as casting a spell?

Liberty's Edge

Can a double weapon that is sized appropriately for the person using it be used with one hand? This has been ruled on both yes and no by Paizo Developers. PHB had clarifying non-OGC text that use of a double weapon in one hand was possible when the weapon was sized smaller than the user.

Liberty's Edge

Does Flyby Attack allow for two standard actions or an standard action in the middle of the move. The text itself appears to be erroneous and has an unofficial clarification here.


Howie23 wrote:
'Rixx wrote:
How a druid's animal companion behaves while being used as a mount, clarifications on when mounted creatures can make attacks, and whether or not you can cast a spell and have your mount charge and attack a creature int he same round.

Mounted combat is definitely a ripe topic for the thread. I don't know all of what you're communicating, but trying to put these as topics are questions:

1. Animal Companion as Mount: (what's the issue?)

2. Can a mount and rider both attack on a charge? How does a reach weapon, a mount's reach, Ride-by Attack, and/or a mount's spring attack interact with these? Can a mount and rider both take an AoO if provoked; if so does it require a Ride check to fight with a war trained mount? That Ride check is a free action; does that mean it must have been made during the rider's turn?

3. When a mount is charging, may the rider also make actions such as casting a spell?

If I may add.

4. What's the deal with overrun etc. Who takes what feats to gain what benefit. I'm talking about improved/greater overrun and trample. Further, who's making the combat manoeuvre check.

Liberty's Edge

Howie23 wrote:
Does Flyby Attack allow for two standard actions or an standard action in the middle of the move. The text itself appears to be erroneous and has an unofficial clarification here.

Flyby Attack

This creature can make an attack before and after it moves while flying. [Horrible fluff text]

Prerequisite: Fly speed.

Benefit: When flying, the creature can take a move action and another standard action at any point during the move. The creature cannot take a second move action during a round when it makes a flyby attack. [clear description of what the feat do]

Normal: Without this feat, the creature takes a standard action either before or after its move.

The fluff text can be correct, but I have trouble seeing how it is possible to have problems with what the feat actually do.
The relevant part is always the Benefit part.


For the Magus class ability "Spell Combat" is magic considered to be a wielded weapon and as such invalidate the ability to use the Dervish Dance feat while using spell combat? This creeps up in a number of magus-related threads.

Spell Combat (Ex): 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.

Some believe the statement regarding "spell as a off-hand weapon" is literal, others believe the designation of the spell as an off-hand weapon is for purposes of mechanically framing the -2 penalty to melee attacks.


B0sh1 wrote:

For the Magus class ability "Spell Combat" is magic considered to be a wielded weapon and as such invalidate the ability to use the Dervish Dance feat while using spell combat? This creeps up in a number of magus-related threads.

Spell Combat (Ex): 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.

Some believe the statement regarding "spell as a off-hand weapon" is literal, others believe the designation of the spell as an off-hand weapon is for purposes of mechanically framing the -2 penalty to melee attacks.

Hm, I think Mr. Jacobs (or Mr. Reynolds, not sure) did answer that questions some days ago.

AFAiK it was sth like "dervish dance should work but the rule can be read another way so it's up to your DM" ?


Arthun wrote:
B0sh1 wrote:

For the Magus class ability "Spell Combat" is magic considered to be a wielded weapon and as such invalidate the ability to use the Dervish Dance feat while using spell combat? This creeps up in a number of magus-related threads.

Spell Combat (Ex): 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.

Some believe the statement regarding "spell as a off-hand weapon" is literal, others believe the designation of the spell as an off-hand weapon is for purposes of mechanically framing the -2 penalty to melee attacks.

Hm, I think Mr. Jacobs (or Mr. Reynolds, not sure) did answer that questions some days ago.

AFAiK it was sth like "dervish dance should work but the rule can be read another way so it's up to your DM" ?

I am the one that asked him the question but he also said he's not on the design team either.

The Exchange

Grappling mounted characters needs to be fleshed out.

Liberty's Edge

3 people marked this as FAQ candidate. 1 person marked this as a favorite.

Charging: Can a character ready a charge of a single move distance during a round in which she is limited to a single move distance? Can a creature or character with pounce perform a full attack action as part of a charge made when limited to a single move distance? Can a character voluntarily limit his actions to a standard action only in order to ready a charge of single move length?

Liberty's Edge

Cantrips and orisons can be cast at will. Other than Heighten, metamagic spells generally take a higher level slot, but are not higher level spells. If a metamagic'd cantrip or orison is prepared at in a higher level slot, can it still be cast at will? Can a cantrip or orison without metamagic (such as using a first level slot to prep an extra cantrip), but prepared in a higher level slot, be cast at will?

There is apparently unofficial staff forum post ruling on this already that the metamagic cantrips/orisons that raise level cannot be cast at will. If someone has a link to that ruling, please provide it.Discussion Thread


-The magic item creation rules

-The magic item creation rules.

And the Magic item creation rules.

I have seen at least 4 legitimate raw interpretations of what they say.


mdt wrote:
Do the Sage and Empyrean archtypes in UM function in concert with Eldritch Heritage to allow the sorcerer to use his Int/Wis for the ability gained from Eldritch Heritage as well, or does it still use Cha.

No you would use your Cha. as both of the arcanas say as in relation to your class abilities....Eldritch Heritage is a feat not a class ability.

Well that is atleast my interpertation


BigNorseWolf wrote:

-The magic item creation rules

-The magic item creation rules.

And the Magic item creation rules.

I have seen at least 4 legitimate raw interpretations of what they say.

The rules have been clarified, through FAQ and board posts, to my satisfaction. People still wildly misunderstand them however, and I admit I did for a long time as well.

So yeah, item creation rules and stealth. They don't need a FAQ they just need scrapping and starting over.


PRD wrote:

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.

PRD wrote:

Action Types

An action's type essentially tells you how long the action takes to perform (within the framework of the 6-second combat round) and how movement is treated. There are six types of actions: standard actions, move actions, full-round actions, swift actions, immediate actions, and free actions.

There is no defintion of "attack action", but the community agrees that this is meant to be a "standard action".

Vital Strike Should read:

Vital Strike (Combat)
You make a single attack that deals significantly more damage than normal.

Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +6.

Benefit: When you use a standard 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.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
John Kretzer wrote:
mdt wrote:
Do the Sage and Empyrean archtypes in UM function in concert with Eldritch Heritage to allow the sorcerer to use his Int/Wis for the ability gained from Eldritch Heritage as well, or does it still use Cha.

No you would use your Cha. as both of the arcanas say as in relation to your class abilities....Eldritch Heritage is a feat not a class ability.

Well that is atleast my interpertation

Well, since I disagree, and there is active debate over it, I would suggest that it is a good candidate for this thread, no?

On a separate issue...

Brass Knuckles and Monks

SKR posted brass knuckles do not use Monk Unarmed Damage, but, then the APG (which came out his ruling in a forum thread) came out out with specific wording that says you do. So it's confusing as all get out, since you have a DEV posting one thing in forum threads, and the company changing the text of the item to specifically say it does the opposite of what the DEV is posting.

On a similar note, there is an open debate amongst some GMs on whether Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike) can be used with things like spiked gauntlets, cestus's, and brass knuckles.

Liberty's Edge

Can a cleric use wands and divine scrolls of spells that appear on his domain lists? There is ambiguity due to the use of "class list" and similar language for the activation of scrolls and wands. The intent seems to be that spell completion and spell trigger is limited to spells that can otherwise be cast. Discussion Thread


Howie23 wrote:
Can a cleric use wands and divine scrolls of spells that appear on his domain lists? There is ambiguity due to the use of "class list" and similar language for the activation of scrolls and wands. The intent seems to be that spell completion and spell trigger is limited to spells that can otherwise be cast.Discussion Thread

You might wish to expand this beyond simply domains as there are other instances where this would come up.

Sorcerers and bloodlines.

Magus and spell blending.

There's a PrC or two out there that let you add spells irc.

But then I guess my position is that rules should always complement one another.

-James


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Antagonize feat. Nuff said.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Carbon D. Metric wrote:
Sometimes it is best to have an unclear position on some subjects, simply to leave it open to interpretation so DM's have the ability to say no at the table.

While this makes a lot of sense, it isn't required. Rule 0 aka "GM word is law" is always present, so the GM doesn't need the rule to agree with him to play it the way he wishes.

DGRM44 wrote:
I still challenge anyone to prove using the core rule book that initiative is rolled with a 1d20

PHB p13 "rolls a d20 and adds his or her initiative bonus"

PHB p178 "An initiative check is a Dexterity check"
PHB p8 "Most die rolls in the game use a d20"
PHB p11 "Check: A check is a d20 roll"
PHB p15 "While a character rarely rolls a check using just an ability score"

-----

I'm going to post all my collected issues.
Many have been FAQ'd before.
I'm not sure how many have in fact been FAQ'd. I may come back and FAQ tag them when I search no previous FAQ tagged questions of the subjects.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Previously mentioned by mdt:

Con position:
Brass Knuckles are not Unarmed Strikes but use Unarmed Strike damage dice.
Belier's Bite can not be used with any attack using Brass Knuckles.
Weapon Focus/Weapon Spec/etc if taken with Unarmed Strike do not aid your Brass Knuckle attacks.
Amulet of Mighty Fists do not enhance Brass Knuckles attacks.

Pro position:
Brass Knuckle are still attacks made with the Unarmed Strike weapon.
Belier's Bite, Weapon Focus/Weapon Spec, Amulets of Mighty Fist all add to Brass Knuckles attacks.

I have 33 games of PFS behind a character using Brass Knuckles, Amulets of Mighty Fists, Belier's Bite, Weapon Focus/Spec Unarmed Strike. I personally fall into the Con position, but sitting down with this character often isn't fun. Almost every table interprets the rules differently, frequently other players disagree with the GM's decision (I always ask at the beginning of sessions to see how the DM wants to run them.)

Cestus, Gauntlets/Spiked Gauntlets have similar issues.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Belier's Bite feat

"When you damage an opponent with an unarmed strike, you deal an extra 1d4 bleed damage. Special: This ability does not stack with other special abilities, attacks, or items that allow you to deal bleed damage."

Most Conservative:
Attack with Belier's Bite 5 times in a round, and the opponent takes 1d4 bleed at the beginning of their next turn (doesn't stack with itself and is delayed.)

Conservative:
Attack with Belier's Bite 5 times in a round, and the opponent takes the highest roll of 5d4 and takes an additional 1d4 at the beginning of their next turn (doesn't stack with itself.)

Liberal:
Attack with Belier's Bite 5 times in a round, and the opponent takes 5d4 additional bleed damage now, and 1d4 bleed at the beginning of their next turn (stacks with itself because that is not consider "other" bleed damage.

I subscribe to the Conservative position.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Tiny and smaller creatures able to take 5 ft steps to enter a space of another

PHB p189 "5-foot step" places no restrictions on size.
PHB p193 "Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creature can move into or through an occupied square. The creature provokes attacks of opportunity when doing so."

Con position:
The enforced AoO from p193 can not be avoided using a 5-foot step.

Pro position:
The enforced AoO from p193 is avoided if you 5-foot step into their space.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

1 person marked this as FAQ candidate.

Reach is a square or round

In 3.5 there was a line saying you ignore diagonals when calculating distance for Threatening.

That line was removed in Pathfinder.

Con: Reach is now calculated like an area effect radius of the reach.

Pro: You threaten a square if you threaten a portion of it, so on diagonals where it would take 15 ft movement, you still threaten since you threaten half of that 2nd square (10 ft.)

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Touch of Law (Law Domain), does the target roll a a d20 and then decide whether or not to take 11, or do they forego the dice roll and just take 11?

Does Inspire Courage add to attacks and damage with ray spells, which are treated like weapons for purposes of Weapon Focus, Point Blank Shot etc?


Sneak attack. Pretty well 'nuff said, but here are a few:

Can you SA with spells? (seems yes)
Can you SA with spells that don't do hp damage? (mixed)
If you SA with a spell, what type is the damage? (mixed)
Actually, what type is the damage from an SA?

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Stormfriend wrote:

Touch of Law (Law Domain), does the target roll a a d20 and then decide whether or not to take 11, or do they forego the dice roll and just take 11?

Does Inspire Courage add to attacks and damage with ray spells, which are treated like weapons for purposes of Weapon Focus, Point Blank Shot etc?

Re: Touch of Law - the description says it applies to ALL such rolls for the round, not just some of them. Your forego the roll.

Re: Inspire Courage - The description specifically says "attack and weapon damage rolls", so all attack rolls (including rays and such) but only weapon damage rolls (so not spells).

@Rory: I'm still looking for the reference, but I was under the impression that the term "attack action" referred to a specific standard action (i.e., one used to make an attack). That is, it's a subcategory of the larger umbrella term of "standard actions". That is, among the list of possible standard actions, you could drink a potion, cast a spell (which may or may not involve an attack roll), make an attack, or any number of other things. The standard action of simply making an attack has its own name of "attack action". Again, still looking for the reference, but I'm pretty sure that's it.


Quote:

The rules have been clarified, through FAQ and board posts, to my satisfaction. People still wildly misunderstand them however, and I admit I did for a long time as well.

So yeah, item creation rules and stealth. They don't need a FAQ they just need scrapping and starting over.

Could you point me to said FAQ and board posts?

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

APG Druid Wild Shape

Most of this has died down now.

Con: You do not gain Wild Shape until 6th level, at which point it operates at -2 or as a 4th level druid.

Pro: You gain Wild Shape at 4th level, operating at 2nd level.

I subscribe to the Con position.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

APG p50 Lore Oracle

Sidestep Secret (Su): ... Add your Charisma modifier (instead of your Dexterity modifier) to your Armor Class and all Reflex saving throws. Your armor’s maximum Dexterity bonus applies to your Charisma instead of your Dexterity.

Con: You add Dex to CMD but Cha to AC, since it doesn't mention changing your Dex to CMD also.

Pro: This also add your Cha instead of your Dex to CMD, since your "Dex to AC" is actually your "Cha to AC" and CMD takes "Dex to AC"

This reminds me of the worst arguments from 3.5 days about being limited to Max Dex:
From http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040807a&page=4
Stone Warden (Ex): ... Constitution bonus to AC instead of his Dexterity

There were years worth of arguing on the forums about this. Wizards never officially answered the question (at least as far as I remember), but the author did answer that the way he wrote it, you are limited to Max Con the same value as Max Dex. But in those days, online forum rules were more strict. RAI, FAQ, non of that mattered. Only Errata.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Non Numerical Bonuses are still Bonuses

PHB p208: "Stacking Effects: Spells that provide bonuses or penalties on attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and other attributes usually do not stack with themselves."

Con: This is not limited to spells, so if you have 5 Orange Ioun stones, you only get +1 Caster Level (the other 4 don't stack with themselves.)

Pro: Only spells are limited, so I can make use of multiple items or effects ll providing the same bonus. So a 1st level Wizard with 19 Orange Ioun stones make a frightening Magic Missile caster getting the 9th level benefit.

I subscribe to the Con position.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Wild Shape druid using Rhino Hide armor

PHB p212: "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 bonuses, which cease to function"

PHB p466: "has a –1 armor check penalty and deals an additional 2d6 points of damage on any successful charge attack made by the wearer, including a mounted charge."

Con: The Rhino Hide armor melds, and because it has an Armor Bonus you lose the AC, the ACP, the additional dice on charge.

Pro: Rhino Hide armor melds, you lose Armor bonus but retain all non-activated effects. You do not gain the AC, but you retain the ACP and the additional 2d6 on a charge since it isn't activated.

I subscribe to the Pro view. There are also some that assert the 2d6 dice is an activated ability. This is a real tricky item to use in PFS. I have a 9th level Druid with this item since around 6th level or so. It is a very different game each session.

The Exchange Owner - D20 Hobbies

Fighter Feat changing

Con: You can change a feat, but you must meed the prereqs for when the other feat was taken. So a 8th level Fighter can't swap out his 1st level Cleave for Vital Strike.

Pro: You can change a feat using your current qualifications, so at 8th level you can swap out your 1st level Cleave feat from Fighter bonus feats for Vital Strike so long as you are not using Cleave as a Prereq.

I subscribe to the Con view, because the Pro view seems to be so very exploitive. I mean Sorcerers can't swap out 1st level spells known for 4th level spells known at 8th level can they?

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

1 person marked this as a favorite.

I would like to compliment James for elucidating the issues under question, explaining both sides, and then weighing in with his opinion. Nicely done, dude.

51 to 100 of 139 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / General Discussion / What are Highly Debated Rules Topics Crying Out For FAQ / Errata / Blog Treatment? All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.