I'm looking for some feedback from anyone who has used Cornugon Smash. (Or has seen it used by someone else at the table)
It sounds great for a power attacking fighter, but how often does it actually work for the intimidate check?
The DC of 10+HD+Wis Modifier seems like it might hard for a fighter to make against CR appropriate monsters, even with maxed ranks.
I'm looking for some feedback from anyone who has used Cornugon Smash. (Or has seen it used by someone else at the table)
It sounds great for a power attacking fighter, but how often does it actually work for the intimidate check?
The DC of 10+HD+Wis Modifier seems like it might hard for a fighter to make against CR appropriate monsters, even with maxed ranks.
Let's look at that shall we?
If we just build an appropriate fighter for intimidation without even really optimizing the stats...
Half Orc Fighter 6
Str: 18
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 12
Cha: 10
Feats:
1 Power Attack
1 Intimidating Prowess
2 Weapon Focus
3 Dazzling Display
4 Furious Focus
5 Iron Will
6 Cornugon Smash
Traits:
Bully
Armor Wearer
So without really focusing on intimidate what did we get?
6 Ranks + 3 Favored Class + 2 Race + 4 Strength + 1 Trait = +16 on the roll.
At minimum I'm rolling 17 This is without going into crazy territory or talking about magic items. I can make most CR appropriate encounters pee their pants by rolling ten or less. I can get way way higher then this if I wanted.
if only 1/4 of the total of your atack are succesful in intimidate your opponent, then is very good for youI'm looking for some feedback from anyone who has used Cornugon Smash. (Or has seen it used by someone else at the table)
It sounds great for a power attacking fighter, but how often does it actually work for the intimidate check?
The DC of 10+HD+Wis Modifier seems like it might hard for a fighter to make against CR appropriate monsters, even with maxed ranks.
True. Its basically gravy on top of your regular attacks.
That is actually what made it appealing to me. I was looking at building a trip fighting, and was flipping through the Cheliax book to look at Fury's Fall when I came across Cornugon Smash.
With the Trip focus, I'd have to devote a ton of feats, and even then I might fail and "waste" my attack.
I should be hitting most of the time as a fighter, so even if I fail the intimidate check, I still did something that round.
... Intimidating Prowess ...
<facepalm>
Oops. For some reason I was thinking that this feat was 3.5 and not PF.
Yeah, that would be the boost I was looking for, especially for a race that doesn't get a bonus to intimidate.
Oh, it works amazingly!
I'm playing an Oracle of Battle right now, and about a 1/3 of my character is devoted to exploiting the intimidate skill.
Dazzling Display, Cornugon Smash, Intimidating Prowess, and Shatter Defenses all dovetail wonderfully with each other.
Will it work all the time, every time? No. But it's a free check every time you hit, and if you get Shatter Defenses it can be brutal, particularly since Intimidating Prowess means every strength buff is also an Intimidate buff, making you more likely to hit, dealing more damage, and being scarier all at once.
I haven't used it yet, but I have just taken the feat. I'm running a half-orc inquisitor. Strength-based, but with Intimidating Prowess.
The Shatter Defenses feat is awesome, but an inquisitor doesn't get enough fighter bonus feats to make it worthwhile.
Also hurtful is really good.