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So I wasn't really sure what to title this, so apologies for that. I know this is a fairly rules-specific question, but this is a pathfinder specific situation so "ask your GM" doesn't really work here.
So I have a 3rd level sorcerer with the Serpentine Bloodline. I was wondering if it's possible to do an attack with his serpentine fangs before combat actually began, in those few situations where you talk to the NPCs before they attack.
Ex:
You enter and begin talking to a female NPC you are investigating, and my sorcerer, as the most likely "face" for the party, begins a conversation with the female NPC. Now I'm sure we all recognize the point at which everyone at the table 'knows' combat is inevitable. Would you think it allowable for him to lean in with some sort of bluff check or something, and "kiss" her with his fangs, thereby initiating combat?
Not a very common situation I know, but I was just trying to think of situations in which the serpentine fangs could be kinda cool as a psuedo-RP element. Not too worried about it, just curious really.
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So I wasn't really sure what to title this, so apologies for that. I know this is a fairly rules-specific question, but this is a pathfinder specific situation so "ask your GM" doesn't really work here.
So I have a 3rd level sorcerer with the Serpentine Bloodline. I was wondering if it's possible to do an attack with his serpentine fangs before combat actually began, in those few situations where you talk to the NPCs before they attack.
Ex:
You enter and begin talking to a female NPC you are investigating, and my sorcerer, as the most likely "face" for the party, begins a conversation with the female NPC. Now I'm sure we all recognize the point at which everyone at the table 'knows' combat is inevitable. Would you think it allowable for him to lean in with some sort of bluff check or something, and "kiss" her with his fangs, thereby initiating combat?Not a very common situation I know, but I was just trying to think of situations in which the serpentine fangs could be kinda cool as a psuedo-RP element. Not too worried about it, just curious really.
This isn’t a PFS specific question. The mechanics of game flow will rule how this should work.
Because the rules themselves don’t always handle situations like this explicitly, you should expect some amount of table variation, however I will detail the way I would do it.
Negotiations ensue… start going badly
Sorcerer: I approach all innocent and such and try to bite her neck before they attack us
GM: Make a bluff check [oppose this with NPC’s sense motive check] – Ok, you succeed, this is now the surprise round… everyone roll initiative. Sorcerer, you get your surprise action, then we will start combat round #1.
NOTE: If the sense motive check had been made, then it would simply start round 1 of combat, and if you sucked on initiative, then you wouldn’t get your bite off before combat started.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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This is pretty much the definition of a surprise round.
As a GM, I would personally allow the bluff check for the "kiss", and if she makes her sense motive check, she too gets to act in the surprise round, though you could potentially still beat her in initiative.
Once initiative was rolled and your turn came up in the surprise round, you would perform the "kiss".
Of course, I think most GMs tend to not bother with surprise rounds, treating the first hostile act as being out-of-combat and then starting with full rounds afterwards. This actually works fine in most cases, but a certain character of mine would take exception to it due to having the magical ability to always act in the surprise round no matter what.
EDIT: Ninja'd by a very similar interpretation.
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Assuming the bluff succeeded, I'd rule the bite attack as taking place in the surprise round. Barring special abilities (like Jiggy's), then combat would proceed in normal rounds thereafter. Since no one else would have been aware of the bite before it happens, the only person not surprised in this instance is the sorcerer making the bite attack.
Of course, you should expect table variation as this is not covered explicitly in the rules.
