Prehensile hair combat maneuvers?


Rules Questions


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Can you perform combat maneuvers with prehensile hair?

(trip or grapple for example)


Prehensile Hair (Su) wrote:

The witch can instantly cause her hair (or even her eyebrows) to grow up to 10 feet long or to shrink to its normal length, and can manipulate her hair as if it were a limb with a Strength score equal to her Intelligence score. Her hair has reach 10 feet, and she can use it as a secondary natural attack that deals 1d3 points of damage (1d2 for a Small witch). Her hair can manipulate objects (but not weapons) as dexterously as a human hand. The hair cannot be sundered or attacked as a separate creature. Pieces cut from the witch’s elongated hair shrink away to nothing. Using her hair does not harm the witch’s head or neck, even if she lifts something heavy with it. The witch can manipulate her hair a number of minutes each day equal to her level; these minutes do not need to be consecutive, but must be spent in 1-minute increments. A typical male witch with this hex can also manipulate his beard, moustache, or eyebrows.

Source: Ultimate Magic

Add Steal and Disarm. I would think any that would be allowed by a natural weapon.


My witch has prehensile hair and I sat down with my GM to discuss this. We ended up about where harmor indicates. We basically decided the hair is like a tentacle and can do pretty much anything you can do without a weapon, including CMB maneuvers. For CMB maneuvers the CMB uses the witch's int bonus instead of the witch's str bonus.

I dunno if that's RAW or if there is any FAQ on it, but that's how we play it.

It certainly isn't overpowered, or hasn't been so far. Due to the fact my witch is pretty fragile, melee combat isn't his thing anyway. Usually he uses it to attempt to trip an incoming attacker so he can get away.


the TPP prehensile hair (which was out before UM) specifically called out combat maneuvers, I was just wondering if it had been eliminated in the core version for a reason, or just not specifically called out due to word count.

also, the PC in question wants to use the hex specifically through her whip (for flavor) and even though a whip is 15 feet and not 10 feet, I was thinking about limiting this hex to 10 feet (due to the fact the extra whip length was used up to wrap around things like a tentacle) and then allowing her to due with whips and not hair. Magical telekinetic control over whips, ropes and scarves physically in her control?

Anyway I didnt see a reason to not allow it, because the whip can be disarmed and sundered unlike the hair (so an added draw back?)


Not a good idea. Whips can be enchanted cheaply as weapons--enchanting natural weapons like hair is a hell of a lot harder and more expensive.


no it's the idea of spending the slot, taking the hex and using the hex only with whips, ropes and scarves, using the hair rules. not a weapon enchantment.


Pendagast wrote:
no it's the idea of spending the slot, taking the hex and using the hex only with whips, ropes and scarves, using the hair rules. not a weapon enchantment.

No, I understand what you're saying, I think you missed what I was saying.

If he's using Prehensile Hair, he's using a natural attack. First, that means no iterative attacks--that's only a single attack, period. Second, to enchant it, he needs to use Magic Fang or get an Amulet of Might Fists.

If he's using Prehensile Whip, that's a weapon--he can make full iterative attacks with it. Plus, he can enchant it with the spell Magic Weapon (which he can cast), or just by enchanting the weapon.

Take a look at the price of enchanting a whip vs. the price of an Amulet of Mighty Fists.

A +1 Whip costs 2k. A +1 AoMF costs 5k. Ok, that's not too bad. But look at a +2. A Whip is 8k, while the AoMF is 20k. I mean, we're talking 2.5x the cost, here.

I really would not change this ability if I were you.


Just a reminder that you can get an Amulet of Mighty Fists with a +0, yes +0 enchancement. So a Flaming Amulet of Mighty Fists +0 costs 5,000 gp instead of the 20,000 that an Flaming Amulet of Mighty Fists +1 costs.


hmmm i see what you're getting at I guess.

No one ever takes crafting in our group, we find it, trade for it or quest for it.

No one ever has spare slots to put into crafting.


Pendagast wrote:

hmmm i see what you're getting at I guess.

No one ever takes crafting in our group, we find it, trade for it or quest for it.

No one ever has spare slots to put into crafting.

Crafting is underrated in my opinion. Not only does it save gold it allows for expanded resources while in the field (e.g. deep in a dungeon, need a Bane arrow for the creature that you know is at its bottom but you don't have time to go back to town? Maybe you can craft it there? Or you have spells at the end of the day you know you need extra for next day. etc...).

Anyhow I digress.

Go Team Prehensile Hair!


prehensile hair and CM's are one of those great in theory and terrible in practice.

The white haired witch archtype does it better than the rest but it gives up too much in my opinion for it. especially since at the end of the day your still d6 1/2BAB melee CM'er ....ick

not RAW but a scarred Orc Witch Doctor combined with a white hair witch using CON for hair attacks might just work :P

Dark Archive

Phasics wrote:

prehensile hair and CM's are one of those great in theory and terrible in practice.

The white haired witch archtype does it better than the rest but it gives up too much in my opinion for it. especially since at the end of the day your still d6 1/2BAB melee CM'er ....ick

not RAW but a scarred Orc Witch Doctor combined with a white hair witch using CON for hair attacks might just work :P

Nope, doesn't work. The two archetypes are incompatible since they both modify the characters first hex.

Magus Hexcrafter on the other hand is awesome with the prehensile hair hex AND has the HP and BaB to really make use of it.


Mathwei ap Niall wrote:
Phasics wrote:

prehensile hair and CM's are one of those great in theory and terrible in practice.

The white haired witch archtype does it better than the rest but it gives up too much in my opinion for it. especially since at the end of the day your still d6 1/2BAB melee CM'er ....ick

not RAW but a scarred Orc Witch Doctor combined with a white hair witch using CON for hair attacks might just work :P

Nope, doesn't work. The two archetypes are incompatible since they both modify the characters first hex.

Magus Hexcrafter on the other hand is awesome with the prehensile hair hex AND has the HP and BaB to really make use of it.

which is why I said ... "not RAW" ;)

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, LO Special Edition, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Accessories, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Quick question....since the hair is can not be attacked separately is attacking the hair considered attacking the witch? This line seems to assume that, I am thinking RAW

"The hair cannot be sundered or attacked as a separate creature."

Make sense? It seems like I should be able to cut your way out of the grapple with enough damage but since you cannot attack the hair separately I am assuming the damage goes to the witch?


Slamy Mcbiteo wrote:

Quick question....since the hair is can not be attacked separately is attacking the hair considered attacking the witch? This line seems to assume that, I am thinking RAW

"The hair cannot be sundered or attacked as a separate creature."

Make sense? It seems like I should be able to cut your way out of the grapple with enough damage but since you cannot attack the hair separately I am assuming the damage goes to the witch?

Pretty sure it specifically mentions that any harm done to the hair doesn't harm the witch, it would just break off.


Pendagast wrote:
no it's the idea of spending the slot, taking the hex and using the hex only with whips, ropes and scarves, using the hair rules. not a weapon enchantment.

This really sounds like you might be looking for this:

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/witch/archetypes/paizo-witch- archetypes/tatterdemalion-witch-archetype/

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