Magus Free Hand with Cestus or Gauntlet? Plus Prehensile Hair

[toscrawford]

A Magus is attacking with a Scimitar. He is wearing a Cestus or Gauntlet or Spiked Gauntlet in his off-hand, but is not using it to attack. Does the Cestus/Gauntlet interfere with Spell Combat (EX)? I would think it would not interfere provided the Cestus/Gauntlet hand is not making an attack.

Prehensile Hair:
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.

Does 10' reach mean that Prehensile Hair cannot attack at 5' or for that matter in the same square as the character? This is how it would work for a reach polearm, but I can't justify the same physics with hair.

Let's tie this together. A hex-magus attempts to cast shocking grasp with his free hand delivered through Spellstrike, attack an adjacent creature with his scimitar and another creature (adjacent or reach) with his goatee. I'm thinking this would be allowed, and I'm thinking the shocking grasp could be delivered through the Scimitar or the natural weapon or the natural weapon as a touch attack, but I can't grasp the game mechanics (to-hit penalties, damage, move/standard actions, etc.) involved in this type of attack.

Can you help me enumerate the effects of each scenario?

[RafaelBraga]

You cant use weapon attacks and the extra secondary attacks from natural weapons with spell combat. Search for Natural Weapons and Spell Combat on this forums and all your options will be given.

You can use your hair to deliver an shocking grasp 10ft away without any problem.

[toscrawford]

Dervish Dancer:
"Benefit: When wielding a scimitar with one hand, you can use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on melee attack and damage rolls. You treat the scimitar as a one-handed piercing weapon for all feats and class abilities that require such a weapon (such as a duelist’s precise strike ability). The scimitar must be for a creature of your size. You cannot use this feat if you are carrying a weapon or shield in your off hand."

Note the part where it says "carrying a weapon or shield in your off hand." By having a cestus or spiked gauntlet in my off hand, I am prohibited from using Dervish Dance? Is that RAI?

[Pupsocket]

Natural weapons with reach can attack from range 0 to whatever.

You can't attack with a natural weapon as part of a spell combat action.

You can, however, AFAICT, take the free attack from casting a touch spell with your hair. It's a secondary attack, so you're taking a -5 to hit.

[toscrawford]

In http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ng4t?Prehensile-Hair-question Jun 30, 2011, 01:54 PM Sean K Reynods - Designer Confirms:
"If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always made using the creature's full base attack bonus and adds 1-1/2 the creature's Strength bonus on damage rolls."
Is the correct ruling for Prehensile Hair assuming the witch/magus has no other natural weapons. So no -5 to hit.

Please correct me if I'm still missing something that contradicts this. Doing lots of research as Rafael has suggested, but there are so many contradictions it is difficult to know for sure if the answers are correct.

[Pupsocket]

toscrawford wrote:

In http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ng4t?Prehensile-Hair-question Jun 30, 2011, 01:54 PM Sean K Reynods - Designer Confirms:

"If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always made using the creature's full base attack bonus and adds 1-1/2 the creature's Strength bonus on damage rolls."
Is the correct ruling for Prehensile Hair assuming the witch/magus has no other natural weapons. So no -5 to hit.

Please correct me if I'm still missing something that contradicts this. Doing lots of research as Rafael has suggested, but there are so many contradictions it is difficult to know for sure if the answers are correct.

AFAIK, it's still valid; that specific quote is certainly in my bookmark file. HOWEVER, the statement does not apply to natural attacks taken in the same round as armed attacks, only natural attacks that are the creature's one sole attack for the round. If you read it in the source thread, that much is clear from context.

[toscrawford]

Taking Rafael's advice, I've done some research. Ovbviously correct me where I've gone astray.

A Spiked Gauntlet, Brass Knuckles and a Cestus are light weapons. Not sure what the standard Gauntlet is, but that's not pertinent to my question.

A Spiked Gauntlet, Brass Knuckles and a Cestus means you threaten the adjacent square, even if you have no intention of using it.

Wearing a Spiked Gauntlet or Cestus does not prevent your hand from being free provided you are not holding something else in that hand. This means you can use Spell Combat while wearing a Cestus while holding nothing in the Cestus hand.

Using Spellstrike, you could deliver the spell through an attack with your Scimitar, or through an attack with your Cestus, but not through a touch attack. You could do a touch attack, but that would not be utilizing Spellstrike.

Prehensile hair is not associated with a hand and therefore cannot be used in conjunction with Spellstrike.

Prehensile hair is a natural weapon. When a character has only a single natural weapon it attacks at full BAB without the -5 to-hit penalty.

Combat manuevers like trip are attacks with a weapon and natural weapons qualify for combat manuevers. Therefore you can make combat manuever attacks with prehensile hair.

Hitting with a combat manuever with prehensile hair would discarge a touch attack spell.

"Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks."

A Magus could deliver a spell with a weapon, but takes the -2 to-hit on all weapon attacks this round when also utilizing Spell Combat in the same round. If the spell were held from a prior round then Spellstrike would deliver the spell without the -2 to-hit.

If using Spell Combat in the same round, a Magus could not use Spellstrike to attack with his Prehensile Hair because Prehensile hair is not a light or one-handed melee weapon as required by Spell Combat.

If the spell is held from a prior round then/and Spell Combat was not used in the current round and none of it's limitations apply. In this instance the Prehensile hair could make a Spellstrike attack because Spellstrike does not require a handed weapon.

Since the casting of the spell would normally allow a free touch attack, the Prehensile hair could deliver the spell as a free (touch) attack.

Since a touch attack or combat manuever is not a real attack for damage, critical damage does not apply to the spell's damage.

Natural attacks crit on a 20 for x2 damage.

If a Prehensile hair attack results in a critical hit while delivering a spell and Spell Combat was not used in the current round, then both the natural weapon damage and the spell damage are multiplied by 2.

I think this covers all of my questions, or at least most. Please tell me where if I've made errors.

[Xaratherus]

A couple of minor corrections:

You threaten with a spiked gauntlet, etc. if you're wielding it. In the great majority of instances that would always be the case with these weapons, as wearing = wielding for their purposes. If you are simply carrying it, you don't threaten. Additionally, even though you're constantly considered to be wielding it, you don't take TWF penalties unless you actually state that you're TWF with it.

Also, a touch spell can crit. From the PRD: "Spells and Critical Hits: A spell that requires an attack roll can score a critical hit. A spell attack that requires no attack roll cannot score a critical hit. If a spell causes ability damage or drain (see Special Abilities), the damage or drain is doubled on a critical hit." Since a touch attack is an attack roll and it's part of the spell, the spell can crit. It would function as a standard crit - 20/x2.