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Alright, so this will be broken up into two parts. The first part will be about rules and the capability of doing something with a Klar as there seems to be some back-and-forth about the subject. My hope is to be able to copy/paste the relevant posts (both agreeing and disagreeing with me) into a compact list so I can discuss, openly and truthfully, the gray area with any GM (well, not so much discuss. Just give it to them a few days in advance if need be so they can go over it at their leisure or however they want to handle it) to prevent any possible derailment during a game. If they rule that I can't do what I'm about to describe, then them's the breaks and I won't argue and instead find a way to work around it. The advice part is just a general noob question in regard to what I should do about light sources with my character.
I'm basically wondering how hard it would be for me to cast spells using Thunder and Fang.
Alright, so this mainly gets broken down into two parts.
1. The Klar says it is treated as a light shield with spikes. Is the Klar considered a light shield in regards to the ability of having a hand free? Relevant quotes:
The traditional form of this tribal weapon is a short metal blade bound to the skull of a large horned lizard, but a skilled smith can craft one entirely out of metal. A traditional klar counts as a light wooden shield with armor spikes; a metal klar counts as a light steel shield with armor spikes.
You strap a light steel shield to your forearm and grip it with your hand. A light steel shield's weight lets you carry other items in that hand, although you cannot use weapons with it. Whether wooden or steel, a light shield offers the same basic protection and attack benefits, though the two varieties respond differently to some spells and effects (such as rusting grasp).
The problem tends to revolve around the fact that a Klar is categorized as both a shield and a 1-handed weapon. It sounds to me that as long as I'm not swinging the Klar around while I'm holding something, I still technically have that hand free to hold things. Is this correct?
2. This is only needed depending on the answer to 1. If 1 is "yes", this means you can still hold something in that hand along with the Klar. I'm well aware of the fact that the Buckler directly calls out that you can cast spells with it but Light Shields don't. However, having the hand able to hold things allows for the whole "make Klar hand hold the EB, cast, switch back" trick. Would I be able to cast somatic spells that way without slowing down my character's action economy more than usual? Here is a quote from James Jacobs about this:
A light shield allows spellcasters to use their hand to cast, and lets you carry an object; the only thing it actually prevents is wielding a weapon... Switching a held object from one hand to the other doesn't require an action, so the end result is the same whether or not you use the light shield hand to lay on hands or your weapon hand after switching your weapon to the off hand, and then back to your weapon hand.
While not an official errata, this sounds like things are good to go.
So I just got through my first session of PFS a bit ago and I realized something: I have no good light source. My character doesn't have low-light vision or darkvision meaning I have to have some kind of actual light source. I don't get the Thunder and Fang feat until level 3 so I can't use my Earthbreaker and hold a torch at the same time.
I could always put the Klar on the main hand and hold a torch in the other but I don't fancy relying on torches, and for aesthetic reasons I want to be casting with the offhand instead of the mainhand and I would much rather be using my Earthbreaker whenever possible. There's the Helmet Candle but that doesn't really give much light. However, what about spending a Prestige Point on an Ioun Torch?
From what I've gathered, PP isn't too hard to come by. It makes me sad that I can't get a Wand of CLW right away if I do this (especially as a Ranger). However I can either get a Potion of CLW for an emergency and buy the wand at my earliest opportunity, or just bite the bullet (and disappoint everyone) and simply not get the potion for next session to guarantee that I can buy a wand next time.
Having an everlasting little ball of flame that I don't need to hold as my light source sounds like it would work really well. I would maintain my maximum DPR, not have to worry about what hand is holding what and it seems it would be a purchase that will remain useful pretty much through all of my character's life. What does everyone think I should do?
Any help and advice you could give me on these matters would be greatly appreciated.
Best Regards,
Aziraya
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You can cast a spell with somatic components using your shield arm, but you lose the buckler's AC bonus until your next turn.
There is no such statement for a light shield. Similarly, one would have to ask "Can you use a wand with your shield hand while wearing a light shield?" It's a standard action and a wand is a weapon-like item to be drawn during a move with a BAB of +1 or higher. What about a scroll? A ray?
1) Wayfinder - 250 gp, always available! Provides light as a torch. Usually, I see people having one hanging from their belt or round their neck, wherever they feel as it's a slotless item.
2) Ioun torch - Have to wait for the fame or burn a Prestige Point, but always on torch spinning round your head? It's a good buy.
3) I hear something about shield sconces, though I don't know much about them as I don't have many shield users, hahaha.
As for the wand, I'd personally recommend getting that before the light source. Or spend the gold on the wayfinder and spend the PP on the wand. But that's just me.
2) Ioun torch - Have to wait for the fame or burn a Prestige Point, but always on torch spinning round your head? It's a good buy.
Ioun torch is only 75 gp. Shouldn't be a problem with fame at all. (I had a first level character burn half his starting gold to enter the game with one. It was worth it.)
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2) Ioun torch - Have to wait for the fame or burn a Prestige Point, but always on torch spinning round your head? It's a good buy.Ioun torch is only 75 gp. Shouldn't be a problem with fame at all. (I had a first level character burn half his starting gold to enter the game with one. It was worth it.)
The ioun torch is not a basic item (sadly, it's magical), +1 weapon, armour, or shield, nor a potion, oil or scroll of 0- or 1st-level, therefore you must have it on a chronicle sheet or 5 fame before you can buy one with gold. It is not an always available item. (I've mistakenly bought one before I was supposed to as well, hahaha)
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Sior: I agree about the Ioun Torch requiring 5 Fame or using a PP to buy early. Not a great choice, early on, usually. You can usually find someone in the party who can either cast light on your EB, or has a hand free to carry a normal light source, like a sun rod.
I disagree about the klar question, since you are assuming one thing, and what he is describing is actually something else.
For the way you said, I would, actually, agree. But your method mentioned does not match the way the OP said he wanted to do it.
As long as he is not attacking with the klar, he could hold something in that hand, like a person wielding a light shield, yes? So, he could hold his EB in his klar hand, using a free action, cast a spell with his empty hand, then take his EB back into that hand, using another free action.
In a similar wein, my polearm user or archer sometimes winds up holding his regular weapon in one hand, rendering it unusable, but drawing a one-handed weapon, rapier or longsword for example, into that empty hand and using it to attack. He won't threaten at range, but he will adjacent, and is able to use that weapon one-handed as normal.
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I disagree about the klar question, since you are assuming one thing, and what he is describing is actually something else.
For the way you said, I would, actually, agree. But your method mentioned does not match the way the OP said he wanted to do it.
As long as he is not attacking with the klar, he could hold something in that hand, like a person wielding a light shield, yes? So, he could hold his EB in his klar hand, using a free action, cast a spell with his empty hand, then take his EB back into that hand, using another free action.
It may be that I was misunderstanding, honestly. I thought the OP wanted to cast with his off-hand (shield hand) so he could keep the earthbreaker in his main hand. It was late, I was tired, hahaha.
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It may be that I was misunderstanding, honestly. I thought the OP wanted to cast with his off-hand (shield hand) so he could keep the earthbreaker in his main hand. It was late, I was tired, hahaha.I disagree about the klar question, since you are assuming one thing, and what he is describing is actually something else.
For the way you said, I would, actually, agree. But your method mentioned does not match the way the OP said he wanted to do it.
As long as he is not attacking with the klar, he could hold something in that hand, like a person wielding a light shield, yes? So, he could hold his EB in his klar hand, using a free action, cast a spell with his empty hand, then take his EB back into that hand, using another free action.
Understandable, really, but his post had the follow-up: "make Klar hand hold the EB, cast, switch back" which, as long as the klar hand works like a light shield, allowing you to hold something else with it, works.