Blackened Curse

[Sing Sing]

Are rays affected by the Blackened Oracle curse? Do they get -4 to attack rolls?

[Nefreet]

Yup.

[Sing Sing]

Funny that it gives you scorching ray as a spell known.

[Fomsie]

Not certainly.

The section on Ray spells state that they are aimed as if using a ranged weapon, meaning they use the aforementioned rules, but not that they are an actual weapon.

For instance they cannot be disarmed or sundered, as they are not actual weapons being used. And that seems to be the gist of the Blackened curse effect, as you take a penalty to weapon attack roles and the reason why (descriptive text) is that your hands are burned and sensitive to the touch.

Considering Paizo doesn't generally FAQ or Errata any splat books as they are not reprinted, expect this one to be open to interpretation. Also consider that the cus grants a ray spell as a bonus, which would seem pretty crappy if the intent were to penalize it.

[plaidwandering]

only manufactured weapons

[Nefreet]

plaidwandering wrote:

only manufactured weapons

Not to quote Stephen again, but...

[plaidwandering]

he is not discussing things, he is providing a clarification

this is specifically in an errata thread for a book that likely won't ever have a FAQ

The developer quotes the reference to another FAQ that makes it seem as if it should apply to rays.

Then he provides the intent, that it does not.