Mark, has the first round of RPG SS eaten up more or less time than you expected so far?
Reading and commenting on (with a few exceptions on which I was neutral) pretty much every item pre-cull took more time than I thought it would. Fortunately (?) I got a small cold at Christmas time, and enough of Linda's family are germophobes that they had me stay in a separate room, so I had some spare time. Since I knew that I would be extra-busy when I returned from vacation catching up, I figured I'd get ahead on Superstar on my own time.
Hi Mark. I am currently making a PRC that combines a Blade Bound Magus with an arcanist. They get a black blade and arcane exploits and +2 to their arcane pool but no increase in there spell casting ability.
I would like them to be able to use 2 handed black blades but am stumped in how to make a balance mechanic to do this could you give me some ideas?
You and the rest of the Pazio staff have a happy new year.
Honestly, as the GM, you could just let your players use a two-handed black blade. The extra damage is more than balanced by the inability to ever do spell combat.
Can a summoner cast Enlarge Person on his Eidolon?
Share Spells (Ex): The summoner may cast a spell with a target of “you” on his eidolon (as a spell with a range of touch) instead of on himself. A summoner may cast spells on his eidolon even if the spells normally do not affect creatures of the eidolon's type (outsider). Spells cast in this way must come from the summoner spell list. This ability does not allow the eidolon to share abilities that are not spells, even if they function like spells.There seems to be confusion about whether the second sentence labors underneath the first sentence's restriction (the spell must have a target of 'you').
I see what they're saying, but I've personally always considered those two sentences to be independent.
Hi Mark,
I can't seem to figure out for sure whether slippers of spider climbing are command word or use-activated; I'm leaning toward use-activated (i.e., as soon as you put your foot on the wall, the timer starts ticking), based on the text leading off with "when worn" and saying nothing about activation, but I'm not 100% sure. Any insights?
I've always thought they were use-activated, but my thoughts on the activation of other items have been wrong, so I consider my judgment of item activations to be compromised.
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Mark, are you enjoying Round 1 of RPGSS?
Being a judge and looking at each item once is incredibly less frustrating than voting, so yes, for sure!
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Mark, can arcanists cast sorcerer/wizard spells from any rules source or only those from the Core Rulebook? Thanks.
Should be the same as for sorcerers and wizards.
So more "serious" question here:
Nature’s Whispers (Ex): You have become so attuned to the whispers of the natural world, from the croaking of frogs to the groaning of great boulders, that your surroundings constantly keep you preternaturally aware of danger. You may add your Charisma modifier, instead of your Dexterity modifier, to your Armor Class and CMD. Any condition that would cause you to lose your Dexterity modifier to your Armor Class instead causes you to lose your Charisma modifier to your Armor Class.
So was this meant to be exempt from armor restrictions?
No, I don't think so.
Is there a FAQ today? Or is it too soon after the holidays?
Looking back to what I said, I only soft-promised that I had built up enough FAQs to last us through to the end of 2014. 2015 is a new beast, and the FAQ surplus is running dry. That says, the wheels have been greased, so we shall see what the future brings. Certainly not today though.
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Do you take FAQ requests here? If not, where's the right place?
I still run into some GMs who think that you can't take 10 on Knowledge checks. Even though I believe the rules are clear, I know I'm wrong in my belief that they're clear. There are enough people who still think you can't take 10 on knowledge checks that the rules can't be clear. Having an official FAQ to link to would enable us to quickly end discussions.
(Right now, all we've got is a James Jacobs post to link to, but a GM who follows that thread could counter that "James Jacobs isn't allowed to answer rules questions, so that doesn't count".)
Hey Mark! Random obscure kineticist question.
I know that kineticists (in the last writeup I saw) are supposed to use their hands to fire their blasts. However, it seems to be assumed that kineticists in Elemental Form can still use their blasts even though it is kind of questionable whether or not elementals can have 'hands'. Does that mean blasts could be used in other polymorphed forms?
I'm asking because I really want to run a kitsune pyrokineticist with fox form. You know it would be awsome ;) (and thanks to the size bonus stuff kineticists get in the new version, it won't even be overpowered now, lol)
Well since I was expecting this to be asked earlier. Did you enjoy your Holiday, other than being under the weather?
There was a lot of exhausting travel (we went on a trip with my family to India), but also a lot of exciting stuff too. A holiday of extremes, and being back at the office is actually more relaxing, though less exciting.
Bardic Performance has a line that says: "Each round, the bard can produce any one of the types of bardic performance that he has mastered, as indicated by his level."
So two questions have come up, that I'd like to have your take on:
1) Does the word "One" imply that you can't activate 2 different songs in one round? Obviously two can't be ongoing at the same time, but there are (at least in some archetypes) songs which are instantaneous in effect, so (at say level 7), does the word "one" prevent you from activating an instantaneous performance as a move action, and then something like Inspire Courage with your standard?
2) If you cannot do two different songs in one round, as discussed in question one, does the word "types" suggest that you can, however, perform the same (say, instantaneous) performance twice in a round after level 7 allows your performances to be done as a move action?
This came up specifically when discussing the Thunder Call song from the Thundercaller archetype, but it's very possible there are other songs that this would apply to. I haven't checked to see if there are or not.
Thanks!
This one's actually pretty interesting. Given thundercaller is not from the Pathfinder RPG line, I don't really have direct say on that archetype, though I'm guessing it was not intended to create a relatively low resource expenditure three saves or suck.
Ooh another question I'd love to see an answer to! If you use the Reach Spell metamagic feat on the Chill Touch spell, do you get multiple ranged touch attacks that you can make, or does the "you can't hold a charge on a ranged touch attack spell" rule apply? It doesn't seem to me that Chill Touch attacks are 'charges' by RAW, nor that the rule would line up with the intent here, but I wanted the opinion of someone who matters more than I. :)
In terms of formatting, chill touch is an odd duck spell. Most times, you don't hold a charge in the same way as chill touch does, but on the other hand, it has a duration of instantaneous, so since you can use more touches on subsequent rounds, there's no option but for how that could happen except for it to be holding a charge.
I have a question about spell sunder. Something that may be FAQ worthy.
Was it meant to be more powerful than Dispel Magic?
From how it is written, the Barbarian can just wail at targets and if they happen to have an effect on them, they can dispel it. They can't even make the required checks to ID the spell while they are raging.
I find it hard to believe that an angry person with a weapon has a better chance of targeting and dispelling an effect than a wizard or arcanist who has studied magic all of their lives and can actually see it with detect magic.
By powerful, do you mean more precise? Both the barbarian and the dispel caster can name an effect as a guess. If you mean that it has a higher chance to dispel, that's for sure true. If not for rage-cycling, though, which likely wasn't considered when the power was created, it's a rarer resource than dispel magic would be.
Hey Mark! Random obscure kineticist question.
I know that kineticists (in the last writeup I saw) are supposed to use their hands to fire their blasts. However, it seems to be assumed that kineticists in Elemental Form can still use their blasts even though it is kind of questionable whether or not elementals can have 'hands'. Does that mean blasts could be used in other polymorphed forms?
I'm asking because I really want to run a kitsune pyrokineticist with fox form. You know it would be awsome ;) (and thanks to the size bonus stuff kineticists get in the new version, it won't even be overpowered now, lol)
I have a planned clarification for non-hand appendages, but at the moment, a fox still wouldn't pass muster.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Well since I was expecting this to be asked earlier. Did you enjoy your Holiday, other than being under the weather?There was a lot of exhausting travel (we went on a trip with my family to India), but also a lot of exciting stuff too. A holiday of extremes, and being back at the office is actually more relaxing, though less exciting.
Can you claim the trip as a business expense? Ya know, research for Occult Adventures...
Can you claim the trip as a business expense? Ya know, research for Occult Adventures...Well since I was expecting this to be asked earlier. Did you enjoy your Holiday, other than being under the weather?There was a lot of exhausting travel (we went on a trip with my family to India), but also a lot of exciting stuff too. A holiday of extremes, and being back at the office is actually more relaxing, though less exciting.
Hmm...well the theosophists were definitely influenced by India.
I have a planned clarification for non-hand appendages, but at the moment, a fox still wouldn't pass muster.Hey Mark! Random obscure kineticist question.
I know that kineticists (in the last writeup I saw) are supposed to use their hands to fire their blasts. However, it seems to be assumed that kineticists in Elemental Form can still use their blasts even though it is kind of questionable whether or not elementals can have 'hands'. Does that mean blasts could be used in other polymorphed forms?
I'm asking because I really want to run a kitsune pyrokineticist with fox form. You know it would be awsome ;) (and thanks to the size bonus stuff kineticists get in the new version, it won't even be overpowered now, lol)
*sadface* Glad that there will be clarifications though :D
So does that mean this shouldn't give multiple shots with reach spell?Ooh another question I'd love to see an answer to! If you use the Reach Spell metamagic feat on the Chill Touch spell, do you get multiple ranged touch attacks that you can make, or does the "you can't hold a charge on a ranged touch attack spell" rule apply? It doesn't seem to me that Chill Touch attacks are 'charges' by RAW, nor that the rule would line up with the intent here, but I wanted the opinion of someone who matters more than I. :)In terms of formatting, chill touch is an odd duck spell. Most times, you don't hold a charge in the same way as chill touch does, but on the other hand, it has a duration of instantaneous, so since you can use more touches on subsequent rounds, there's no option but for how that could happen except for it to be holding a charge.
So it would seem, yes.
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Mark Wrote:
Honestly, as the GM, you could just let your players use a two-handed black blade. The extra damage is more than balanced by the inability to ever do spell combat.
Mark What I'm trying to do is figure out how to balance wielding a 2 hand weapon and spell combat. Can you give me any ideas. I was thinking of increasing the spell slot of the spell cast by one. and requiring a concentration check.
I had an idea for an archetype that I want to run by you,
So I looked at D&D 3.5 and 5, and I like the warlock class. But a lot of its abilities are already used in other existing classes. So I though that maybe an archetype could be made to help a class like the Witch mimic a Warlock.
-spellcasting is based on Con instead of Int
-1st level Hex replaced with choosing a Kinetisit element and gaining its blast power.
-the blast treats your witch level as your Kinetisit level for the purpose of its damage.
-you can now select Kinetisit talents in place of witch Hex's with the talents level requirements (1-9) now being based on the highest level spell the witch can cast.
-your kinetic blast is treat as a hex for class abilities, class requirements and feats.
-the Warlock, unlike the Kinetisit can only access one element.
Since I'm basing this on the playtest I don't know how it can actually be implemented until the final version is released. I just hoped to run it by you for a possible future use.
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Hi Mark!
Quick question about the Empiricist (Investigator archetype, ACG p. 100).
The Ceaseless Observation ability reads:
At 2nd level, an empiricist uses his Intelligence modifier instead of the skill's typical ability modifier for all Disable Device, Perception, Sense Motive, and Use Magic Device checks. He can also use his Intelligence modifier instead of Charisma on any Diplomacy checks made to gather information.
May I choose to use one of the original ability scores, e.g. Dex for Disable Device? As worded, it looks like I don't have an option for the first set of substitutions, only for the gather information swap.
(Motivation: I've got an archer Empiricist lined up for my next PFS character.)
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Mark i have a question on armor and special materials for you.
Could you ask the other rules developers if they have ever considered
improving the base ac of armor made of Mithril or Adamintine .
Both of these metals are much stronger than steel which is the base metal that metal armor is made out of.
IF I were writing the rules I would give chainmail made of mithril +3 to the base armor increasing the armor bonus to 8 and Adamintine by 5 to ac bonus of 10. I would increase plate armor made of Mithril by 5 to an armor bouns of 14 and Adamintine by 9 to 18. I would also up the DR granted by adamintine to 5 as you have high level martials that have a DPR of over 100 points over round.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Mark i have a question on armor and special materials for you.
Could you ask the other rules developers if they have ever considered
improving the base ac of armor made of Mithril or Adamintine .Both of these metals are much stronger than steel which is the base metal that metal armor is made out of.
IF I were writing the rules I would give chainmail made of mithril +3 to the base armor increasing the armor bonus to 8 and Adamintine by 5 to ac bonus of 10. I would increase plate armor made of Mithril by 5 to an armor bouns of 14 and Adamintine by 9 to 18. I would also up the DR granted by adamintine to 5 as you have high level martials that have a DPR of over 100 points over round.
I would think materials harder than steel would just have increased hardness/hitpoints, not AC since they cover the same area. OR am I wrong in thinking about how AC is generated from armor and shields in Pathfinder?
I would think materials harder than steel would just have increased hardness/hitpoints, not AC since they cover the same area. OR am I wrong in thinking about how AC is generated from armor and shields in Pathfinder?Mark i have a question on armor and special materials for you.
Could you ask the other rules developers if they have ever considered
improving the base ac of armor made of Mithril or Adamintine .Both of these metals are much stronger than steel which is the base metal that metal armor is made out of.
IF I were writing the rules I would give chainmail made of mithril +3 to the base armor increasing the armor bonus to 8 and Adamintine by 5 to ac bonus of 10. I would increase plate armor made of Mithril by 5 to an armor bouns of 14 and Adamintine by 9 to 18. I would also up the DR granted by adamintine to 5 as you have high level martials that have a DPR of over 100 points over round.
Wearing a full-body robe and hood does not make it more effective armor than a chain shirt despite covering more of your body. I always wondered why armor made of a stronger metal wasn't more effective, especially since, when it comes down to it, Adamantine is a less desireable armor material than Mithril considering Mithril makes it easier to move (weighs less) and increases the max dex of the armor (more AC).
Hi Mark!
Quick question about the Empiricist (Investigator archetype, ACG p. 100).
The Ceaseless Observation ability reads:
At 2nd level, an empiricist uses his Intelligence modifier instead of the skill's typical ability modifier for all Disable Device, Perception, Sense Motive, and Use Magic Device checks. He can also use his Intelligence modifier instead of Charisma on any Diplomacy checks made to gather information.May I choose to use one of the original ability scores, e.g. Dex for Disable Device? As worded, it looks like I don't have an option for the first set of substitutions, only for the gather information swap.
(Motivation: I've got an archer Empiricist lined up for my next PFS character.)
I agree that it appears to only allow you to choose for Diplomacy to gather info.
I would think materials harder than steel would just have increased hardness/hitpoints, not AC since they cover the same area. OR am I wrong in thinking about how AC is generated from armor and shields in Pathfinder?Mark i have a question on armor and special materials for you.
Could you ask the other rules developers if they have ever considered
improving the base ac of armor made of Mithril or Adamintine .Both of these metals are much stronger than steel which is the base metal that metal armor is made out of.
IF I were writing the rules I would give chainmail made of mithril +3 to the base armor increasing the armor bonus to 8 and Adamintine by 5 to ac bonus of 10. I would increase plate armor made of Mithril by 5 to an armor bouns of 14 and Adamintine by 9 to 18. I would also up the DR granted by adamintine to 5 as you have high level martials that have a DPR of over 100 points over round.
I think you're correct from a rules perspective.
@Tels—To make adamantine armor more desirable, I've considered letting it stack with other forms of DR, as the sole exception to the rule against stacking, like I used to do in 3.5. So far, the people with adamantine armor haven't had another source of DR since starting PFRPG, so I haven't had to decide for sure or not.
Mr. Mark Seifter,
What is best in life?
Also, have you ever played Final Fantasy 8?
Can style feats be used while flying? Mounted? Swimming? Burrowing? Crawling? Prone?
Recently the idea came up that because of this little bit in the Style feats section: "As a swift action, you can enter the stance employed by the fighting style a style feat embodies," that you can't use Style feats unless standing on the ground. The reason being that 'stance' is defined as standing, so if you are not standing, you can't use a stance.
I, personally, find this preposterous as it would even go so far as to imply you can't use style feats while moving either.
[Edit] Definitions.
Stance:
1. the position or bearing of the body while standing:
legs spread in a wide stance; the threatening stance of the bull.
2. a mental or emotional position adopted with respect to something:
They assumed an increasingly hostile stance in their foreign policy.
3. Sports. the relative position of the feet, as in addressing a golf ball or in making a stroke.
Stand:
1. (of a person) to be in an upright position on the feet.
2. to rise to one's feet (often followed by up).
3. to have a specified height when in this position:
a basketball player who stands six feet seven inches.
4. to stop or remain motionless or steady on the feet.
5. to take a position or place as indicated:
to stand aside.
6. to remain firm or steadfast, as in a cause.
7. to take up or maintain a position or attitude with respect to a person, issue, or the like:
to stand as sponsor for a person.
Wearing a full-body robe and hood does not make it more effective armor than a chain shirt despite covering more of your body. I always wondered why armor made of a stronger metal wasn't more effective, especially since, when it comes down to it, Adamantine is a less desireable armor material than Mithril considering Mithril makes it easier to move (weighs less) and increases the max dex of the armor (more AC).I would think materials harder than steel would just have increased hardness/hitpoints, not AC since they cover the same area. OR am I wrong in thinking about how AC is generated from armor and shields in Pathfinder?Mark i have a question on armor and special materials for you.
Could you ask the other rules developers if they have ever considered
improving the base ac of armor made of Mithril or Adamintine .Both of these metals are much stronger than steel which is the base metal that metal armor is made out of.
IF I were writing the rules I would give chainmail made of mithril +3 to the base armor increasing the armor bonus to 8 and Adamintine by 5 to ac bonus of 10. I would increase plate armor made of Mithril by 5 to an armor bouns of 14 and Adamintine by 9 to 18. I would also up the DR granted by adamintine to 5 as you have high level martials that have a DPR of over 100 points over round.
There is a limit to how much logical thought you can apply to the PF armor system. PF combat is abstracted for playability to the point where it really doesn't necessarily bare much relation to reality.
However given that, I was told that the theory is that hit and damage while wearing metal armor is rarely intended to mean that the armor was pierced/cut/ruptured. It is mostly intended to mean that they hit the part of leg or arm that was uncovered, the arrow went between the metal links, the dagger slipped between the plates, the mace rattled your skull inside the helmet.
So the metal being harder or stronger doesn't really make much difference.
At least that was how it was explained to me.
Of course, that doesn't really make much sense with the enhancement bonuses to magical armor.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Ultimate Magic introduced the Craft Reliquary Arms and Shields feat. What would be the way to annotate an item is a reliquary? I was thinking enhancement bonus, special quality, reliquary, special material, weapon = +1 flaming reliquary mithral starknife.
Any chance the reliquary quality can get added to a future list of special armor, shield, and weapon qualities in a future product? I have been dying to use it in PFS, but the feat that grants it is forbidden and no magic items use it. IST VERBOTEN!
It's Friday, and while FAQ Friday was a 2014 thing, how about triple advanced access to errata for the ACG this time?
Spell warriors can use their rage powers.
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Can you add the bit about arcanists and spells outside the core rulebook? My VL and some of the GMs in this area won't believe me until an errata or FAQ is released on the subject.
I'm sorry, we can't errata, as that's the standardized wording. They are wrong, but you will have to point them to every other class we've published that uses another class's spell list, which uses the same language (reference hunter on page 26, investigator on page 30, skald on 49, and so on). We can't errata something that is correct. If enough people are confused about it, we sure can FAQ it though :)
Query, Mark.
For the Naga Aspirant Druid Archetype, which gets this ability:
At 6th level, the naga aspirant can use her wild shape ability (gained at 4th level, as normal) to assume the form of a true naga. This effect functions in a similar manner to a shapechange spell with the following exception. The druid's true naga form is unique, representing her personal evolution. When taking naga form, the nagaji's body transforms into that of a large serpent, though she keeps her own head. The naga aspirant loses her limbs and her size increases by one category, granting her a +4 size bonus to Strength and Constitution, a –2 penalty to Dexterity, and a +2 enhancement bonus to her natural armor bonus. She gains a +10 enhancement bonus to land speed and a bite attack that deals 1d6 points of damage. She can cast verbal spells in this form, but cannot cast spells with other components without metamagic or feats such as Natural Spell.
This ability otherwise works like and replaces wild shape.
Does the Druid's wildshape ability progress past this point (i.e. do they gain huge animal wildshape?)
Cheers!
prototype00
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Hi Mark, question about the snapleaf item. I've heard people argue about whether the fact that it includes the effect of feather fall means you can't activate the item unless you're falling. I had thought the general consensus was that no, you can activate it any old time, you just sort of "expend" the FF effect for no benefit if you're not falling. But someone recently said they thought there was a FAQ or developer commentary saying that you DO have to be falling to activate a snapleaf. However, I can't seem to find any such FAQ/clarification.
Any insights?
Can you add the bit about arcanists and spells outside the core rulebook? My VL and some of the GMs in this area won't believe me until an errata or FAQ is released on the subject.I'm sorry, we can't errata, as that's the standardized wording. They are wrong, but you will have to point them to every other class we've published that uses another class's spell list, which uses the same language (reference hunter on page 26, investigator on page 30, skald on 49, and so on). We can't errata something that is correct. If enough people are confused about it, we sure can FAQ it though :)
Oracle from the Advanced Class Guide is a good one to reference too. They use a spell list that does not include their class's name at all, and the Advanced Class Guide even has several oracle-only spells on the cleric spell list.