Good afternoon,
I've got my cleric all sorted for our next Pathfinder game, and I'm a little curious about the mechanics of touch spells. From what I gather in the CRB, you prepare/charge the spell, and then touch the NPC to do some damage; the touching does not promote Attacks of Opportunity, but the preparation/charging does.
So you have to prepare the spell, then move in to cop a feel - thus avoiding the attack of opportunity. Is that about right?
Second question: Spells that list multiple components such as verbal or gesture - is it all of the above, or pick one?
First - that works, unless the NPC has enough reach to get an AoO on you from the movement up to them. Also note that if you miss the touch spell is still active and you can attack them again next round if you spend an action to do so.
Second - all listed are required, though M/DF means material component or divine focus.
Wonderful, thank you.
Most of my touch spells seem to be 'Will save half', so I suppose I'm never really going to miss with those spells?
Um, you don't normally want to use inflict wounds spells unless you have some special ability to make them better. They don't do a huge amount of damage and don't add nasty conditions to the enemy. Bestow Curse, now that's a fun touch spell.
They will do damage eventually, but maybe someone else will take out the enemy first, or you'll need to cast a different spell (which loses the active touch spell), or the enemy will take out you.
Grenage wrote: Most of my touch spells seem to be 'Will save half', so I suppose I'm never really going to miss with those spells? You still need to make a touch attack against Touch AC to see if the spell happens and then if a save is involved, they roll for that to see the effect.
Thanks for your replies.
I know that the touch spells I have at level one are awful (and I probably won't use them), but I just want to understand how they should work. I get an ok-ish touch attack from the death domain.
The book infers that simply touching even the armour is a hit, so AC is effectively ignored:
Quote: When you are the target of a touch attack, your AC doesn't include any armour bonus, shield bonus, or natural armour bonus. My book says that DEX armour is counted, so I am guessing you count DEX, and it's not a natural AC?
Grenage wrote: Thanks for your replies.
I know that the touch spells I have at level one are awful (and I probably won't use them), but I just want to understand how they should work. I get an ok-ish touch attack from the death domain.
The book infers that simply touching even the armour is a hit, so AC is effectively ignored:
Quote: When you are the target of a touch attack, your AC doesn't include any armour bonus, shield bonus, or natural armour bonus. My book says that DEX armour is counted, so I am guessing you count DEX, and it's not a natural AC?
For touch AC, it's the normal AC minus Armor, Shield, and Natural Armor bonuses. So Dex, Deflection, and other things still apply.
Thanks again!
is the base of 10 AC considered the natural armour, or am I just confused on that point?
Edit: Apparently it's not!
Pathfinder Maps Subscriber
The base 10 AC is NOT natural armor. Most humanoids have a natural armor of +0, but some (like lizardmen) and some animals (like Rhinoceros) have a tough hide that gives them a natural armor of +1 or higher. Dragons tend to have very thick scaly hides that give them quite high natural armor bonuses.
Thanks for the clarification! :)
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