Rules clarification: Amulet of Quaking Strikes

[Saint_Yin]

For those of you that don't know of this item, here's a link, and I'll quote the description:

Quote:

This simple bronze amulet depicts a mountaintop being shattered by a sword blow. Twice per day, the amulet’s wearer can make a single melee attack against the ground as a standard action. The wearer can choose a point of origin within 100 feet of himself and apply his attack roll against all creatures within a 20-foot radius of that point. The amulet’s wearer rolls his attack’s damage once and applies it to all creatures in the affected area. The damage includes the weapon’s base damage dice, the wearer’s Strength modifier, and damage from feats such as Power Attack and Vital Strike; it doesn’t include damage from other magical sources, such as enhancement bonuses, spells, and magic weapon special abilities.

I've got a large number of questions, since it doesn't seem to clarify in the description:

1) What kinds of damage is the AoE portion of this amulet? Is it weapon damage (and can therefore be ignored by fine/diminuitive swarms)? Is it bludgeoning/piercing/slashing? Does DR apply?

2) What happens when the attack roll crits? What happens if the confirmation only succeeds on some of the targets within the radius, or some of the targets are immune to critical strikes?

3) Do critical feats apply to targets struck by the attack?

4) Do class abilities which add damage apply to it?

5) Would Arcane Strike's damage apply to it? It's a feat, but it's also flavored as magical.

6) Can the point of origin be at any position within 100 feet, including off the ground?

[Kalindlara]

My read:

1) I'd say the damage is the same type as the attack (although thematically it looks like it should be bludgeoning). It appears to still be weapon damage, although whether it would damage a swarm is uncertain. DR definitely would still apply.

2) Dunno. ^_^

3) See 2.

4) I'd say yes, since it only excludes "other magical sources".

5) I'd say yes, since feat seems to overrule spell/magic; expect table variation, though.

6) As written, yes; I'd disallow it for being obviously unintended, though.

Thoughts? ^_^

[Berinor]

I mostly agree with Kalindlara:

1.) I agree. Same type as the attack. I would describe it as AoE, though, so it would apply 1.5 times as much to swarms that can be affected. For that reason I would personally let it affect any swarms, but my simplest read of RAW is that it wouldn't.

2.) If it crits, it crits. Roll damage for the standard and roll the additional damage you get for the crit. So a plain rapier would roll 1d6 for the main hit and 1d6 extra for the critted enemies. It's also reasonable to roll one set of "normal" damage and one of "crit" damage.

3.) I also don't know. I would let them apply, though.

4.) I'd also say yes. I'd feel funny about giving precision damage on it, but if feats are getting it, I'd give it here.

5.) I was going to say no because it feels closer in theme to the spells and the like, but the "other" on magical sources says yes to me.

6.) As written, yes. As intended (see that earthquake is the source of the spell), as far as I can tell no. I also wouldn't allow it on the other side of a chasm. I would allow it on the ceiling of a dungeon, though. Basically what I'm saying is I would measure that 100 ft along unbroken stone/earth/ground.

Frankly, the fact that enhancement bonuses are denied is weird to me. Overall it seems like a cool item, though.

[Trekkie90909]

1) I agree with Kalindlara; the damage type mirrors the attack you make against the ground. Swarms are damaged by AoEs, so if the entire swarm is within the area I would rule they are damaged. YMMV

2) You are attacking the ground; this attack is transferred to things on the ground. Since the ground cannot be crit, the crit cannot be transferred.

3) Assuming my interpretation of 2 is correct then no. If it is ruled otherwise then yes under the "damage from feats" clause.

4) This is better handled on a case by case basis; Precision damage for example wouldn't make sense, but inspire courage or the new rage mechanic would certainly apply. The more interesting question is whether you can apply feats like stunning fist through the AoE.

5) Yes, it's magical but feats are explicitly allowed. I don't think most people would allow it though.

6) The attack is being transmitted through the ground; I might allow that in a few case by case scenarios if someone say DDoored above you and the portal were still open.

[kestral287]

Why can't you crit the ground, Trekkie?

[Trekkie90909]

Because no one wants to find a pile of dead bards who tried to backstab it.

I imagine that answer really depends more upon the setting; for Golarion the prime material plane is the conflux of a series of other planes, including the elemental planes. Since elementals are immune to crits I would assume the elemental planes are immune to crits and hence the world (which is made from the planes) is likewise immune. That probably needs dev input, or at least someone whose knowledge is more comprehensive than my own.

From a rules perspective there is nothing preventing it, so you can in fact crit the ground (I guess you punch a fault line or a small hole in the fabric of spacetime).

[Saint_Yin]

On one hand, the ground would most likely be considered an object, which is immune to critical strikes. On the other hand, the item declares the attack roll is applied to creatures in the radius, meaning the attack roll could threaten as long as the creature can be critically struck.

The reason I asked about weapon damage is that if it is, fine or diminutive swarms are specifically immune to weapon damage. As quoted from here:

Quote:

A swarm composed of Fine or Diminutive creatures is immune to all weapon damage.

Therefore, even though it targets everything in the radius, if it's considered weapon damage, then the fine swarm is still immune. The drawback of ruling it as non-weapon damage means it would bypass most DR.

After looking over the discussion thus far, many of the other points have been cleared up in my mind. If the damage source is from a feat, it trumps the magical sources limitation. While it's not specifically stated, GM's generally require the point of origin to be from the ground and connected in some way to the ground the PC is attacking.