Help with understanding Spells and Hexes for Witches


Advice


I am intrigued by the Pathfinder Witch class and have opted to play one in a game starting up soon. Here's the specs of it:

Campaign: Serpent's Skull

Party: Fighter, Barbarian, Monk, Cleric, Wizard, and my Witch.

Here's the problem. I have no experience at all with spell caster classes. I have played fighter and ranger in D&D 5th edition, and even then it was short lived gaming groups. So I don't have a whole lot of experience overall.

My Witch is Human.

I have already figured out my spells and hexes that I'd LIKE to use, but I am a little miffed on how to execute them properly without delaying the game.

So, basically, can I cast, let's say Cause Fear on a enemy we're fighting, and when my next turn comes around, can I deliver another spell to someone else? If yes, will I have to make a concentration check to maintain the effect of the Cause Fear one? Do I have to first dismiss the Cause Fear spell as a free action in order to cast the next spell?

Or does it work kinda like this: If I cast a spell that the enemy fails the save on, and it has effects that last more than one round, does that enemy get stuck with the effects and continue to make saving throws each turn while I cast another spell on someone else?

I think in D&D 5th edition you could have two spells active but you always had to make a concentration check if you wanted to keep it up. And if you wanted to keep a spell active and do a ranged attack with a bow or a meele attack you had to make a concentration check also.

As for Hexes, they appear to be on a different ruling guide. They are magic tricks or supernatural abilities. They are standard actions. Does this mean if I have a spell active on a enemy, I can Hex him too? Can I keep Hexing him every turn or do I have to pick someone else to Hex on the next turn with the same Hex (if I choose to do it that way). Most hexes seem to end with them saying you can not target the same individual again for the next 24 hours, but ti says that comes after you are done hexing them. So there's debates about it in the forums I've head.

Some people are saying Hexes are kinda at will since they are standard actions each turn, the only difference being you have to Hex a different enemy each time your turn comes up.

Example: Our party of six are fighting 10 lizard men. I decide to Hex Lizard Man #1 with Slumber. I succeed. He falls down asleep. Next round comes up, I do Slumber Hex on Lizard Man #2, and succeed. He falls down asleep. So on and so forth. is this correct????

Can I apply a Hex that has multiple rounds effects on someone and also cast a spell on someone else my next turn?

Thanks in advance.


http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2sc9p?Spells-and-Hexes-Vexing#1

For my use, don't click the link, it's just the same post in another thread.


General helpful comment, you shouldn't be crossposting the same thread.


Darth That Guy wrote:
So, basically, can I cast, let's say Cause Fear on a enemy we're fighting, and when my next turn comes around, can I deliver another spell to someone else? If yes, will I have to make a concentration check to maintain the effect of the Cause Fear one? Do I have to first dismiss the Cause Fear spell as a free action in order to cast the next spell?

Once you cast a spell and the target fails the saving throw the spell lasts for the listed duration independently of your action - you do not need to maintain spell unless it has duration: concentration, or otherwise stated within its description that it requires some sort of action on your part to maintain/control it. You are free to take completely different action on your next turn.

Note that dismissing a spell is a standard action, and can only by done for spells that have (D) in their duration line which means that once you cast cause fear you cannot end it before it runs it duration (assuming you don't use other spell or ability that would remove/dispel the effect). You can always dismiss a spell with concentration duration without action, just by not spending your standard action on maintaining the spell.

Quote:
Or does it work kinda like this: If I cast a spell that the enemy fails the save on, and it has effects that last more than one round, does that enemy get stuck with the effects and continue to make saving throws each turn while I cast another spell on someone else?

Closer, but a saving throw is repeated only when the spell says the save is made every round of its duration (for example check hold person description). Again, cause fear is not one of those spells.

Quote:
I think in D&D 5th edition you could have two spells active but you always had to make a concentration check if you wanted to keep it up. And if you wanted to keep a spell active and do a ranged attack with a bow or a meele attack you had to make a concentration check also.

Not exactly. In 5th edition you can have any numbers of spells active but only one spell with duration: concentration. There might be somewhere some ability allowing character to maintain more than one "concentration" spell but I don't recall any at the moment.

Note that "concentration" spell works differently in 3.5/Pathfinder than in 5th edition.

In 3.5/Pathfinder you can have only one concentration spell and you have to spend your standard action on your turn to maintain the concentration - it is in an essence spell that uses your primary action as long as you maintain it. In 5th edition you do not use your action and you are free to act as long as you don't do not use spell, item or ability that would require concentration. You can attack without penalties but you have to make a saving throw when you are distracted or wounded.

Quote:
As for Hexes, they appear to be on a different ruling guide. They are magic tricks or supernatural abilities. They are standard actions. Does this mean if I have a spell active on a enemy, I can Hex him too? Can I keep Hexing him every turn or do I have to pick someone else to Hex on the next turn with the same Hex (if I choose to do it that way). Most hexes seem to end with them saying you can not target the same individual again for the next 24 hours, but ti says that comes after you are done hexing...

It varies between hexes. In general they can be used at will with one of following restrictions:

Usable Once Per Day On The Same Target: Once you attempt to use them on the target, you cannot try again the same hex on the same target for the next 24 hours. Even if the target saved and wasn't hexed, it still counts as an attempt and renders the target immune. Example: Charm, Healing, Misfortune, Slumber.

Hexes that can be active on single target at any one time: You can use the hex at different target but it stops working on the previous one. Example: Blight, Ward.

Hexes that can be used every round and can affect the same targets multiple times in a row: Evil eye. you can keep spamming it every round penalizing your enemies. You can put an evil eye on the enemy a second time after the previous one expire. I am not sure if you can place it twice on the same target to penalize two different types of rolls, though - a FAQ should be checked to see if there is any official explanation but personally as GM I'd say no.


Drejk wrote:
Evil eye. you can keep spamming it every round penalizing your enemies. You can put an evil eye on the enemy a second time after the previous one expire. I am not sure if you can place it twice on the same target to penalize two different types of rolls, though - a FAQ should be checked to see if there is any official explanation but personally as GM I'd say no.

You can cast multiple Evil Eyes on the same target as long as you apply the penalty to different stats.

http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fn#v5748eaic9o9t


It depends on the hex, but most are used like spells with a few advantages:
*Most scale with your lvl
*Most have unlimited use/day
*Most don't need any components
*Most are SU, no pesky spell resistance
*Most offensive hexes can only be cast on a target once in 24 hours
There are ways arround the last one, like the feat accused Hex or the spell hex vulunerability. The feat split hex(lvl 11) also deserves a mention, two hexes in one round.

One word to the sleep hex: Consider it is just sleep, so in your example lizard man #3 can wake up lizard man #2 and #1. (Still very useful as it buys time, time in which McSlashalot has cut down a few of the other)

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