Studied Target, Archetypes, and non-slayer ability DCs

[Brew Bird]

This question is a contentious one, and looking around on the forums, I see a different consensus on every thread. Simply put, if an archetype grants me the "Studied Target" ability of a slayer, does Studied Target grant an increase to the DCs of abilities from that class?

If the Studied Target ability gained from an archetype doesn't increase the DCs of the abilities of another class, does it affect the DCs of abilities gained through Slayer Talents that the archetype might grant?

Text of Studied Target ability:

Studied Target (Ex): A slayer can study an opponent he can see as a move action. The slayer then gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks attempted against that opponent, and a +1 bonus on weapon attack rolls and weapon damage rolls against it. The DCs of slayer class abilities against that opponent increase by 1. A slayer can maintain these bonuses against only one opponent at a time; these bonuses remain in effect until either the opponent is dead or the slayer studies a new target.

If a slayer deals sneak attack damage to a target, he can study that target as an immediate action, allowing him to apply his studied target bonuses against that target (including to the normal weapon damage roll).

At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th levels, the bonuses on weapon attack rolls, damage rolls, and skill checks and to the DCs of slayer abilities against a studied target increase by 1. In addition, at each such interval, the slayer is able to maintain these bonuses against an additional studied target at the same time. The slayer may discard this connection to a studied target as a free action, allowing him to study another target in its place.

At 7th level, a slayer can study an opponent as a move or swift action.

Take the Nature Fang for example. Does the studied target increase the DC of your spells against the target? What about domain powers? If not, does it still work for the "Assassinate" ability, if taken as an advanced slayer talent at level 12?

Does Studied Target boost the DCs of extraordinary non-slayer abilities, like a Serial Killer Vigilante's "Death Attack", "Charming", or "Grisly Murder" class features?

[Iceman1077]

Brew Bird wrote:

This question is a contentious one, and looking around on the forums, I see a different consensus on every thread. Simply put, if an archetype grants me the "Studied Target" ability of a slayer, does Studied Target grant an increase to the DCs of abilities from that class?

If the Studied Target ability gained from an archetype doesn't increase the DCs of the abilities of another class, does it affect the DCs of abilities gained through Slayer Talents that the archetype might grant?
** spoiler omitted **

Take the Nature Fang for example. Does the studied target increase the DC of your spells against the target? What about domain powers? If not, does it still work for the "Assassinate" ability, if taken as an...

The way I would rule it is it would increase the DC of any ability granted by the class that granted the Studied Target ability. For the Nature Fang, spells are a class ability of the Nature Fang, so yes the DC increase would apply, as would the DC of any talent selected. Same thing for the Serial Killer vigilante. Basically, you are replacing the word slayer in the Studied Target text with whatever the class getting the ability is, i.e. The DCs of Nature Fang class abilities against that opponent increase by 1. instead of The DCs of slayer class abilities against that opponent increase by 1.

[Brew Bird]

That's generally how I see it as well, Iceman.

However, I've seen numerous threads come to very different conclusions, a sliver of developer input, if not an FAQ, would certainly be appreciated.

This thread comes to the conclusion that studied target boosts spell DCs

This thread is split between the ability working on spells, not working on spells, and not working but intended to work on spells.

This thread only has a single response (doesn't work, says same guy as above), and then a resolution to wait for an FAQ or clarification. It's now been upwards of 2 years, poor guy.

Finally, this thread asks a similar question, and seems to think it might work, but hopes for official clarification.

[Melkiador]

I suspect there wasn't an original intent for this behavior, so the design team would have to come to a decision. That could take a while. "Slayer class abilities" could be decided to be more specific than just "slayer", and so may not be converted over to the inheriting class. .

In the meantime, I think either interpretation is equally valid.

[Claxon]

I would rule it to work on increasing the DC of abilities of the class that grants studied target.

So in the case of Nature Fang it would increase the DC of spells and any other relevant class abilities.

In the case of Sanctified Slayer it would increase the DC of spells and any other relevant class abilities.

[Master of None]

Advanced Class Guide Errata wrote:

In the Studied Target ability, change the third paragraph’s first sentence to "At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th levels, the bonuses on weapon attack rolls, damage rolls, and skill checks and to slayer DCs against a studied target increase by 1."

The latest errata revised the wording of some of the Studied Target description specifically to remove the reference to slayer abilities. Seems to me like it is intended to be a bonus to all DCs of the character that is using Studied Target versus the target that they studied.