Skill Mastery (Rogue Talent) + Snake Style = Touch AC always 26?

[Jylos_Goldwing]

I have a changeling ninja who is specializing in her natural claw attacks. Changelings have a racial feat that lets their claws be enchanted as magic weapons, so they're going to be super-ridiculous after a while.

Anyway, she already has all the feats to be able to use unarmed-strike stuff with her natural attacks. (Feral Combat Training, etc.) She also just got access to master tricks, and I used her first one to take the advanced rogue talent Skill Mastery, which lets her pick a number of skills and be able to always take 10 on those skills, even under stressful or distracting circumstances.

In the future, I am planning on going down the Snake Style tree. The first level of that tree says that whenever she's targeted by a melee or ranged attack that she is aware of, she can spend an immediate action to make a Sense Motive check, and can choose to use that result in place of her AC OR touch AC for that attack.

If Sense Motive is one of the skills I chose for Skill Mastery, and I have a +16 bonus to Sense Motive, does this mean my touch AC is effectively always 26 because I can always take 10 on my reactionary Sense Motive rolls?

Rules-wise, it seems like there's nothing that says it wouldn't, but it also seems kind of OP.

[Imbicatus]

Looks legit to me.

[Saldiven]

No, it's not "always" 26. An Immediate Action takes the place of your next activation's Swift Action. So, once you have used Snake Style against an attack, you cannot use it again until your next turn has passed.

From the CRB:

"Using an immediate action on your turn is the same as using a swift action and counts as your swift action for that turn. You cannot use another immediate action or a swift action until after your next turn if you have used an immediate action when it is not currently your turn (effectively, using an immediate action before your turn is equivalent to using your swift action for the coming turn)."

So, if you face multiple touch attacks (or any other AC based attacks) between your activations, you may only use Snake Style against one of them. For example, if you are targeted by multiple shots from a Scorching Ray spell, only one gets the enhanced touch AC.

[EvilMinion]

Your touch ac is 26 vs one attack, once a round... when you're aware of it... not all the time. But otherwise, seems right.

[Saldiven]

EvilMinion wrote:

Your touch ac is 26 vs one attack, once a round... when you're aware of it... not all the time. But otherwise, seems right.

Good addition. You cannot take an Immediate Action when Flat Footed.

[Talonhawke]

Saldiven wrote:

EvilMinion wrote:

Your touch ac is 26 vs one attack, once a round... when you're aware of it... not all the time. But otherwise, seems right.

Good addition. You cannot take an Immediate Action when Flat Footed.

Not really a problem for a rogue

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): wrote:

Starting at 4th level, a rogue can react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. She cannot be caught flat-footed, nor does she lose her Dex bonus to AC if the attacker is invisible. She still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. A rogue with this ability can still lose her Dexterity bonus to AC if an opponent successfully uses the feint action (see Combat) against her.

[Jylos_Goldwing]

Ah, I wasn't aware that immediate actions used up swift actions. That makes a lot more sense. Still, pretty nice. Thanks all for the clarifications.

[Dave Justus]

Mathematically taking 10 is actually a disadvantage to rolling the die.

If though you know the specific result you need, and taking 10 will get you there, it is of course superior.

What that boils down to is that probably taking 10 against a touch attack is a good idea, because 26 is pretty good against most things that make touch attacks (like Wizards.)

If you felt you needed to use it for a normal attack though, I'd roll the die. 26 probably isn't going to cut it at this point, but if you get lucky and get 30+ it might.

[Imbicatus]

The defensive uses of snake style really aren't that great IMO. Eating your swift is a high cost. The benefit of the feat is the retaliatory strike.

[Saldiven]

I'm a fan of Snake Style if you do a little bit of work to have a strong Sense Motive. It's nice to be able to just say, "No" to one attack per round. Not every class has a lot of need for Swift Actions every turn.