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Does a player get to choose to use a hero point before they know the results or after they know the results. I am having a hard time defending that you get to know the results before you choose because nowhere in the Core does it specify.

After they know the results, of course. Why would you reroll a Check without knowing the results?

Not sure if this has ever been asked or where it would be better asked, but I was curious....I have a Taldan fighter who sees Taldor almost as its own religion. So if he wants to use the traditional Taldan blade (the falcata) since it basically has the same stats as a longsword, is there anything that says I can't just use the longsword but for flavor say that it was forged to resemble a falcata?

Not sure if this has ever been asked or where it would be better asked, but I was curious....I have a Taldan fighter who sees Taldor almost as its own religion. So if he wants to use the traditional Taldan blade (the falcata) since it basically has the same stats as a longsword, is there anything that says I can't just use the longsword but for flavor say that it was forged to resemble a falcata?

Not really, no. You can call it an ear if you want, as along as mechanically, it's a Longsword.

Apparently this thread is no longer sticky.

Apparently this thread is no longer sticky.

Yes it is. The sticky mechanism of these forums is just weird in the way that it works. If you are within the Rules Discussion subforum, it will always be at the top, but if you are in the Pathfinder Second Edition overview, and you have already checked it, so that "new" posts notifications show, it will move around within the Rules Discussion section on that page like any other thread.

These are truly the oddest forums I have ever seen. I'm not sure why they didn't just go with phpBB.

20+ years of "improvements" to the Legacy Code and none of the original programmers around to fix them will do that to a website.

I haven't been able to find anything on it. Once a character becomes trained in every skill, what do they do for further trained skills aquired?

I... wait, every skill? How? Rogue?

My 1st Level Elf Cleric/Druid was Trained in nearly every skill.

It's probably not difficult.

I'd say your only remaining option is more Lores.

I mean, yeah, if you’re using dual-class rules it’s easy. Other than that, not so much.

I... wait, every skill? How? Rogue?

Its really not all that hard, particularly if you're willing to pick up new skills on even levels rather than increase existing ones.

Or play an intelligent human.

There are only 16 skills, not counting Lore.

I made a 3rd human wizard that had the following:

4 Intelligence modifier
3 Class
3 Rogue Dedication
2 Natural Skill
1 Background
1 Skilled Heritage
1 Skill Increase
1 Skill Training
=
16 Total

Rogues and bards have it even easier. Bards and Loremasters can literally pick up all the Lore skills too!

I... wait, every skill? How? Rogue?

1st lvl ancient elf rogue with multiclass alchemist tinker background elven lore heritage and 14 int. Is all skills trained. Hitting 5th lvl putting points into int and wondering what to do with the skill.

Once everything is Trained you need to start taking Lore Skills. Having extra Lores can be cool, though, so that seems fine.

As for how to do it...there are only 17 non-Lore skills. An Int 16 Human Rogue can have 16 (17 if they went Scoundrel) at 1st level if they grab skill options as both their Heritage and Ancestry Feat, and there are other options as well. It's really pretty doable.

EDIT: Like the option mentioned above. That'd do it.

...there are only 17 non-Lore skills.

17? I counted 16.

I mean, yeah, if you’re using dual-class rules it’s easy. Other than that, not so much.

An Elf can pick up an MCD at 1st level. I'm thinking it's this rather than a dual-class because Nefreet's our local PFS guru.

His PC likely has a 14+ Int, and if one adds in Elven Lore that makes for 11+ skills off the bat.

That said, by taking the lore feat for one's Ancestry and an MCD one gets 4 skills, so even a dumb PC in a low-skill class can load up pretty easily. Add those feats to an Alchemist, Wizard, or Ranger and you're practically done.
A Rogue could nab all the non-Lore skills by 2nd if they built for that, or 1st if an Ancient Elf (or Human as DMW noted).

Ahh, I totally forgot about the elf cheese. Not in a bad way, I just totally blanked that they could do that. Yeah, if you have everything trained, Lores are your only option at that point.

Deadmanwalking wrote:

...there are only 17 non-Lore skills.

17? I counted 16.

Shit, you're right. I must've counted Lore even though I very specifically intended not to. My bad.

So in my session I air walked into the air, 25 feet up, I was hit by a paralyze while stationary in the air after casting air walk. would i fall? or i can still make mental actions, would i just be stuck in the air standing there? or would i fall? and would i fall if im flying and not air walking?

Where are the uncommon kobold snares mentioned in the feat Snare Setter? Is this coming in another book? In errata?

Where are the uncommon kobold snares mentioned in the feat Snare Setter? Is this coming in another book? In errata?

I looked all over and never found any.

Must be setting themselves up for a new line of ancestry books akin to Kobolds of Golarion.

"Spirit Rage (instinct Ability)
When you are raging, you can increase your damage from Rage from 2 to 3 and deal negative or positive damage, instead of the normal damage type for your weapon or unarmed attack (choose each time you Rage)"

This is the first sentence of the Spirit Rage instinct ability. My interpretation, as written, is I can choose to increase my rage damage from 2 to 3 and can choose to deal positive or negative energy damage, instead of my regular damage type.

My reading is that I am not required to do positive or negative energy damage, with the additional rage damage, and therefore can add rage damage to my physical weapon damage.

Probably not RAI.

I just do not see how the requirement to increase rage damage from 2 to 3 is contingent upon doing positive or negative energy damage.

For example, "when you enter MGV's Lunch Counter you can increase your order from the a regular lunch to the lunch special and get a gourmet side salad or gourmet soup, instead of the normal sides for the regular lunch".

In the above sentence, getting the lunch special is not contingent on getting a gourmet side salad or gourmet soup. The gourmet sides are optional. I can still get the lunch special, and refuse the sides.

I do not see why the first sentence of the Spirit Instinct ability would not allow the extra rage damage to just be physical damage, as it is currently written.

Can this please be clarified?

It's because it's within the commas

, you can increase your damage from Rage from 2 to 3 and deal negative or positive damage,

not

, you can increase your damage from Rage from 2 to 3, and deal negative or positive damage,

For the Eldritch Shot of the Eldritch Archer Dedication, does your spell take the reach of your bow shot ? If it's the case, does this apply only on range spell attack or also to melee spell attack ?

Activate Three Actions Eldritch Shot; Requirements You are wielding a bow;

Effect You Cast a Spell that takes 1 or 2 actions to cast and requires a spell attack roll. The effects of the spell do not occur immediately but are imbued into the bow you're wielding. Make a Strike with that bow. Your spell flies with the ammunition, using your attack roll result to determine the effects of both the Strike and the spell. This counts as two attacks for your multiple attack penalty, but you don't apply the penalty until after you've completed both attacks.

Can I use the level 5 feat Dwarven Reinforcement on shields?

Question about the posioner archetype, it mentions the feat improved posion weapon both at 10th and 12th. Which one is right?

Hello all, long time lurker since 2e launch and first time poster. Idk if this has already been answered or not but I'd like to hear the developers thoughts on magical staffs with morphing runes. Just curious if my gishy characters can end up using swords and whatnot chock full of spells. All the discussion I've been able to find on the topic looks ultimately inconclusive.

If I end up midair after an action (Abundant Step), can I take an action that would prevent me falling before I fall after that (Leshy Glide)?

A lot of stuff that can leave you mid-air has clauses about that, but teleport effects seem to all be lacking it and there isn't any clear answer from the rules.

For the Eldritch Shot of the Eldritch Archer Dedication, does your spell take the reach of your bow shot ? If it's the case, does this apply only on range spell attack or also to melee spell attack ?

Eldritch Shot wrote:

Activate Three Actions Eldritch Shot; Requirements You are wielding a bow;

Effect You Cast a Spell that takes 1 or 2 actions to cast and requires a spell attack roll. The effects of the spell do not occur immediately but are imbued into the bow you're wielding. Make a Strike with that bow. Your spell flies with the ammunition, using your attack roll result to determine the effects of both the Strike and the spell. This counts as two attacks for your multiple attack penalty, but you don't apply the penalty until after you've completed both attacks.

See bolding above; since only a "spell attack roll" is referenced, and not specifically a ranged or melee spell attack roll, you can use either type of attack spell in conjunction with Eldritch Shot. The spell is "imbued into the bow you are using" so the spell's range is not an issue, you automatically apply it to the bow you are holding; use whatever melee or ranged attack spell you want, so long as it is one that would require a spell attack roll under typical circumstances (casting without Eldritch Shot).

Since the spell "flies with the ammunition, using your attack roll result," and the attack roll being referenced is the bow's Strike ("make a Strike with that bow"), you use the bow's range and attack modifier for the Strike. If you hit, roll both the bow's damage and the spell's damage and apply both to the target.

Question about the Mambele in specific, might apply to more weapons in the future.

The Mambele is a weapon that both counts as an Axe for Critical Specialization purposes, and has the Deadly trait, relevant rules text for both included below.

On a critical hit, the weapon adds a weapon damage die of the listed size. Roll this after doubling the weapon’s damage.

Choose one creature adjacent to the initial target and within reach. If its AC is lower than your attack roll result for the critical hit, you deal damage to that creature equal to the result of the weapon damage die you rolled (including extra dice for its potency rune, if any). This amount isn’t doubled, and no bonuses or other additional dice apply to this damage.

Question is as such: deadly says that it "adds a weapon damage die of the listed size;" however, the Axe Crit Spec deals Weapon Damage Die damage to the adjacent target. I'm inclined to think that it is meant to ignore the extra damage die from Deadly, but since it goes out of its way to call it a "weapon damage die" in the deadly trait, I was unsure what the prevailing opinion would be in this particular edge case and thought it'd be worth asking here.

It calls out specifically no bonuses or other additional dice apply to this damage. Deadly is additional dice.

Telekinetic Projectile & Eldritch Shot from Eldritch Archer
Just handwave that it works or does the flavor interfere?

Some of the APG Monk Stances (at least in Archives of Nethys) lack the Unarmored requirement. Is that intentional?

I'd like to hear the developers thoughts on

It's Paizo's policy that an individual designer (or design manager, or lead designer, or even director of game design) doesn't give rulings, unfortunately.

Designers used to, but sometimes their responses were inconsistent or contradictory so the current policy is to generally only answer questions through errata or FAQ.

Telekinetic Projectile & Eldritch Shot from Eldritch Archer

Just handwave that it works or does the flavor interfere?

In my mind, you telekinetically pull a nearby object towards your bow, loose an arrow, and watch the telekinetic object veer sharply to follow the arrow in a tight path.

Castilliano wrote:

Telekinetic Projectile & Eldritch Shot from Eldritch Archer

Just handwave that it works or does the flavor interfere?

In my mind, you telekinetically pull a nearby object towards your bow, loose an arrow, and watch the telekinetic object veer sharply to follow the arrow in a tight path.

you basically make the arrow a tracer round followed by whatever you launched with the spell.

While wild shaped can your animal companion understand your commands. Also do they have to be taught how to be commanded in all your different wild shapes?

Command an Animal has the Auditory but not Linguistic trait, so there shouldn't be an issue.

Presumably they need to be trained to take commands from other forms, but the rules don't really go over what training goes into animal companions.

Can I use the level 5 feat Dwarven Reinforcement on shields?

Shields are absolutely "Items" so I don't see why not.

I wildshaped into a squirrel and my wolf companion ate me. :(

If that wasn't bad enough, twelve hours later I was forced to endure the most embarrassing raise dead ever! XD

The Upstage reaction granted by the Celebrity archetype dedication feat has a trigger of "A foe attempts a skill check and doesn't get a critical success" and then require you to make a skill check with the same skill. Do you use the same DC the foe used? So if an enemy tries to trip the party fighter and doesn't critically succeed the Celebrity can use a reaction to make an Athletics check and must make that check against party fighters Reflex DC even though they're not trying to trip the fighter?

Are they actually taking an action? If they were near an enemy could they actually try to trip someone with their reaction? Could they chose a different Athletics action like disarm or long jump?

https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=54

Battle Medicine. I don't think I need to say more than that

1) What's the reach of a Large animal companion?

Eg: Dromaeosaur. Is it biped? Does it get enhanced reach? If so, for comparison: Hadrosaurid seems biped and has enhanced reach on both bite and foot attacks; Tyrannosaurus is biped but has enhanced reach only on the bite; Stegosaurus is not biped at all but has enhanced reach on the tail attack.

2) Can you choose NOT to increase your animal companion's size? Why would a Pony become the same size of a Horse???

The Upstage reaction granted by the Celebrity archetype dedication feat has a trigger of "A foe attempts a skill check and doesn't get a critical success" and then require you to make a skill check with the same skill. Do you use the same DC the foe used? So if an enemy tries to trip the party fighter and doesn't critically succeed the Celebrity can use a reaction to make an Athletics check and must make that check against party fighters Reflex DC even though they're not trying to trip the fighter?

Are they actually taking an action? If they were near an enemy could they actually try to trip someone with their reaction? Could they chose a different Athletics action like disarm or long jump?

https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=54

"Oh you think you can trip my friend? Let me show you how it is really done!"

I have a player who has an animal companion and he recently got horseshoes of speed. Now we've seen in the core rulebook that the animal companions can only benefit from item bonuses to speed and AC (max +3). The problem that we are having is that the horseshoes of speed give a +2 item bonus to Athletics checks for jumping... But the animal companion cannot gain that bonus because it is not a bonus to either speed or AC. Is this a typo and it's supposed to be a circumstance or status bonus instead?

You could still place them on a purchased Warhorse or Bonded Animal.

When a toxicologist's uses their perpetual infusion to craft a poison. Does it...

1) Lost its potency at the end of the turn, unless they managed to poison an enemy with it

or

2) Lose its potency at the end of the turn unless they "activate" it by applying it to a weapon?

If 2, then is there any rule that could stop a toxicologist from poisoning every weapon in the party, and isn't that a little overpowered? And wouldn't it kinda slow the game down with all those fort saves?

If 1, then wouldn't the perpetual infusion ability be nigh-unusable due to the action economy? You'd literally have to start your turn in melee range, risk an AOO applying the poison, and spend all 3 of your actions crafting, applying, and stabbing. You'd be burning all 3 actions and risking AOO just to add a low-level poison that would probably do less damage than simply attacking again.

When the effect of a curse states the creature receives certain conditions permanently, does permanently imply the curse's duration is permanent and ongoing? Or, does the curse effectively have no duration (other than immediately imposing the permanent conditions) and the conditions imposed continue on permanently beyond the curse's duration?

If it is the case that the curse has no duration, can it be said the permanent effects are caused by "a curse afflicting the target?"

Or, more to the point:

Can Remove Curse cure the permanent effects of critically-failing a saving throw against the Feeblemind spell?

Feeblemind's duration is listed as "varies." The effect of a Failed save specifically lists the effect as having unlimited duration, whereas the effect of a Critically Failed save states the target's intellect is permanently reduced.

Remove Curse will "attempt to counteract one curse afflicting a target."

Are the permanent conditions imposed by Feeblemind caused by a "curse afflicting a target" for the purposes of Remove Curse?

Feeblemind has the Curse trait, so yeah I'd say Remove Curse would work on it.

Investigator can choose Alchemical Sciences as their methodology at level 1 and start learning elixir or tool formulas, 1 common alchemical elixir or tool per level. At level 4 they can choose Alchemical Discoveries class which increases the amount to 2 instead.

Do I retroactively add the additional formulas for common alchemical elixirs or tools from level 1 through 3 to my formula book?

Is this a typo in the Incredible Luck halfling feat entry? Seems like it is talking about the 5th level halfling feat Shared Luck on the same page of the character Guide:

Incredible Luck (Halfling) - Feat 13

(Halfling)

Prerequisites: Halfling Luck

Even other halflings consider you to be particularly lucky. You can use Halfling Luck once per hour, rather than once per day. If you have Guiding Luck, you can still use Halfling Luck when you fail a Perception check or attack roll only once per day (though you can use it within the same hour that you used Halfling Luck), and if you have Helpful Halfling, you can still use Halfling Luck on an ally instead of yourself only once per day.