
Castilliano |

Does Eidelons have hands? Can the trip, grapple, etc. without having the trait on their unarmed attack? Can they climb? Can they use tools?
/Johan B.
Yes, the trait simply allows you to apply the weapon's Rune bonus to the maneuver attempt. Even a monster without hands can do those things.
Yet that doesn't answer how many hands an Eidelon can have. As many as you imagine except functionally two max for mechanical balance, right?
Or not? If I equip my Eidelon with a faux two-handed weapon do I need to give it four hands so it can still have its two free hands since the weapon's really an unarmed attack? I will if I have to.
I treat the Eidelon's form (and its faux weapons) as fluff, with the underlying mechanics remaining the same as if a regular PC using an unarmed attack. Otherwise you could (and would) get some ridiculous Hecatoncheires-Lovecraftian hybrids. Eidelons aren't doing two-handed weapon damage after all, but something more akin to a Monk who does get to keep both hands free.

Dagnew |
This question probably has been asked and answered somewhere in the forum long ago, but I can't find it, so there I go:
Can you use Improved Knockdown while wielding a second weapon or a shield in your off hand? I mean, you don't have to make the Trip check, but, on the other hand, the text of the feat doesn't explicitly say that you don't need a free hand (or a two handed weapon).
I am not sure if the intention behind the feat is:
"You don't need to trip your opponent; if you hit them, they fall..."
"You do make a trip action, but if you hit your foe, the trip action succeeds without the need to make a roll..."

Castilliano |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

This question probably has been asked and answered somewhere in the forum long ago, but I can't find it, so there I go:
Can you use Improved Knockdown while wielding a second weapon or a shield in your off hand? I mean, you don't have to make the Trip check, but, on the other hand, the text of the feat doesn't explicitly say that you don't need a free hand (or a two handed weapon).
I am not sure if the intention behind the feat is:
"You don't need to trip your opponent; if you hit them, they fall..."
"You do make a trip action, but if you hit your foe, the trip action succeeds without the need to make a roll..."
I'd give it the same limitations as Knockdown's Trip since the PC's performing the Knockdown action to get this Trip (albeit a combined version).

Gortle |

Is there a reason druids are the only spellcasting class in the game that doesn't get access to the "cantrip expansion" feat?
Taking the druid archetype hoping to focus on cantrips only to realize several levels later that you are forever stuck taking 2 per day is really rough :(
No idea why but its not a big loss. You can change your cantrips every day.
Pick up a familiar and get an extra cantrip that way. Order of the Leaf will do it in class. Or via an ancestry feat.

HumbleGamer |
Hatchet w/Returning rune.
When attacking with a thrown weapon(such as a Hatchet) that has the Returning rune, are you required to use an additional action to catch said weapon?
Or, dose the character automatically catch the weapon as part of the attack action?
You don't have to expend any action ( it's simply a rune which grants throwing weapons the possibility to be properly used as thrown weapons ).
Though now that I read it, I wonder what may cause your character to have the hands full between the act of throwing and upon completion of the strike.

Lazarus Dark |

I have a question about Inventor Archetype dedication that I'm just not seeing eye to eye with others on. If a sorcerer for example takes Inventor Dedication at level 2 and chooses Armor Innovation, is it the intention that they be trained in that Armor Innovation? If not, then the earliest they could be trained is level 7 after taking the Armor proficiency general feat at both level 3 and 7 to get medium proficiency. Whereas a martial class would not have this issue. Additionally, if the intention is to be trained in your innovation, then what about scaling? Scale like an Inventor or scale with the sorcerer's unarmored scaling? This still leaves it unequal to a martial with better scaling. Is the intention that any class can use and scale the armor innovation equally using the Inventor's scaling? Secondly, the weapon innovation let's you choose a simple or martial weapon, how does training/scaling work for those if you are a sorcerer and choose martial weapon or even a wizard choosing a simple weapon they are not trained in?
More discussion can be found here, with deeper analysis by me, but I feel I'm at an impass with everyone else, I just think the devs might have had intentions that every class could take the Inventor Dedication and use it equally, but I could be wrong: https://paizo.com/threads/rzs43i5d?Inventor-Archetype-are-you-trained

Asethe |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

I have a question about Inventor Archetype dedication that I'm just not seeing eye to eye with others on. If a sorcerer for example takes Inventor Dedication at level 2 and chooses Armor Innovation, is it the intention that they be trained in that Armor Innovation? If not, then the earliest they could be trained is level 7 after taking the Armor proficiency general feat at both level 3 and 7 to get medium proficiency. Whereas a martial class would not have this issue. Additionally, if the intention is to be trained in your innovation, then what about scaling? Scale like an Inventor or scale with the sorcerer's unarmored scaling? This still leaves it unequal to a martial with better scaling. Is the intention that any class can use and scale the armor innovation equally using the Inventor's scaling? Secondly, the weapon innovation let's you choose a simple or martial weapon, how does training/scaling work for those if you are a sorcerer and choose martial weapon or even a wizard choosing a simple weapon they are not trained in?
More discussion can be found here, with deeper analysis by me, but I feel I'm at an impass with everyone else, I just think the devs might have had intentions that every class could take the Inventor Dedication and use it equally, but I could be wrong: https://paizo.com/threads/rzs43i5d?Inventor-Archetype-are-you-trained
The devs rarely, if ever, have answered directly in this thread, haven't had a Paizo casual stream since Payton left around this time last year, and didn't address rules questions that didn't already have an obvious answer on the stream since the very early versions of that stream.
Your best bet is to continue your original thread as you will not get anything official, or markedly different, here.

Lazarus Dark |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

The devs rarely, if ever, have answered directly in this thread, haven't had a Paizo casual stream since Payton left around this time last year, and didn't address rules questions that didn't already have an obvious answer on the stream since the very early versions of that stream.
Your best bet is to continue your original thread as you will not get anything official, or markedly different, here.
thank you, I suspected as much, but hard to figure out with 4000+ replies. I some of the Gencon stuff, they did some q&a there, and there was the ask Paizo videos a couple months ago. I figure it's pretty low that we'd ever get any answer as to what the devs exact intention was on this particular issue and it's going to stay a stalemate for anyone like me.
Funny thing is, I'm almost certainly not taking the archetype at this point, because even if my GM allowed me to be trained in a martial innovation weapon, and I'm 95% sure he would agree that the intention is to be trained in your innovation, the entire archetype is still underpowered for my purposes, you can't even get the better modifications, so what's even the point? It's amazing if you want the construct, or maybe if you have solid armor scaling in your base class, but I feel like even if you have both training and scaling in your weapon innovation, the feats and everything are lackluster for weapon innovation specifically, especially with a crossbow which is my weapon of choice. I'd be far better off and more powerful taking Archer and then Eldritch Archer just to do cool crossbow stuff. Even gunslinger looks better than Inventor Archetype for crossbows. It's pretty disappointing as I've literally been excited for months to get the Inventor archetype, only to find it's weaker than other options.

Homunculus23 |

Does an alchemist familiar count as a companion to the extent that I could add a fiery leopard (Plaguestone) boon on it? I ask because familiars are under the same heading/chapter.
"Familiars
Familiars are mystically bonded creatures tied to your magic. Most familiars were originally animals, though the ritual of becoming a familiar makes them something more. You can choose a Tiny animal you want as your familiar, such as a bat, cat, raven, or snake." (Core book, page 217)

Mooseman-666 |
Can you attack in pest form? It doesn't say you can't in the spell and the battle form rules don't say you can't either... So if you're a kitsune can you use foxfire in your fox pest form? If your a catfolk with claws can you make your claw attack while using pest form to be a cat. Also is the -4 athletics a penalty or the actual skill check? If it is then you can't really climb as a cat or jump as a fox or a grasshopper etc... I think pest form doesn't actually work at all given the rules. With 10ft of movement and many of the special movement rules like sneak only allowing you to move at half speed means that you can't move more than 5ft or at all in difficult terrain. Can someone explain how this spell was intended to work please?

Gortle |

Can you attack in pest form? It doesn't say you can't in the spell and the battle form rules don't say you can't either... So if you're a kitsune can you use foxfire in your fox pest form? If your a catfolk with claws can you make your claw attack while using pest form to be a cat. Also is the -4 athletics a penalty or the actual skill check? If it is then you can't really climb as a cat or jump as a fox or a grasshopper etc... I think pest form doesn't actually work at all given the rules. With 10ft of movement and many of the special movement rules like sneak only allowing you to move at half speed means that you can't move more than 5ft or at all in difficult terrain. Can someone explain how this spell was intended to work please?
Yes you can attack in any battle form by default.
Most battle forms have specific text stopping other attacks apart from what they specify.Pest form does not.
You have a Fist, use it.
Totally up to the GM though if any of your Ancestral characteristics still apply though. The rules are silent. I certainly would allow it if the forms were similar enough.

Mooseman-666 |
Mooseman-666 wrote:Can you attack in pest form? It doesn't say you can't in the spell and the battle form rules don't say you can't either... So if you're a kitsune can you use foxfire in your fox pest form? If your a catfolk with claws can you make your claw attack while using pest form to be a cat. Also is the -4 athletics a penalty or the actual skill check? If it is then you can't really climb as a cat or jump as a fox or a grasshopper etc... I think pest form doesn't actually work at all given the rules. With 10ft of movement and many of the special movement rules like sneak only allowing you to move at half speed means that you can't move more than 5ft or at all in difficult terrain. Can someone explain how this spell was intended to work please?Yes you can attack in any battle form by default.
Most battle forms have specific text stopping other attacks apart from what they specify.
Pest form does not.
You have a Fist, use it.
Totally up to the GM though if any of your Ancestral characteristics still apply though. The rules are silent. I certainly would allow it if the forms were similar enough.
Ok I guess that makes sense but the 10ft speed has to be a mistake though. With a 10ft speed the pest form can't really sneak, climb, swim, or balance as they can only move 5ft and in difficult terrain it can't move at all. The spell gives a 20ft fly speed at level 4 but doesn't increase the land speed? I think this spell need errata for it to actually work... It really feels like it was meant to have a 20ft land speed. Like according to the sneak rules you'd have to roll a stealth check for every 5ft of movement and you would have to have cover/concealment the entire time or you are automatically observed...

Mooseman-666 |
I remember something similar too.
Also, unless I am missing something, doesn't longstrider ( available to all character with pest form ) give you +10 status speed, resulting into 20 feet speed?
What about the ancestries that get pest forms though? A kitsune fighter with fox form doesn't have the spell longstrider.

HumbleGamer |
HumbleGamer wrote:What about the ancestries that get pest forms though? A kitsune fighter with fox form doesn't have the spell longstrider.I remember something similar too.
Also, unless I am missing something, doesn't longstrider ( available to all character with pest form ) give you +10 status speed, resulting into 20 feet speed?
The faster way I see for them is to get a caster dedication or the trick magic item, to cast the spell from a wand.
This will require lvl 6 in either cases, more or less.

Castilliano |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

HumbleGamer wrote:What about the ancestries that get pest forms though? A kitsune fighter with fox form doesn't have the spell longstrider.I remember something similar too.
Also, unless I am missing something, doesn't longstrider ( available to all character with pest form ) give you +10 status speed, resulting into 20 feet speed?
So that'd make for a poor choice for fighting (which it already was) and for high mobility actions, so don't use this spell in such situations.
The spell has its uses, mainly in subterfuge, perhaps in recon. Adding more abilities would be out of line for a spell that's so easy to access, though I would've liked higher-level Tiny forms w/ better capabilities.PF1 crazy builds aside, what kind of abilities would one hope to gain from a low-level spell which shrinks you? It's not like it's meant to give you a form that's viable in all contexts. Yes, that can be a shame for those wanting to adventure in tiny form, though hopefully a future Shifter class can compensate for that. Currently, one could Meld Eidelon to get something Tiny going at level 8, though that's a bit awkward.

Mooseman-666 |
Mooseman-666 wrote:HumbleGamer wrote:What about the ancestries that get pest forms though? A kitsune fighter with fox form doesn't have the spell longstrider.I remember something similar too.
Also, unless I am missing something, doesn't longstrider ( available to all character with pest form ) give you +10 status speed, resulting into 20 feet speed?
So that'd make for a poor choice for fighting (which it already was) and for high mobility actions, so don't use this spell in such situations.
The spell has its uses, mainly in subterfuge, perhaps in recon. Adding more abilities would be out of line for a spell that's so easy to access, though I would've liked higher-level Tiny forms w/ better capabilities.
PF1 crazy builds aside, what kind of abilities would one hope to gain from a low-level spell which shrinks you? It's not like it's meant to give you a form that's viable in all contexts. Yes, that can be a shame for those wanting to adventure in tiny form, though hopefully a future Shifter class can compensate for that. Currently, one could Meld Eidelon to get something Tiny going at level 8, though that's a bit awkward.
I just think that the 10ft movement speed was a typo or a design mistake honestly. I think having a 20ft move speed in the form without needing another spell would be the easiest fix. Also is the athletic modifier a -4 penalty on your own athletic skill or is it a modifier of -4? They use different wording for the stealth and acrobatics skills. In the spell it states that stealth and acrobatics have a modifier OF +10 but for athletics they say athletic modifier -4... So I'm not sure what it was supposed to be.

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8 people marked this as a favorite. |

This is my monthly public service announcement/reminder to the moderation team to unsticky the thread, lock it, or at least modify the title as it's incredibly misleading given the continued contribution of new users who take it at face value.
This thread was only intended to be used as a resource for gathering common questions for a SINGLE STREAM on Twitch, and even then the stream itself didn't actually do what the thread title suggested it would and the idea was never revisited in the 28 months that followed.
To newer forum users: This thread is not in any way useful for the purpose that people are led to believe. Asking questions here is like shouting into the void and you are much better off either searching to see if your question was discussed in another thread or starting a new one if there isn't any existing discussion on the topic.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

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I am wondering where I would find the rules on "blade ally" for my champion. I have searched my books and online resources but have not been able to find them
TIA.
Try:
https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=4
Or go to Archives of Nethys Pathfinder second edition, hit Classes tab, hit Champion tab, then scroll down to Divine Ally Feat 3.
IN CASE YOU ARE CONFUSED: LOOK FOR "DIVINE ALLY". Blade Ally is a sub-category.

Ed Reppert |

"Blade Ally: A spirit of battle dwells within your armaments. Select one weapon or handwraps of mighty blows when you make your daily preparations. In your hands, the item gains the effect of a property rune and you also gain the weapon's critical specialization effect. For a champion following the tenets of good, choose disrupting, ghost touch, returning, or shifting. For a champion following the tenets of evil, choose fearsome, returning, or shifting."
https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=4
About halfway down the page, under "divine ally"

Skyrender |

What happens if a human and an elf have a planetouched (i.e.: aasimar or tiefling) child together? How do you stat up the resulting character? Normally, a half-elf would be a human with the half-elf heritage, and an planetouched would be a heritage added to any normal race in a similar fashion. The half-elf and planetouched options provide low-light vision, although the planetouched can also upgrade low-light vision to darkvision. Different racial feats are opened up, with the half-elf granting elf and half-elf options, and the planetouched having its own selection (split into aasimar and tiefling options).
For that matter, what happens if an aasimar and a tielfing have a kid together?
Ugh. A person could go crazy thinking about this.

Asethe |

What happens if a human and an elf have a planetouched (i.e.: aasimar or tiefling) child together? How do you stat up the resulting character? Normally, a half-elf would be a human with the half-elf heritage, and an planetouched would be a heritage added to any normal race in a similar fashion. The half-elf and planetouched options provide low-light vision, although the planetouched can also upgrade low-light vision to darkvision. Different racial feats are opened up, with the half-elf granting elf and half-elf options, and the planetouched having its own selection (split into aasimar and tiefling options).
For that matter, what happens if an aasimar and a tielfing have a kid together?
Ugh. A person could go crazy thinking about this.
Many Ancestries
Though a character can have only one heritage, it doesn't mean characters with lineages tracing back to multiple ancestries or heritages don't exist. It's certainly possible for a dhampir to be born to a half-elf mother, or for a duskwalker to appear in a community of death warden dwarves. In these cases, the influence of the versatile heritage overshadows the other heritage—the dhampir heritage overshadows the half-elf heritage, and the duskwalker abilities replace those of the death warden dwarf heritage. So while, superficially, a character might bear a resemblance to both heritages, mechanically, they only gain the benefits of the versatile heritage.
The half-elf side doesn't matter except for descriptive purposes, the versatile heritage has dominance.

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I have a +1 Dagger with a return rune engraved on it. At the beginning of my turn, I throw the Dagger at the opponent.
1. Does it have time to hit, do damage, and return to me in time for my next attack with it?
2. If the attack fails to hit does the dagger get back to me in time for my next attack with it?
3. Are there any opponents that could stop the dagger from retuning?
Thanks for the information!

Castilliano |

I have a +1 Dagger with a return rune engraved on it. At the beginning of my turn, I throw the Dagger at the opponent.
1. Does it have time to hit, do damage, and return to me in time for my next attack with it?
2. If the attack fails to hit does the dagger get back to me in time for my next attack with it?
3. Are there any opponents that could stop the dagger from retuning?Thanks for the information!
1 & 2: Yes, it's much improved from previous versions of Returning.
3: Yes, some special abilities allow for this. The one that first comes to mind is a creature that might destroy any weapons which hit it, with thrown weapons being automatically destroyed. So don't throw at Oozes or monsters covered in acid, goo, etc. until you know it's safe for your dagger.
There is no lag time before the dagger teleports back, so an enemy without such an ability would need to snatch it from the air before it hits/misses them, which I think only Monks can do w/ a specific feat (Arrow Snatching, level 8; so maybe in the Ruby Phoenix AP for example). Funnily enough, since that feat lets them through the dagger at you, it'd return to them afterward. Doh!
So yeah, it'll seldom be an issue, though maybe carry spares since they're light. It's reasonable to have cheap spares anyway for fighting Rust Monsters, etc.

Gortle |

We need some clarification on critical hit immunity. Does it nullify Deadly, Fatal and critical specialization effects or not? I've seen different developers say that it does and it doesn't. Help!
The rule is Immunity to critical hits works a little differently. When a creature immune to critical hits is critically hit by a Strike or other attack that deals damage, it takes normal damage instead of double damage. This does not make it immune to any other critical success effects of other actions that have the attack trait (such as Grapple and Shove).
I think I'd just have it do normal everything and not any critical effect like Deadly etc. Because that just seems what the intent is. But you are right to ask for a clarification because it is just not specified.

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This is my monthly public service announcement/reminder to the moderation team to unsticky the thread, lock it, or at least modify the title as it's incredibly misleading given the continued contribution of new users who take it at face value.
This thread was only intended to be used as a resource for gathering common questions for a SINGLE STREAM on Twitch, and even then the stream itself didn't actually do what the thread title suggested it would and the idea was never revisited in the 28 months that followed.
To newer forum users: This thread is not in any way useful for the purpose that people are led to believe. Asking questions here is like shouting into the void and you are much better off either searching to see if your question was discussed in another thread or starting a new one if there isn't any existing discussion on the topic.
Thank you for listening to this rerun-PSA.

Ever |

Would an Orc with the 5th level ancestry feat: Scar-Thick Skin
(Glorious, storied scars cover and protect much of your body. Your DC on flat checks to end persistent bleed damage is reduced from 15 to 10, or from 10 to 5 after receiving especially appropriate assistance.)
Reduce the DC of the Barbazu's Infernal Wound feature?
(A bearded devil’s glaive Strike also deals 1d6 persistent bleed damage that resists attempts to heal it. The flat check to stop the bleeding starts at DC 20. The DC is reduced to 15 only if the bleeding creature or an ally successfully assists with the recovery.
The DC to Administer First Aid to a creature with an infernal wound is increased by 5. A spellcaster or item attempting to use healing magic on a creature suffering from an infernal wound must succeed at a DC 21 counteract check or the magic fails to heal the creature.)
RAI vs RAW?

Castilliano |

Would an Orc with the 5th level ancestry feat: Scar-Thick Skin
(Glorious, storied scars cover and protect much of your body. Your DC on flat checks to end persistent bleed damage is reduced from 15 to 10, or from 10 to 5 after receiving especially appropriate assistance.)
Reduce the DC of the Barbazu's Infernal Wound feature?
(A bearded devil’s glaive Strike also deals 1d6 persistent bleed damage that resists attempts to heal it. The flat check to stop the bleeding starts at DC 20. The DC is reduced to 15 only if the bleeding creature or an ally successfully assists with the recovery.
The DC to Administer First Aid to a creature with an infernal wound is increased by 5. A spellcaster or item attempting to use healing magic on a creature suffering from an infernal wound must succeed at a DC 21 counteract check or the magic fails to heal the creature.)RAI vs RAW?
IMO, there's neither RAI nor RAW since no language discusses the interplay of the two abilities so there's no intent to unearth nor writing about it to consider. Using a lack of such language to make a ruling (therefore "no") seems lazy to me (and a letdown) especially since PF2 assumes reasonable adjudication by the GM, not overt legalism nor rules idolatry.
In that vein, letting Scar-Thick Skin function w/ a Bleed effect that has a non-standard DC seems most reasonable, albeit at a higher DC in this case to reflect the higher base DC.