Prehensile hair attack in activation round?

[Mark Hoover 330]

I wasn't kidding about the Grippli Agile Tongue feat, I am kind of bummed it doesn't do more. Y'know one thing that feat and this hex have in common? It doesn't specifically ascribe any action types to anything or give the PC any EXTRA actions. Therefore:

1. It takes a Standard action to activate a hex
2. While it does say the hair growth is instantaneous, there is a pause in the form of a comma between hair growth and the ability to manipulate things like a limb
3. How do we manipulate things like a limb in this game? By using Standard or other action types, and no new action types or extra actions are granted by the hex

Therefore I would rule as a GM that the first round of activation you've got a Move and Swift action left, but no Standard action as you've spent that on activating the hex per the RAW on hexes. The HAIR GROWTH is instantaneous, but the manipulating things like a limb is still governed under the rules of the game. Since the hex wording doesn't state that, because the hair growth is instantaneous you can use the Standard action with which you activated the hex to manipulate something with the hair; since that is not explicitly detailed, RAW says that it is a Standard to activate so your Standard action for the round is used up.

Hexes are called out as "magical tricks" which unless otherwise noted take a Standard to ACTIVATE but do not provoke. This means that the activation itself takes some manner of concentration and manipulation similar to perhaps casting a spell, but not so dramatic or obvious that use of the ability provokes an opponent to attack you. So, for your Standard action in a round perhaps you're calling on the Hairy Hosts of Hoggoth to bless your wicked hair with all the powers of the Dread Bayonetta, all while humming the tune Hair and pumping your hands around your head in a bouffant-like fashion, which takes a few seconds for your Patron to hear your plea and send its weird eldritch energies into your Bolton-esque moustache of wonder, but once those powers finally ACTIVATE the hair growth is instantaneous and undeniable.

Now DURING the time that your Standard action is the humming, the chanting, and the magical trickery that is Hex activation, and while your hair is completing it's instantaneous growth, you're also Moving backwards away from the oncoming ogre, your Sage familiar with the +14 UMD skill is popping off a charge of Scorching Ray from a wand and your new hair limb is handing you the components needed for your next spell, all while tendrils of the stuff menace the very air 10' away should anything be foolish to get in the way of it's threatened area.

[Ryze Kuja]

Samy wrote:

Ryze Kuja wrote:

That's not a full stop moment. You have to read the rest of it. That clause has a condition, and that condition is:

Prehensile Hair wrote:

with a Strength score equal to her Intelligence score

Yes, but that's not a problem at all, because that condition is always fulfilled. I have no problem using the Int score instead of the Str score, it's not a problem, so the condition is always fulfilled and thus the condition is not relevant.

I'm not insisting on not using the Int score.

Quote:

The rest of that paragraph tells you HOW it's activated and the rules for HOW it can be used in a given round by calling it a

Prehensile Hair wrote:

secondary natural attack that deals 1d3 points of damage (1d2 for a Small witch).

Right, if you had a primary claw attack you'd take -5 to hit with the hair, but that has no relevance to the topic being discussed.

Using a limb to do anything in this game requires a type of action. No ifs, ands, or buts. Even dropping an item on the ground is called out as a Free Action. Every single action you perform with a limb requires an action type of some kind. Whenever you are making an action to attack using Prehensile Hair, it follows the Natural Attack rules. Every. Single. Time. There is nothing, not a single whiff of a minor allusion to anything, that would suggest it follows any other rules when making an attack other than Natural Attack rules. Period. Primary and Secondary Natural attacks require a Standard Action or a Full Round action, again, no ifs, ands, or buts. All clear so far?

Activating Prehensile Hair is a standard action that establishes your Hair as an additional limb. The Prehensile Hair text provides no specific rule that allows you to make a free natural attack in the round that it's activated, and there is no general rule that allows anyone to make a free natural attack while activating a Hex or performing any other type of Standard Action. Ergo, since you have no standard or full attack action to make a Natural Attack after using a standard action to activate Prehensile Hair, you cannot make an attack with it in the round that it's activated. If you're going to suggest otherwise, then you're just making things up. It would be no different than trying to suggest that you also gain a +2 CMD to Trip attempts for having an extra limb that can act as a leg. You cannot say that you get a free natural attack for the same reason that you cannot say you gain a +2 CMD to Trip attempts. It. Does. Not. Exist.

However, as myself and others have already stated, you may use your hair in the round that it's activated to perform a Move Action, Immediate Action, Free Action, or Swift Action, or as an Attack of Opportunity, and nothing more.

Them's the rules, and if you don't like it, you can ask your GM to house rule it, and don't get salty if/when he says no because he's under no obligation to say yes.

This is me washing my hands of this discussion because it's just going in circles and you're making up things that don't exist.