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I've been looking around for cool character concepts to play in War for the Crown, which has a high probability of being our next campaign (even if it's still at least half a year away). The Mesmerist is looking particularly promising, since it fits the social and humanoid-centric focus of WftC. The Kitsune race would match the class nicely with its perfect ability boosts and the boost to enchantment magic. I do have a question about either of them, though:
Mesmerist: The Painful Stare triggers when someone «hits» the target with a damaging attack. I'm pretty sure that doesn't necessarily have include an attack roll, so damaging someone with the fire component of Blistering Invective would presumably count. However, the case is less clear-cut for ongoing damage. If the targets catches on fire from Blistering Invective and continues to take damage in subsequent rounds, does that still trigger Painful Stare, even though the spell has «hit» the target in a previous round? (If so, DoT spells would provide good action economy in delivering the Painful Stare damage to an enemy without having to commit actions to damage-dealing round after round.)
Kitsune: According to the Player's Guide, the Taldan high court is racist and doesn't look kindly on «mongrel» species. Luckily, a Kitsune can spend an indefinite amount of time in their «human» form. They get a +10 bonus to Disguise checks to appear human. My question here: The bonus implies that a Disguise check is needed for a Kitsune to pass as human, even though they literally have a «human form». Does that mean I would get made out as a Kitsune on a daily basis when someone inevitably rolls lucky on a Perception check? Or would I only need to roll when someone has a reason to suspect me to be non-human? If so, under what circumstances would that happen?
There's supposed to be a lot of undercover intrigue in WftC, so I wouldn't want everybody to be like, hey, there's that fox lady again!
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I think I can answer the Kitsune question myself. The Disguise skill says:
If you don’t draw any attention to yourself, others do not get to make Perception checks. If you come to the attention of people who are suspicious (such as a guard who is watching commoners walking through a city gate), it can be assumed that such observers are taking 10 on their Perception checks.
I guess I can work with that.
For an intrigue Kitsune, definitely look at Realistic Likeness.
As for Kitsune having a human form, the forms are just a little... off.
Maybe odd coloured eyes? Proportions are slightly strange? Something like that.
But yes, most people wouldn't notice unless they had a reason to try to see that the character wasn't human.
'Hits' does require an attack roll. Neither an intimidate check nor ongoing damage would do IMO.
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Argh! That would foil several of my ideas at once. Is there a rule or a FAQ defining «hit» as «succeed on an attack roll»?
I was wondering whether I could use a Staff of the Entwined Serpents as a sidearm to cast Magic Missiles with Painful Stare, but that wouldn't work, then. (I checked: It consistently says «strike» rather than «hit» in the description of Magic Missile...) Not even the sonic spells of the Vox archetype would do the trick, since they're save-based rather than attack roll–based.
I guess that's one more point in favor of taking a Fey Sorcerer level, even if it hurts to delay the slow spell progression further. At least I can use Acid Splash or a wand of Snowball to deal damage, then.
There's the definition of an attack roll:
An attack roll represents your attempt to strike your opponent on your turn in a round. When you make an attack roll, you roll a d20 and add your attack bonus. (Other modifiers may also apply to this roll.) If your result equals or beats the target’s Armor Class, you hit and deal damage.
An attack roll was called a 'to hit' roll before it was renamed in D&D 3.0.
I think there's the odd FAQ or developer's post concerning sneak attack which might address your concern in passing, but nothing direct.
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So I did read up on those Sneak Attack threads and FAQs, and they are all very much Sneak Attack–specific.
I also looked up the rules for Sneak Attack in the Rogue class on PFSRD: Hilariously, it doesn't use the word «hit» except for a mention of critical hits. Instead, it repeatedly insists on aiming at a «vital spot» to do damage, which is presumably why an attack roll is necessary to trigger it (since you can't aim a Fireball or a Magic Missile).
The Painful Stare write-up, on the other hand, doesn't state how the damage is done, but since it rides on the mind-affecting Hypnotic Stare, one has to assume it's psychosomatic damage that the target's mind deals to its body by overestimating the actual damage it suffered. A priori, that should work with any kind of damage, not just that of localized «hits».
Then again, the extra damage is classified as precision damage for some reason, which certainly recalls the Sneak Attack rules (although as far as I can tell the classification's only effect is to make some creatures immune to it).
A FAQ or dev commentary would certainly help here!
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By the way, another rules question on Mesmerists:
Am I right in assuming that Psychic Inception does not remove any immunities other than that to mind-affecting effects? So an undead target could be affected by, say, Hold Person or Cacophanous Call, but since undead are immune to paralysis, the former would do nothing? (Actually, would the latter work, or does nausea go under immunity to disease...? In any case, it seems to be a mental effect for the purpose of this spell, so it shouldn't...)