Yes. With the same limitations of other pre-buff options.
Same as pre-casting Bless or Heroism. You have to be aware of combat before it starts - which is completely dependent on the combat scenario and setup.
Depend on from how your GM will deal with the pre-buffs.
For example, if my players are in a position that they can pre-buff before being noticed and start to cast 1 minute or less buff, I also start an encounter mode and being to count rounds and actions (but without any specific order, but each PC can only do their normal 3-actions per round, including actions to Interact with objects, draw, doors and so on). While the buffs doesn't end nor call enemy attention, they can waste as many rounds they want.
There are some other considerations that I do too. For example, during legacy where Rage costs an action I didn't allow using it as non-immediate pre-buff (except if it was immediately to advance to attack in that round or in the next round) today this doesn't happen anymore because they can rage at initiative. Same for things like wellspring surge that I only allow if the caster is in battle effectively.
No, it's down at the low end of mid-levels. Only level 8.
Before resolving the spell
Well those are spells and limited resources, could I just keep spamming it before entering any room? Or is this abuse?
Mechanics abuse is to try and say that you should be considered to always have annointed an ally before the start of any combat.
You will have to declare that you are doing an annoint ally for each door. Many GMs may let you 'automate' that similar to checking the door for traps. But you do have to set the conditions so that the GM can determine without having to ask you if you have or haven't pre-buffed in preparation for a battle that may or may not happen. The GM does still need to have the option of a surprise battle that you and your character were not expecting and don't have pre-buffed for.
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Something else to remember is that unless you use Subtle Spell, spellcasting is obvious.
Per, Player Core page 299:
"Spellcasting creates obvious sensory manifestations, such as bright lights, crackling sounds, and sharp smells from the gathering magic."
What does that mean at your table? I don't know. At my table, if you go to prebuff, initiative is rolled right then. The adversaries do not automatically know that the PCs are outside the door, but they do get Perception checks to notice things like loud chanting or crazy light leaking under the door.
Your table may very well be different from mine, so check with your GM.
Something else to remember is that unless you use Subtle Spell, spellcasting is obvious.
Per, Player Core page 299:
"Spellcasting creates obvious sensory manifestations, such as bright lights, crackling sounds, and sharp smells from the gathering magic."
What does that mean at your table? I don't know. At my table, if you go to prebuff, initiative is rolled right then. The adversaries do not automatically know that the PCs are outside the door, but they do get Perception checks to notice things like loud chanting or crazy light leaking under the door.
Your table may very well be different from mine, so check with your GM.
Yep, not guaranteed the enemy notices but they're definitely getting a perception check and you're risking enemies coming to you which may or may not be to your advantage.
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Yep, not guaranteed the enemy notices but they're definitely getting a perception check and you're risking enemies coming to you which may or may not be to your advantage.Something else to remember is that unless you use Subtle Spell, spellcasting is obvious.
Per, Player Core page 299:
"Spellcasting creates obvious sensory manifestations, such as bright lights, crackling sounds, and sharp smells from the gathering magic."
What does that mean at your table? I don't know. At my table, if you go to prebuff, initiative is rolled right then. The adversaries do not automatically know that the PCs are outside the door, but they do get Perception checks to notice things like loud chanting or crazy light leaking under the door.
Your table may very well be different from mine, so check with your GM.
Annoint Ally isn't a spell though and it has no audible traits.
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Where are you getting the statement that encounter mode actions can't be used during exploration? Do you realize how much incredible nonsense that houserule would cause? Interact to pick up an object is an Encounter mode action.
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Yeah, there are specific actions that can only be used in combat, like the Stance trait. But that's a trait thing not a blanket rule. Otherwise you couldn't recall knowledge or lie out of encounter mode.
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Exploration activities take too long to be feasible in encounters. Not the other way around. Opening a door is an Interact action, so otherwise your exploration won't get very far.
Most exploration activities are things you're doing every round, this one would be less frequently, although if you're doing it only once per minute, you might happen to go into combat with only 1d10 rounds remaining. As a GM I'd offer the following compromise:
- if you're not expecting combat, you start with 5 rounds remaining, because you top up occasionally. If you're expecting combat, you can have the full 10.
- it doesn't take up your exploration activity, but you have to be adjacent to your anointee in the marching order.
- you can do it as your only exploration activity, and in that case you need to be only within 1 Stride distance, not adjacent
Though it does seem to me that this is an obvious case of trying to get a freebie that the encounter/exploration mode structure is set up to prevent. Walking around anointing your companion with your own blood 2 seconds out of every minute seems to fit an exploration mode activity. At least to me. And I'd view it as problematic if a player tells me they're doing this, then when they roll initiative they want to set their figure on the map 30-60" away from their anointed ally.
The GM Adjudication fix for this is to say that Annoint Ally is not eligible for an Improvised Exploration Activity. The player needs to explicitly use Annoint Ally each time they want to use it as a pre-buff before combat.
It is much too broad of a ruling to say that because of a few possible things being abused that no encounter speed actions can be used in Exploration mode at all or that all of them do not qualify as an Improvised Activity.