Simple Q&A for Pathfinder 2: Find Harder

[NixonsBack87]

Q85
A dhampir sorcerer affected by the spell Chill Touch. Since it is clearly stated to be a negative energy effect, the racial trait Negative Energy Affinity says he should deal damage to himself, which in fact heals him by that amount instead, since negative energy affects him as an undead. But the spell has a completely different effect if used on an undead. Which effect should be used, does he heal himself, or risk causing himself to become panicked?

[Xerinous]

A85:

The dhampir heals himself. Dhampirs are humanoids with the dhampir subtype, not undead, and so aren't treated as undead for anything that does not explicitly say that they are, such as how negative energy treats them.

[Yora]

Q86: Would it make any difference if the change shape ability of lycanthropes would be based on beast shape II instead of polymorph?

Q87: Are the stats for the hybrid form in any way different from the animal form, except speed?

Q88: Is an ongoing supernatural effect detectable with detect magic?

[Addi]

A86: Since polymorph itself states that you should use beast shape II for animal shapes, I think it wouldn't matter. (This is possibly a remnant from 3.5, where there were no beast shape spells)

A87: I can't find any differences except that all your items would function normally in hybrid form, but merge in animal form.

Edit: Source - PFSRD
When you cast a polymorph spell that changes you into a creature of the animal, dragon, elemental, magical beast, plant, or vermin type, all of your gear melds into your body. Items that provide constant bonuses and do not need to be activated continue to function while melded in this way (with the exception of armor and shield bonuses, which cease to function). Items that require activation cannot be used while you maintain that form. etc.

A88: I guess the rules don't cover this. Detect Magic especially mentions spells and magic items.... nothing else. (Maybe you can just detect things with a caster level.)

[Addi]

Q89: Does the Spell Stone Shield grant Total Cover for a dwarf with a height of under 5ft. and thus blocking line of effect?

[gr8artist]

Q 90
Am I missing something, or is a wondrous items for a permanent enlarge/reduce person ridiculously cheap?
Estimating GP values for magic items
Enlarge person spell
Formula for a continuous effect measured in minutes is: Spell level x Caster level x 2000 x 2
By my math it comes out to (1)*(1)*(2000)*(2) = 4000 gold.

Like a ring of invisibility, the item can be activated or deactivated as a standard action. Alternatively, you could have it be a permanent effect while wearing the item, but then they'd just slip the ring off and on as a move action.

[AdInfinitum]

Q91: If a monster has Regeneration 10/Evil, does a +5 weapon cause it to stop working, or is that just DR?

[Yora]

A90: You are correct, 1st level spell items are extremely cheap.

However, the ring of invisibility doesn't conform to the rules either. At CL 3rd x Spell Level 2 x 2000 gp x 2 it should have a price of 24,000 gp, not 20,000 gp.

A91: Since neither Damage Reduction nor Regeneration says so, it seems to be "no".

[Zherog]

A 90 additional

Your forgetting about this part of the rules:

Not all items adhere to these formulas. First and foremost, these few formulas aren't enough to truly gauge the exact differences between items. The price of a magic item may be modified based on its actual worth. The formulas only provide a starting point. The pricing of scrolls assumes that, whenever possible, a wizard or cleric created it. Potions and wands follow the formulas exactly. Staves follow the formulas closely, and other items require at least some judgment calls.

(emphasis mine)

[CockroachTeaParty]

Q 92

Does an Oracle using the Words of Power variant learn every Cure/Inflict spell per spell level like a regular Oracle?

[Keneth]

Q93a I am looking at Diabolist and its Imp Companion and as far as I can tell, the imp seems to be treated as an Animal in some aspects rather than an Outsider (medium BAB progression instead of fast, 3 skill points instead of 7). Is this correct? I feel somewhat uncomfortable with changing fundamental monster rules, even if it does make sense from a balance standpoint.

Q93b Does the aforementioned imp gain other benefits (and flaws) of its type and subtypes? Namely does it have fire and poison immunity, as well as elemental resistances from being a devil? Is it proficient with simple and martial weapons since it's an Outsider? Does it need to eat, drink, or sleep? I can't find any wording that implies its type (or subtype) changes, so while it loses some of its inherent creature abilities (like fast healing and DR), it should keep the ones granted by its type except where explicitly stated, right?

I really like this class, but the companion part seems to be poorly written...

[Rhuarc]

Q 94 Can a NG cleric with a NG god prepare and cast spells with both the Lawful and the Chaotic Descriptor?

Q 95 If a cleric casts Eagle's Splendor on himself in the middle of the day will he get 2 more uses of channel energy from the increase in charisma?

[Yora]

A95: I would assume no, based on the following line:

Permanent Bonuses: Ability bonuses with a duration greater than 1 day actually increase the relevant ability score after 24 hours. Modify all skills and statistics related to that ability. This might cause you to gain skill points, hit points, and other bonuses. These bonuses should be noted separately in case they are removed.

It does not explicitly mention channeling charges, but I would assume them to be among those "other bonuses".

[Zherog]

A 94

Yes.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A cleric can't cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity's (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaotic, evil, good, and lawful descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Neutral is not opposed to Law or Chaos, so the cleric in your example is fine.

[JoeYounger]

Q96

Can I have an aklys made out of adamantium?

[Zherog]

A 96

Unclear.

Aklys: The aklys is a hooked throwing club with a 20-foot cord; you can retrieve the aklys after throwing it as a move action. The hook allows you to make trip attacks at range. Some aklyses have holes drilled through them and whistle when flung.

Adamantine: Mined from rocks that fell from the heavens, this ultrahard metal adds to the quality of a weapon or suit of armor. Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering weapons or attacking objects, ignoring hardness less than 20 (see Additional Rules). Armor made from adamantine grants its wearer damage reduction of 1/— if it's light armor, 2/— if it's medium armor, and 3/— if it's heavy armor. Adamantine is so costly that weapons and armor made from it are always of masterwork quality; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below. Thus, adamantine weapons and ammunition have a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls, and the armor check penalty of adamantine armor is lessened by 1 compared to ordinary armor of its type. Items without metal parts cannot be made from adamantine. An arrow could be made of adamantine, but a quarterstaff could not.

Weapons and armor normally made of steel that are made of adamantine have one-third more hit points than normal. Adamantine has 40 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 20.

(emphasis mine, and also note the actual spelling of the substance in question.)


So the question comes down to, "What material is an aklys made from." The description of the item in the PFSRD doesn't provide an answer, other than to say it's a club. To me, a club is made from wood - that's why it has no cost, it's just a big stick somebody picks up off the ground. But to the best of my knowledge, nothing in the rules actually says a club is a wooden object.

With the lack of information, the decision is going to come down to your GM making a call one way or the other. My personal ruling would be that an aklys is wooden and so can't be made from adamantine. But there's certainly plenty of room to allow a ruling to go the opposite direction, too.

[Cieyrin]

A 89 No.
A 92 While it doesn't come out and say it, it's reasonable for Oracles to get their choice of either Healing or Wounding Words as they become available.

[Keneth]

Q97 The universal monster rules for Change Shape state the following:

This ability functions as a polymorph spell, the type of which is listed in the creature’s description, but the creature does not adjust its ability scores (although it gains any other abilities of the creature it mimics).

My question is, does the above exception also apply to special ability adjustments as defined on this table or just to the ones defined in the spell?

[gr8artist]

Q 98
What ways can a player increase a poison's save DC?

Answers I already have:
Alchemist dip for discoveries like Concentrate Poison.
Hit the victim with additional doses before they clear the initial dose (for increased duration and DC)
Find stronger variants of creatures that have naturally occurring poison (since most creature poisons are con based, finding similar creatures with higher con scores would yield stronger poisons)

Are there any more? And is there any way to get Alchemist Discoveries without a 2+ dip in Alchemist?

[Keneth]

A98 A Daggermark Poisoner can also make Tailored Toxins which increase the DC by 2 against specific creature types.

Theoretically you can also synthesize custom alchemical poisons where you could set the DC as high as you can afford, but at the moment RAW provides no rules as to the pricing of such poisons.

Edit: There's also the rogue advanced talent Deadly Cocktail. I forgot you can apply two doses of the same poison to increase the DC by 2. Of course this isn't really a viable option unless you're already a rogue or ninja.

[Aotrs Commander]

Q 99

My brain has the dumbs, this morning. Do you get skill points from enhancement bonuses to intelligence when you level up?

By extension, if you clap a +4 Headband of Intellect or something on, do you immediately get extra skill points?

(I can't even remember whether you do or not in normal D&D; I know you don't in the latter case.)

Forgive me if this is spelled out in PF somewhere (other than in the skills section in the PFSRD, which I obviously checked first! A link to the apprporiate section would do!); I basically cribbed the PF skill system for my set of houserules, rather than using PF in entirity, and this is the only niche case I've encountered. It while I was making a Int-caster bad guy the question came up for the first time (none of the PCs I've thus far used the system with have Int-bonus items yet or have them but haven't levelled up).

[Cieyrin]

A 99 Temporary Intelligence bonuses (that is, those that last less than 24 hours) don't grant additional skill points. Headbands of Intellect specify what skills they provide ranks in when they're made, so if you take them off or put them back on, there isn't the ability to reinvest skill points into new skills.

[Keneth]

A99+ That said, inherent bonuses (such as from tomes or wish spells), as well as untyped bonuses that you get every 4 hit dice, do give you extra skill points retroactively (whereas they did not in 3.5).

[AttilaTheGeek]

Q100 (woo, triple digits!)

Do I need to make a Use Magic Device check to activate a scroll of a spell on my class's spell list of a level I can't cast yet? (For example, a 1st-level Wizard trying to use a scroll of Disintegrate).

[Keneth]

A100 No, as per scroll activation rules, if you meet all other prerequisites—the scroll is arcane, it's on your spell list, and your spellcasting ability score is high enough—you can activate the scroll by making a successful caster level check against a DC = the scroll's caster level + 1. You still need to decipher the scroll first, though.

[gr8artist]

Q 101
Mystic Theurge + another spellcasting prestige class... If I have a second prestige class that I begin after taking a level in MT, and if that second PrC gives spells/day, can I select MT as the spellcasting class to get extra spells with?
Say... Wizard 3, Cleric 3, MT 2, Bloodmage 4, in that order
When I gain a level in MT, I gain spells per day and spells known in both Wizard and Cleric. When I gain a level in BM, I gain spells per day and spells known in my MT class, which in turn lets me get spells/day and spells known for Wiz and Cleric.

Please tell me I'm wrong, or my group's next boss just got a lot harder.

[Douglas]

A101

That does not work because Mystic Theurge is not, in fact, a spellcasting class in its own right. It advances the spellcasting of other classes, but it does not grant any spellcasting of its own and therefore does not qualify for advancement by other classes.

[Man on Fire]

Q 102
Does Bard's Inspire Competence work on Concentration Checks?

[Keneth]

A102 No, Concentration is no longer a skill in Pathfinder. It's not an ability check either, so any effects that grant bonuses to skill checks or ability checks do not affect Concentration checks.

[Yora]

Q103: In what situations is a 20 always a success and a 1 always a failure?