Simple Q&A for Pathfinder 3: Find With a Vengeance

[Spore]

A245 followup

Good point about DM approval. But I'd argue that RAI actually points toward allowing it. I really can't imagine clearer evidence of RAI than an official post saying the design team is aware of this use of the rule, and think it's a fine interpretation due to balance reasons.

RAI for PF devs isn't the same as RAI from the original creators of D&D of which the classes have been taken away. It's your (and your DM's) choice to which ruling you adhire.

[FabulousFizban]

Q248

Since it is possible to use Elemental Fist as part of an opportunity attack, does Marid Style increase the area you threaten by 5 ft?

[Coranho]

Q248

Since it is possible to use Elemental Fist as part of an opportunity attack, does Marid Style increase the area you threaten by 5 ft?

A248a:

When you use Elemental Strike pick one of the following energy types: acid, cold, electricity, or fire. On a successful hit, the attack deals damage normally plus 1d6 points of damage of the chosen type.

Source; http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat...al-fist-combat

Elemental Fist (Strike) does not specify what type of action is necessary to empower the attack, from a RAW stand-point, the text of the ability refers to a single attack ("the attack") and does not make restrictions on the method of the attack; feats without action type (such as 'standard', 'move', or 'full') are generally considered to be free actions, at the discretion of the DM.

A248b:

You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your turn. Generally, that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space (including diagonally).

Source, threatened squares: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemasterin...of-Opportunity

Thanks to Improved Unarmed Strike, yes, you can AoO on squares threatened by reach with unarmed via Marid style.

Q249: Is it possible for a Wizard to have two familiars? (The start of this thread mentions feats, and I recall planning a two-familiar Wizard, but can no longer remember how).

[Yanisa]

A249
Well it seems to be the RAI intend that you can only have one familiar (Paizo dislikes having multiple companions in general) as some ways of gaining a familiar mention stacking. However this is not universally put trough in the RAW (mainly editing laziness I guess), leaving for room for multiple familiars by RAW. Because of this a Wizard without multiclassing cannot get two familiars, but a Witch can without multiclassing (and alchemists, but then you got a tumor, I don't advice getting tumors).

Here is a list of ways and how they stack:
Wizard -> No stacking mentioned
Sorcerer [Arcane Bloodline] -> Stacks with Wizard levels (This one gain be gained by the feat Eldritch Heritage)
Tattooed Sorcerer (Archetype) -> Stacks with Wizard and Witch
Witch -> No stacking mentioned
Rogue Talent [Familiar] -> No stacking mentioned, counts as wizard levels
Alchemist Discovery [Tumor Familiar] -> No stacking mentioned

Arcanist -> Stacks with all other sources that give a Familiar, but
Unlettered Arcanist (Archetype) -> Doesn't mention stacking, but counts as witch levels
Aberrant Tumor (Feat for the Aberrant bloodline) -> Doesn't mention stacking, counts as Alchemist Level
But these blue ones are from the Advance Class Guide, but the Arcanist writing does show the intend of not allowing multiple familiars and finally they tackled the problem by not naming specific classes.

[Cieyrin]

Q 250 What is the spell level for a spell-like ability when spells are at different levels for different caster types? For example, Lawbringer Aasimar get Continual Flame, which is 3rd for Clerics but 2nd for Wizards.

[Yanisa]

A250
Spell-like abilities are defaulted to the sorcerer/wizard version, so it's a 2nd level arcane SLA.

Some spell-like abilities duplicate spells that work differently when cast by characters of different classes. A monster’s spell-like abilities are presumed to be the sorcerer/wizard versions. If the spell in question is not a sorcerer/wizard spell, then default to cleric, druid, bard, paladin, and ranger, in that order.

Also relevant, the FAQ on this issue, although it all comes back to sorcerer/wizard.

[Kurald Galain]

Q251

Could you please name the new Magus archetypes from the ACG and give a short description of what they do? (edit: I don't mean long spoilers, more like "the Arcanoblorb is a magus that specializes in invisibility effects") I'd also be interested in learning if they're compatible with in particular the Bladebound (which replaces Arcane Pool and the L3 Arcana) and the Hexcrafter (which replaces Spell Recall). Thanks!

[Yanisa]

A251
There is only one: The Eldritch Scion. Which makes the Magus a Charisma based Spontaneous caster (Spells per day and Spells Known are based off bard) and gives the Magus a Bloodline from the Bloodrager. In addition he gains the ability to use Arcana ability with charisma instead of int, and can go in a focus state that emulates bloodrage for the bloodline powers, but doesn't give the normal benefits and penalties of bloodrage. Also he gains bonus spells from the bloodline instead from his knowledge pool. Lastly his spell combat is sort off delayed (level 8, improved at 14 and greater at 18) but he can still use spell combat at first level, but only during that state of focus he also need for bloodrage powers.

Also there are also two new Arcana which emulate an archetype feel:
Flamboyant Arcana, giving two Swashbuckler deeds (parry and riposte) and allows the magus to use arcane pool points as panache.
Arcane Deed: Which requires Flamboyant and allows the Magus to pick any deed from the swashbuckler and use it with arcane pool points as panache.

As a general note, most archetypes for the old classes work like this, giving the old class abilities of one of the new classes.

[Kurald Galain]

Q252 I've read that the Ecclesitheurge is a new archetype that's basically an unarmored cleric. Does it gain any abilities (in particular, defensive abilities) to make up for its low armor class?

[AttilaTheGeek]

Q 353

Do I need a free hand to cast a spell modified by the Still Spell metamagic feat?

[Yanisa]

A252
Not really.

He gains a bit more flexibility with domains. He can declare one domain primary and prepare alls spells from that domain in normal slots. And he declares one domain as secondary, which just functions like a normal domain. However you can switch the secondary domain spell list between domains granted by his gods. He does keep the powers of the original secondary domain. Let's quote to book in case I confused you.

For example, an ecclesitheurge of Sarenrae with Glory as his primary domain and Good as his secondary domain can choose to gain access to the Healing domain; until the next time he
prepares spells, he uses the Healing domain spell list as his secondary domain spell list instead of the Good domain spell list, but still keeps the granted powers of the Good domain and does not gain the granted powers of the Healing domain.

He also gains a Bonded Holy Symbol, which comes down to an extra spontaneous spell slot and replaces 1d6 of channel energy.

And I suspect he used to get another ability, but that one got cut. There is an odd bit in his prohibited armor sentence:

An ecclesitheurge who wears prohibited armor or uses a prohibited shield is unable to use his blessing of the faithful ability, use cleric domain powers, or cast cleric spells.

But I can't find any blessing of the faithful ability anywhere. I smell errata, already.

A253
Nope. You only need a free hand for spells with a Somatic component and Still Spell removes that part.

Somatic (S)

A somatic component is a measured and precise movement of the hand. You must have at least one hand free to provide a somatic component.

[Palanan]

Q 254

Yesterday I tried Summon Nature's Ally for the first time in Pathfinder. According to my DM, since the casting time is one round, the Ally spends that first round materializing, and then can't attack until my following turn.

All of my SNA experience is from 3.5, in which the Ally attacks in the same round it's summoned. The wording in the Pathfinder CRB seems to follow this approach: "The summoned ally appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn."

However, my DM insists that it acts immediately, on my turn, in the round following the casting of the spell. Is this standard for Pathfinder summoning?

[Yanisa]

A254
Your DM is right. In fact, that's how 3.5 also worked. (Sorry to break it to you.)

Nature's Ally has a casting time of "1 Round" and under casting time we find:

A spell that takes 1 round to cast is a full-round action. It comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You then act normally after the spell is completed.

Compared to the 3.5 Casting time

A spell that takes 1 round to cast is a full-round action. It comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You then act normally after the spell is completed.

Same text. (And all other summon spells also work like this. Although there are ways around it and 3.5 had more then PF.)

[Dalebert]

According to my DM, since the casting time is one round, the Ally spends that first round materializing, and then can't attack until my following turn.

That might even be a bit misleading. It appears immediately at the end of a full round of casting. He's right, but it's also important to note that you're casting that entire time and can potentially be interrupted, so be careful about casting this around intelligent opponents because they may try to interrupt you with an attack or something before you finish.

[AttilaTheGeek]

Q 255

The Glove of Storing reads:

This device is a single leather glove. On command, one item held in the hand wearing the glove disappears. The item can weigh no more than 20 pounds and must be able to be held in one hand. While stored, the item has negligible weight. With a snap of the fingers wearing the glove, the item reappears. A glove can only store one item at a time. Storing or retrieving the item is a free action...

Activating a command-word item, however, is a standard action, which contradicts the end of the paragraph. Has there been any errata on the action required to store a held item in a Glove of Storing?

[Psyren]

A254 addendum: One difference in Pathfinder is that spontaneously-cast spells can be quickened. This is relevant if you are, say, a druid who is trying to spontaneously cast Nature's Ally and want the monster to come out on that same turn. (Your best bet to attain this is to use a Rod of Quicken so that you don't need a higher slot.)

A255: This is a case of specific trumps general; an item's specific entry always trumps the general item activation rules. Thus, the glove is activated as a free action.

[Kurald Galain]

A 255 As the rule goes, "specific beats general". Generally, such items are a standard action, but in this specific case it's a free action.

[Odessa333]

Q256

Little unclear on hardness (said the lesbian, there's a pun...). Anywho, if I have an adamantine weapon and attack an item with a hardness of 20, what happens? Does the weapon ignore all of the hardness, up to 19, do nothing? Any clarification would be wonderful.

[Psyren]

Q256

Little unclear on hardness (said the lesbian, there's a pun...). Anywho, if I have an adamantine weapon and attack an item with a hardness of 20, what happens? Does the weapon ignore all of the hardness, up to 19, do nothing? Any clarification would be wonderful.

A256: Ba-dum-tish
The threshold is "all-or-nothing" - if you attack something with 20 or more hardness (such as, say, a Wall of Force) your adamantine property will do nothing.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Yanisa
Your DM is right. In fact, that's how 3.5 also worked. (Sorry to break it to you.)

Thanks. Love those house rules I never knew were house rules.

Originally Posted by Psyren
One difference in Pathfinder is that spontaneously-cast spells can be quickened.

And thanks for the extra rule-savvy there. Worth keeping in mind.



Q 254-a

Following up on this: I'm casting SNA as a fifth-level druid. Since the summoning takes one full round, does the Ally remain for the following five rounds? Or does the full round it takes to cast SNA count as the first of my five rounds for the spell duration?

[Yanisa]

A254-a
The duration starts counting at when the spell comes in effect, which is the round the creature appears and can attack. And not the moment the spell started being cast.

[FooBot]

Q 257
Can a dimensional anchor spell cast as an immediate action, such as the secondary function of Anchoring Aura , be able to interrupt a spell cast to teleport/planeshift etc. Or would the creatures spell resolve first?

[Psyren]

A257: This depends on when you cast it. The answer is that, yes, you can interrupt an escape attempt, but actually doing so successfully can be tricky - you must know that's what they're doing (i.e. identify the spell/SLA being cast) similar to countering a spell or readying an action to anchor them if they try to flee. You can't really say "I interrupt" after they've already disappeared, any more than you can counterspell a spell that has already resolved, though your GM might allow you to do this. If you think they're about to try and flee, you can hit them it at or before the start of their turn, and this is where a GM might have to give you a little leeway.

For fiends this can be especially difficult, since many of their escape moves are SLAs, which lack components to identify them entirely. I would say that if you are in melee range and their attempt to activate an SLA provokes from you, you can say something like "before I take my attack of opportunity, I Anchor them as an immediate action." Since immediates can be done at any time and yours won't provoke (being Su), you're safe using that trigger to interrupt the flow of actions for the round.

[Trisha]

Q 258

Can a sunder attempt be made as part of a charge action?

If so,
A. would the Ride by Attack feat prevent them from making an attack of opportunity on you during this action, (if you are mounted of course)?
B. would i still get the standard bonus to hit with the charge or would it not be applied to the CMB to hit the sunder?

(ride by attack)
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat...combat---final

[Psyren]

A258a: Yes - a sunder attempt can replace any attack, including the attack made as part of a charge, in place of any or all attacks in a full attack sequence, or even in place of an attack of opportunity.

A258b: No - Ride-by Attack only prevents your movement from provoking. If you attempt to Sunder without having Improved Sunder, that action will still provoke. However, if you do have Improved Sunder + Ride-by Attack, neither your attempt nor the movement away will provoke.

A258c: Yes - all CMB checks are attack rolls, and so modifiers like the charge bonus will apply. In addition, any bonuses on your weapon will apply to your sunder attempt (e.g. enhancement bonus, weapon focus etc.)

[AttilaTheGeek]

Q 259 Does the first level ability of the Greensting Slayer magus archetype count as the sneak attack class feature for the purposes of prerequisites, such as for the Arcane Trickster prestige class?

Edit to add,

Q 250 Is there any way to find a list of all spells of a given subschool or all spells with a given descriptor?

[jaydubs]

Q261

What dice are used for arcane spell failure rolls? Is it a d20 (arcane spell failure seems to be all in multiples of 5), or a d100 (seems sensible given it's a percentage, but a lot of people don't keep d100 dice).

For context, it's concerning the foresight school's prescience ability. Can a wizard wearing armor roll the prescience die at the beginning of a round, and then use that to pass arcane failure chance while wearing armor?

[Dalebert]

A 261 It doesn't matter if you use % or d20. A spell failure check is none of these things--

This spell grants you an insight bonus equal to your caster level (maximum +25) on any single attack roll, combat maneuver check, opposed ability or skill check, or saving throw.

so it doesn't apply. But in response to the embedded question, you can always use a d20 to roll for % if it's cleanly divisible by 5. It's the same odds, e.g. 15% is the same as 3 or less on a d20, 50% is the same as 10 or less.

[Psyren]

A259: I would say so, particularly since it explicitly mentions "as the rogue class feature." (I have a feeling that the ability being named "arcane pool" on the PFSRD is a typo but I haven't read that book yet.)

A260: My preferred method is to download the excel file and filter it 6 ways from sunday. "Contains" filters work well here.

A261: Percentages are always rolled with percentile dice (CRB 8), even if the percentage is presented in multiples of 5. You don't need d100 dice - you can roll percentages with two d10s, designating one of them as the "10s" digit. (Many percentile dice help you with this by being printed "00, 10, 20" etc., but this is not required; you can simply use two differently colored d10s as the CRB suggests instead to avoid confusion.)

[AttilaTheGeek]

Q 262 What exactly counts as a "variable, numeric effect" for the purposes of the Empower Spell metamagic feat?

Q 262 a. Is caster level counted as a variable, numeric effect, say, for the purposes of Dispel Magic, Heal, Mass Cure Light Wounds, or Bear's Endurance?

Q 262 b. How many HD per caster level can be animated by Empowered Animate Dead? Is it three times the caster's level in HD (50% more than normal) or 4.5 HD per CL (increasing CL by 50% and then 50% more than normal)?

According to the errata, Empower's bonus also applies to numerical bonuses, but it doesn't say whether caster level is counted as variable.