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

[Cieyrin]

A 467a/b No, it's a familiar, not a cohort.

A 467c The CL on the spell-likes is tricky, given the entry in the Bestiary:

If no caster level is specified, the caster level is equal to the creature's Hit Dice.

It specifies a CL on the spell-likes, though that does appear to just be equal to its HD, so I leave that in the hands of the DM for that determination. However, the HD advancement would increase the save of the Faerie Dragon's breath weapon, that is definitely clear.

[Rickshaw]

Q468

The scarred witch doctor archetype has a fetish mask familiar. Curiously, it explicitly states that except for where otherwise noted, it simply modifies but does not replace the normal familiar stuff.

Spoiler: originally posted by pfsrd

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At 1st level, a scarred witch doctor forms a bond with a wooden mask. As she gains power, her connection to this mask causes it to grow ever more hideous and grotesque as it absorbs the weight of the self-induced pain that underlies her magic. Her spells derive from the insights her patron grants her while she's enduring the cuts, burns, and other sorts of mutilations she inflicts upon herself. Her fetish mask acts in all ways like a witch's familiar for the purpose of preparing and gaining spells. Rather than communing with a familiar to prepare spells each day, a scarred witch doctor hangs her mask on a wall, tree branch, or something similar and contemplates the agony it represents.

When wearing her fetish mask, a scarred witch doctor gains a +2 circumstance bonus on Heal and Intimidate checks and gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against effects that specifically cause pain or have the pain descriptor. If the mask is destroyed, the witch doctor can create another fetish mask (which almost immediately adopts the shocking appearance of the original) for the same price and time it takes a witch to replace a dead familiar.

At 5th level, the scarred witch doctor gains the ability to add magical abilities to her mask as if she had the Craft Wondrous Item feat.

This ability otherwise functions like and replaces the standard witch familiar.

So does that mean it also grants benefits like the alertness feat, and shared spellcasting. I'm less worried about things like being able to speak with others of its kind, as I don't know how many wild fetish masks I'll be running into.

Specifically, can you cast burning gaze and other spells through your mask via shared spell casting, and does it grant you alertness as a normal familiar?

[Dalebert]

A 467a/b No, it's a familiar, not a cohort.

This is something that happens to them naturally per their ecology. I'm not suggesting they would gain sorcerer levels simply as an effect of my own level advancement.

Faerie dragons grow in power as spellcasters as they age (typically gaining levels in sorcerer), learning more powerful spells to complement their innate abilities.

Q 467a Clarification: Is there some reason they don't experience the normal effects of aging when they become a familiar?

Q 467b If not, what is their lifespan and what stages do these changes occur, if at all?

[Cieyrin]

This is something that happens to them naturally per their ecology. I'm not suggesting they would gain sorcerer levels simply as an effect of my own level advancement.

Q 467a Clarification: Is there some reason they don't experience the normal effects of aging when they become a familiar?

Looking at the description, advancing as Sorcerers IS how they normally gain more powerful. It's not automatic, they're not True Dragons, with life stages where they get more powerful by surviving thousands of years. If such was the case, they'd have a table listing the 12 stages of Dragon advancement like a True Dragon, like a Red or Time Dragon has.

Q 467b If not, what is their lifespan and what stages do these changes occur, if at all?

For that, I point at the sentence before the one you quoted.

Unlike true dragons, faerie dragons do not grow larger with age, but their scales do change color, starting with red and moving through the rainbow to reach dark violet at old age.

So unless they level, an old faerie dragon isn't any more powerful than an adult faerie dragon is. Their lifespan isn't listed, unfortunately, so that's outside the RAW, at least in the Bestiary 3. It may exist elsewhere, probably in the 3.X era of books for Core or Forgotten Realms. It would be reasonable to say they have similar life spans to true dragons, so 1200 years or so, but that's my opinion, not the RAW on it.

[Dalebert]

A468 Yes, though I think this is sloppiness on their part in the wording and I think they intended for the listed abilities to completely replace a normal familiar because it could just get wonky. That's how they worded it with the Gravewalker's poppet and that actually has a spirit in it while this is clearly a lifeless inanimate object. So Alertness would by RAW apply but spell sharing is not relevant in most cases. For instance, Burning Gaze would be pointless with no ability to move and no actions.

Q 469 Can the horse or pony from a Mount spell attack on command?

Q 470 Somewhere on this forum, someone said that when mounted, movement is your mount's action allowing you to perform a separate move action (Ex: Cackle hex). Is this true?

[Psyren]

A468: I would say yes because they call out that another familiar ability "works differently" for gravewalkers (i.e. Deliver Touch Spells.) This suggests that you do get the rest of them. If that were the only ability you got, the text would be more like this: "Spell Poppets gain the following ability..."

A469: You can try to make it, but doing so would count as "pushing" (see Handle Animal) since it is only trained to be a mount. As this is a full-round action from you, it probably isn't the most worthwhile thing you could be doing in a fight. (You cannot do this with Ride since they are not "war-trained.")

A470: Yes but it's not quite that simple. Here is the full rule:

Mounts that do not possess combat training (see the Handle Animal skill) are frightened by combat. If you don't dismount, you must make a DC 20 Ride check each round as a move action to control such a mount. If you succeed, you can perform a standard action after the move action. If you fail, the move action becomes a full-round action, and you can't do anything else until your next turn.

Your mount acts on your initiative count as you direct it. You move at its speed, but the mount uses its action to move.

The mount from the Mount spell is not combat trained, nor does it last long enough for you to train it - thus you will need to spend your move actions in a fight controlling it even though you won't need them to move yourself.

[weckar]

Q471 Is it possible to take one hand off a 2-handed weapon to cast a spell, while still maintaining a hold on it (aka no need to put it away)? If yes, what mechanical consequences does it have for the rest of the round?

[Psyren]

A471: Yes, removing a hand is a free action. Since replacing that hand is also free, generally there will be no consequences for doing so. The DM, as always, has final say on how many free actions you really get.

[unbutu]

Q472. Do you know a reference for ways to give descriptors to spells *that is pathfinder specific*, or at worse includes pathfinder material. My google-fu came out with nothing.

Why: Interested in giving spells the good descriptor to use them with the Collegiate Arcanist PrC.

Q473. On the same topic, the advanced spell search from pfsrd.com turned out 54 spells with the good descriptor. Can you point to other ressources to devellop that build. (More spells, similar builds, ect).


(Edit: added question numbers. Thanks for answering even if I did not have them)

[Psyren]

A472 open: 3.5 had Consecrate Spell for this, unfortunately the PF version does not add the descriptor. Unless you're willing to dip back into 3.5 I'm unaware of a way to do this.

A473: Unfortunately, general build advice is beyond the scope of this thread per the opening post, but you can always make a thread to gather this information from the community.

[Dalebert]

Q 474a The have UMD as a skill but can a faerie dragon wear magic items or is that just for things like wands?

Q 474b If yes, what body slots might one have and which items might have to be specially sized? For instance, I believe magic rings size themselves to fit the wearer but I don't know if that's the case for wondrous items.

[Psyren]

A474a/b: Yes, but it's unclear which body type they fall under. It would probably be either Saurian or Quadruped based on the picture in B3, with the DM making the final determination since they are not on the table specifically. As for resizing - wondrous items resize to fit the wearer, and so does magical jewelry (so that will cover you for most body slot items and rings.) Weapons and Armor don't, but that shouldn't matter for a familiar.

[Dalebert]

A474a/b contention: I don't have access to that picture but the problem I have with either of those body types is that neither can grasp and it seems intuitive that faerie dragons can. Faerie dragons are like pseudo dragons which are basically little dragons, and dragons are frequently depicted as grasping things with hand-like claws. In this respect I'd expect them to be more like compsognathus (little velociraptors) despite being quadrupeds, though that would mean they either have to not be moving and sit on their haunches or be flying to free their front paws. But more importantly, faerie dragons cast spells and they're not spell-like abilities. They're actually sorcerers with a spell selection. Nowhere does it say they have the still spell feat or are otherwise free from somatic components. For most, if not all, of the creatures that are listed, if a humanoid caster polymorphed into them, (s)he would not be able to cast spells. For that reason, it seemed obvious that they can grasp and use a wand like a sorcerer.

[Psyren]

From the picture I'm not sure if they can grasp, but remember the table is explicitly a suggestion - just because it says "No" under "Can Grasp" for those body types, does not mean the DM cannot simply change it to "yes." Since no dragon is listed on the table, it is by necessity a DM call as to where they fall.

[Griffin]

Q 475 A

I have in my party a Drider Druid of Dumathoin, she has a bag of tricks, she pulls out of the bag and animal and drinks its blood, does that count as "not revering nature"?

Q475 B

Does she gain sustenance from the creatures pulled out of the bag of tricks eated/drank this way?

[Jurai]

A475 A: Dumathoin is the "Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain. He wouldn't be concerned about feeding off of a magically summoned animal. Dumathoin deals in gems and ores, not bags of tricks.

A475 B: Yes, since the animal in question is real.

[Psyren]

A475a: I would say it's fine, because predators exist in nature.

A475b open: I have no idea. What do Driders eat?

[Dalebert]

Q 475 A I would say it's not a moral issue since druids are not required to be vegetarians and can hunt as long as they do it responsibly and don't negatively impact the ecosystem.

Q475 B No. Summoned creatures disappear when the spell ends or when the creature dies. So all parts of it disappear, even the parts that are now in your stomach.

EDIT: Regarding A474a/b contention, I found some guidance on dragon body slots but it's definitely veering away from RAW and into 3rd party so I'm starting a separate thread on dragon body slots.

[Kurald Galain]

Q 476 Is there a way to get my dexterity to attack and damage with any melee weapon that's not a light weapon (Weapon Finesse + Slashing Grace) or a scimitar (Dervish Dance)?

[Psyren]

A476: The Agile weapon property will give you dex to damage with any finessable weapon. Non-light weapons that are finessable include the whip, dueling sword and elven curve blade.

Also, just to clarify - Weapon Finesse + Slashing Grace won't actually work with light weapons on their own. Those feats will only work with one-handed weapons that can be finessed - e.g. Whip and Dueling Sword. Swashbuckler's Finesse + Slashing Grace will work with light weapons, but that requires a one level dip into Swashbuckler.

[Fax Celestis]

Q477 Are there any means to adjust "any d20 roll"? Specifically looking for bonuses or penalties that don't care about what kind of check they are. Rerolls for similar circumstances also apply.

[Oneris]

Q477 Are there any means to adjust "any d20 roll"? Specifically looking for bonuses or penalties that don't care about what kind of check they are. Rerolls for similar circumstances also apply.

A477-Partial
Just off the top of my head, Luck Domain's Bit of Luck power gives a roll-twice-and-take-favorable to any d20 rolled in the next round, no matter how many. Its 6th level power also allows you to reroll any d20. Combined with Headband of Fortune's Favor, it could make for quite devastating number of rerolls.

Edit:
Pugwampi's Grace does the opposite (reroll-and-take-worse) to any d20 roll.
Lucky Number allows you to reroll or +2 if you roll the number determined at the time of casting again within the duration of the spell. Explicitly, it says it's applicable regardless of what type of dice you get the number on, so you can get situations of getting an 8 from a d6.
Borrow Fortune
Ill Omen

[Kurald Galain]

Q478 I seem to recall that when you have a multi-hitting ray spell, such as Scorching Ray, you can apply sneak attack dice only to the first ray. Is this correct and if so, what's the source?

[Psyren]

A478: Correct - as in 3.5, simultaneous volley attacks only get sneak once.

[Fenryr]

Q479.

When selecting Perform skill you choose a specific routine? For example, you choose Comedy and you're limited to joke-telling, no limericks and no buffoonery. Or you choose Dance and you're limited to waltz, no breakdance and no ballet.

[Milo v3]

Q480
Would a potion of Strangling Hair cause the drinker to constrict themselves with their own hair?

[Dalebert]

A 480 Yes. There's a reason why attack spells are rarely made into potions. However, if the damage from getting strangled hasn't broken your concentration, you can use your next move action to change the target from you to something else.

EDIT: It's also possible you could fail to grapple yourself the round you drank it and then be able to change the target. Maybe cast a Grease spell on yourself first, or better yet, Freedom of Movement.

[OutRideACrisis]

Q481: The ride skill includes a -5 penalty for riding a creature that is ill suited as a mount. Are there any more specific rules on what can be ridden? Specifically does anything prevent a PC from riding an air elemental.

[Nibbens]

Q482 If a swarm of diminuitive creatures (which are immune to weapon damage) are hit with a +1 flaming longsword, which part of the damage from the strike hits the swarm: The +1, the fire damage, or some variation?

[Psyren]

A480 correction: While it appears true your hair would start out targeting you, it technically won't deal any damage because it specifically only damages "foes."

A481: As long as the elemental is a size category larger than you, you can ride it, but you will take a pretty hefty penalty (-5 for having no saddle, and -5 for it being "ill suited.") You can have it carry you instead, but that will use its arms and thus forego its slam atttacks.

A482: None of it will harm the swarm. The damage from a flaming weapon affects only the creature you're aiming at, and swarms are "immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures." Your best bet in that case might be using the sword to start a fire.