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

[Endless Query]

A524: Based on the text of the ability you trade out the attack entirely for the combat maneuver, and trade out your sneak attack damage dice for a bonus to the roll.

[Psyren]

A521: I don't see why not - but the poison would still only apply to your actual target, and not be applied to any of the bomb's splash damage.

A522 addendum: Archetypes are take-it-or-leave-it, but you can retrain them thanks to Ultimate Campaign, choosing a different one or simply going back to the base class.

A523: As long as all the spellbooks are yours (i.e. the spells inside were scribed by you) then nothing will change. If however any of them are borrowed from someone else or looted, you will need spellcraft checks to decipher that specific wizard's unique notation.

[Kurald Galain]

Q525 The alchemical reagent saltpeter adds +1 damage to any fire spell. If combined with e.g. Fireball, does this extra damage apply to each target? If used on Scorching Ray, does this extra damage apply to each ray?

[Fenryr]

Q526

Using Aid Another and Bodyguard: Is it possible to improve an ally's AC against a critical confirmation?

Scenario. Enemy rolls a 20 attacking an ally and there's nothing I can do against that. Then rolls again to confirm the critical hit and I want to use Aid Another in an adjacent ally to reduce the critical to a normal hit.

[Psyren]

A525: Yes for Fireball. For Scorching Ray I think this would fall in the same territory as the "sneak attack + volley spell" FAQ, i.e. you apply the bonus damage to a single ray rather than all of them.

A526: You would have to Aid them before the first attack roll - otherwise they've already hit and you have no opportunity to aid them until the attack is resolved. So even though aiding them wouldn't help with the first swing (since it's a nat 20), that's still when you'd have to say you're doing it. But yes, if you are able to aid them then it will apply to the confirmation roll.

[Perturbulent]

Q527
The Cryptic Disrupting Pattern, how does it work?
Specifically, what DR, energy resistance, spell resistance/power resistance (if any) apply? Is there some substantial weakness regarding it that I'm missing, as it seems to be pretty powerful, particularly at low levels.

[Psyren]

A527: It is magic (Su, specifically) so DR does not apply. Also, being Su, SR and PR do not apply. It is untyped, so energy resistance does not apply.

It is not as strong as you think. It does half damage against creatures that do not match the type you chose when you gained focus. It also requires a RTA to hit, and only has a 30ft. base range. And you can only fire one per round. 10d6/round at level 20 to a single target is paltry compared to the damage even a low-tier melee class can dish out.

There are ways to boost its damage, sure, but those cost resources from you - insights, feats, PP etc.

[Perturbulent]

A527: It is magic (Su, specifically) so DR does not apply. Also, being Su, SR and PR do not apply. It is untyped, so energy resistance does not apply.

It is not as strong as you think. It does half damage against creatures that do not match the type you chose when you gained focus. It also requires a RTA to hit, and only has a 30ft. base range. And you can only fire one per round. 10d6/round at level 20 to a single target is paltry compared to the damage even a low-tier melee class can dish out.

There are ways to boost its damage, sure, but those cost resources from you - insights, feats, PP etc.

That was my understanding originally, but at say level 4, when it's doing 2d6+int (6) it's been drawing some eyebrows.

[Psyren]

That was my understanding originally, but at say level 4, when it's doing 2d6+int (6) it's been drawing some eyebrows.

That's no different than an Alchemist's bomb, which is also doing splash damage and possibly even status effects, and at longer range to boot.

[mythmonster2]

Q 528: What ways are there to reduce reload time with a musket, besides the Rapid Reload feat and the Musket Master archetype?

[Cieyrin]

A 528 Alchemical Cartridges will increase the speed of loading, Paper being the most common just for that purpose. The Lightning Reload deed and the Reloading Hands spell both also load once per round for Swift (or Free, if you have Rapid Reload with that weapon) or no action in Reloading Hands' case.

[hokorippoi]

Q529

Looking for ways to stop crits for a Skald or Oracle.
I know about Fortification for armor, but I am looking to see if there is anything else.

[Kurald Galain]

A529 For the Oracle, the Misfortune revelation works.

[AvatarVecna]

Q530

So, I was looking at "Ray of Enfeeblement" and "Touch of Idiocy", and found an interesting difference in word choice. Namely, RoE has the line "This penalty does not stack with itself", a line which ToI lacks. I was under the impression that bonuses and penalties from the same source never stack, which makes the line in RoE redundant. Was that line put there as a reminder that penalties from the same source don't stack, or was it marking RoE as an exception to the general rule that they do stack?

[Cieyrin]

A 530 It's just a redundant reminder that was added after publishing, as I checked to see if that was the text in 3.5 or PF Beta and Ray of Enfeeblement lacked those extra lines then. In any case, only the greatest penalty applies from multiple castings of the same spell.

[Drackstin]

Q531

Can you wear a body slot item and armor at the same time?

[Psyren]

A531: Yes - in Pathfinder, Body and Armor are separate slots, so for instance a cleric could wear a magic breastplate and a body slot item like vestments (e.g. cassock of the clergy) or a robe at the same time.

Pathfinder has two more item slots than 3.5 did. As mentioned above, Body and Armor are now separate - in 3.5, these were the same slot. In addition, in 3.5, headband and helmet were the same slot - in PF, they are now separate.

[MizuDevil]

Q532:
Which line in "Donning Armor" table I must chose for armor from "Ultimate Equipment" book?
For example for Agile half-plate, O-yoroi and Tatami-Do?

[Psyren]

A532: Agile Half-Plate is still Half-Plate and so you go to the bottom row. The other two are unclear, but given that they are most similar to splint mail (same weight etc.) I would say you can use the middle row.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Q 533

What does the Expanded Preparation feat from the ACG do exactly?

It seems like it just gives an arcanist a bonus spell slot at their highest spell level, but the wording seems to suggest that it should expand the number of unique spells they can prepare. I'm just a bit confused... explain it to me like I'm 5 years old.

[Psyren]

A533: Arcanists, unlike other prepared casters (Wizards, Clerics, Druids et al.) have a different number of spells prepared than they do spells per day. Furthermore, the Arcanist's ability scores do not affect the former - their intelligence only boosts the latter. Thus, feats like this one are needed to boost that number.

As an example - A level 1 arcanist can prepare 2 1st-level spells per day. Even if you boosted his Int score to 2000, he could still only prepare 2 1st level spells per day. He could cast either or both of those 2 spells a whole bunch of times, but never prepare any more than 2. But a 1st-level Wizard with 2000 Int could potentially prepare a copy of every 1st-level spell in the CRB.

[Endless Query]

Q534: Given this rules text:

Immortal Spark: Aasimars with this racial trait defy the powers of death. They gain a +2 bonus on Knowledge (history) checks and saving throws against death effects and can use lesser age resistance once per day as a spell-like ability. This racial trait replaces the skilled and spell-like ability racial traits.

Unlike most other bonuses from race (even those on the same page) the bonus to K(History) and save VS Death Effects aren't listed as Racial. This seems particularly significant as one of the other optional racial qualities for Aasimar gives them +2 racial VS all necromancy, and since it swaps out a different slot, you could easily have both. Since that bonus isn't labeled racial, is it actually untyped? Or is that just a phrasing oversight?

[jaydubs]

Q535

If a character has a base caster level 4, but can cast any [insert school] spell at caster level 5, can he/she use that higher caster level to determine the effects of arcane strike?

[Hobosub]

I feel my google-fu is weak as this one should probably have been answered before.

Q.536: How does the Oracle curse Lame interact with the (5th lvl) Lure of the Heavens mystery?

Do you hover about at a reduced speed despite not actually using your lame leg?
Does the hovering not cover any horizontal distance at all? (if so, what's the actual use?)

[Raphite1]

Q537: If you cast Animate Dead on the corpse of a creature that has too many HD for you to successfully animate, does your opal get used up?

[Psyren]

A534: As written it's untyped. It's useful but I wouldn't call it overpowered - most death effects in PF were defanged anyway.

A535: Generally no, because the increase would only apply while they're casting that particular spell. What effect are you using specifically?

A536: There's two RAW interpretations here and neither of them bode well. (a) "As if levitating" refers to the spell, which has no horizontal movement at all (unless you clamber along a low ceiling), or (b) you can move, but since you're not flying you're using your land speed, which is reduced by being lame. The third, that you're actually floating and thus getting around the curse, would require you to have a fly speed, which the revelation unfortunately does not give you.

A537: Unfortunately yes:

Spell Failure

If you ever try to cast a spell in conditions where the characteristics of the spell cannot be made to conform, the casting fails and the spell is wasted.

Spells also fail if your concentration is broken and might fail if you're wearing armor while casting a spell with somatic components.

[jaydubs]

Q535 Addendum

There is an item in the campaign the provides +2 to all abjuration spells cast by the wearer. Said wearer is level 4, and I'm wondering if arcane strike will provide +1 to damage or +2 to damage.

[boriss283]

Q536 For examplr i am 5 lvl sorcerer with 20 charisma. And i dont have 3 lvl spells and 3 lvl spells per day from my class. But i have 1 spell per day on 3 lvl spell from my charisma. Can i cast 2 lvl spell with Level Increase: +1 from metamagic feats ?
Q537 What is this feats benmefit ? Intensified Spell (Metamagic) I dont get it. I am 4 lvl sorcerer. Can i use this feat on magic missile ?

[Cieyrin]

A 535 Addendum You'd have +1 damage, as Psyren stated.

Q 538 For examplr i am 5 lvl sorcerer with 20 charisma. And i dont have 3 lvl spells and 3 lvl spells per day from my class. But i have 1 spell per day on 3 lvl spell from my charisma. Can i cast 2 lvl spell with Level Increase: +1 from metamagic feats ?

You don't get access to bonus spell slots till you can actually cast at that level, so for Sorcerers, that means they're not available till Sorcerer 6.

Q 539 What is this feats benefit ? Intensified Spell (Metamagic) I don't get it. I am 4 lvl sorcerer. Can i use this feat on magic missile ?

Intensify increases the damage cap on spells that increase damage dice by CL. So if you were a 7th level Sorcerer casting Burning Hands, it would do 7d4, not 5d4 like it's normally capped. As your CL isn't above the cap in most cases, it's not useful to you yet.

As for Magic Missile, there's a lot of discussion on whether it does work with Intensify or not but I think by RAW Intensify is not compatible with Magic Missile. You're also not at the damage cap for Magic Missile right now, so again it doesn't help you right now.

[Rickshaw]

Q540

I'm curious if the hex vulnerability spell allows you to do things like evil eye somebody's AC to cause a stacking penalty, or apply misfortune multiple times.