Simple Q&A by RAW for Pathfinder 4

[Psykenthrope]

Q 300 Yes, the slashing grace feat spells this out.

A300 addendum: You can do this without spending any feats, by combining Effortless Lace + Agile on your longsword.

So just to confirm, Swashbuckler's Finesse allows you to finesse weapons that would otherwise be unfinessable, provided they meet the requirements?
EDIT: e.g.: a shortspear or a trident.

[Psyren]

So just to confirm, Swashbuckler's Finesse allows you to finesse weapons that would otherwise be unfinessable, provided they meet the requirements?
EDIT: e.g.: a shortspear or a trident.

Yes, both of those are finessable by a Swashbuckler as they are 1H piercing.

[Slithery D]

Q 301: How can a character who has down time improve a raw Int check other then increasing there Int score?


I ask cause I have a feat granting location coming up in a game that I want to use.

I'm not sure what "feat granting location" is, but the Hypercognition spell might help if your'e the right spellcasting class or can UMD a scroll.

[MizuDevil]

Q302:

I have question about Eidolon and his natural attacks. Can Eidolon make attack with all of his Natural Weapons (Slams, Bites, Claws etc.) at full-attack action?
I saw many answers where people says that he can but in rules I didnt find anything that allows make all the natural attack.

[Cieyrin]

A 302 Yes, just keep in mind an Eidolon's Max Attacks, which limits how many your pet has till it gets higher level.

[grarrrg]

A 302 extended
An Eidolon uses the normal rules for Natural Attacks. Nothing in the Eidolon entry changes this (with the notable exception of the Max Attack limit).

[AslanCross]

Not sure if this has been asked and answered, but I Googled and did not find, so here goes.

Q 303

Deadly Strike (Ex)
...The stalker's deadly strike activates whenever the stalker scores a successful*critical hit*against a target, and is active against that target for a number of rounds equal to his*Wisdom*modifier. Deadly strike inflicts extra damage, to only this target creature, on all of the stalker's attacks. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 for every four stalker levels thereafter. When the stalker scores a*critical hit, this extra damage is not multiplied, it is simply added to the damage. If the stalker scores a successful*critical hit*during the time his deadly strike is active, the duration of this ability is extended by one round (no more than one extension can be made per round).

Does Deadly Strike deal the extra damage initially upon the first crit, or only for successive hits after the crit happens?

[ChadDragonLord]

Q 624

Zone of Silence reads:
By casting zone of silence, you manipulate sound waves in your immediate vicinity so that you and those within the spell's area can converse normally, yet no one outside can hear your voices or any other noises from within, including language-dependent or sonic spell effects. This effect is centered on you and moves with you. Anyone who enters the zone immediately becomes subject to its effects, but those who leave are no longer affected. Note, however, that a successful DC 20 Linguistics check to read lips can still reveal what's said inside a zone of silence.

My question is this - once cast on myself, am I then free to cast verbal component spells, and use magic items requiring command words to be spoken, and expect them all to function normally? (Other than sonic affects or language-based effects as indicated in the spell description). Meaning, if I have greater invisibility and zone of silence both active, no one could pinpoint my location if they are more than 5 feet away from me, and I am free to target them with spells and magic item effects?

[Psyren]

A303: Damage is always rolled after an attack is resolved, so the bonus damage should apply to the first successful attack (i.e. the one that triggered it) too.

(Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with DSP so I can be overruled by an official FAQ from one of their designers.)

A304: Yes - with those two spells up, you'd be very hard to detect (but not impossible) and your spells and items will indeed still function, even those that need command words and verbal components.

[Cieyrin]

Q 305 Bolt Aces get proficiency in all crossbows, is that according to the Crossbow weapon group, anything that says 'crossbow' in the name, combination of both?

Q 306 Does the Minotaur Double Crossbow interact the same way with Crossbow Mastery as the normal Double Crossbow (i.e. reload both barrels as a move action)?

[Psyren]

A305: Anything that is described as a crossbow. So anything with "crossbow" in its name is a definite yes. A weapon in the crossbow group but without crossbow in its name (e.g. the "Tube Arrow Shooter") would be a GM call I think.

A306: Actually, RAW it's even better than that - you could reload it as a free action. The general rule for Crossbow Mastery is that any type of crossbow becomes a free action to reload; the Double Crossbow then has a specific line overriding this general rule and stating that you need a move action to reload its two 'barrels' instead. The Minotaur Double Crossbow does not have this line, nor does it say it inherits from the regular Double Crossbow.

RAI is likely that they would work identically - 1 move action to reload.

[thedanster7000]

Q307

Could I cast Virtue 6 times in a row for an extra 10 HP?

[Kurald Galain]

A307 No, temporary hit points don't stack.

[Firest Kathon]

A307 addendum Temporary Hit Points from the same source (e.g. multiple castings of the same spell) do not stack (source: FAQ). So you could cast False Life, getting 7 temporary hp from it, and then cast Virtue for an additional temporary hp and a total of 8 temporary hp.

[thedanster7000]

Q308

Making an animal companion, what does its small size affect stats-wise?

[Psyren]

A308: The stats of various animal companions are spelled out for you and already include most effects from size in their stats. Which one are you getting specifically?

[thedanster7000]

A308: The stats of various animal companions are spelled out for you and already include most effects from size in their stats. Which one are you getting specifically?

I was just looking at stealth and noticed it got a huge bonus so I just wondered if there were any others I missed.

[Psykenthrope]

Q 309

The unarmed strike is part of the monk weapon group. Does this mean I can pick unarmed strike for use with Ascetic Style?

[Psyren]

A308: Here's what size bonuses apply to.
A309: Unarmed Strike is already an unarmed attack so this won't do anything. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

[Firest Kathon]

A308: Here's what size bonuses apply to.

And here are the bonuses/penalties for the various sizes.

[Psykenthrope]

A309: Unarmed Strike is already an unarmed attack so this won't do anything. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

Sorry, I forgot to mention that what I'm after is the boosted damage from Ascetic Strike for my ranger.

[Psyren]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that what I'm after is the boosted damage from Ascetic Strike for my ranger.

Yes, Ascetic Strike will work. Ascetic Style will unfortunately do nothing however, making it a feat tax.

A better option might be to apply Ascetic Strike to an actual weapon, and then take Monastic Legacy to improve your unarmed strike, so you get two boosts instead of one. Say, a ranged monk weapon (e.g. a rope dart) for Ascetic Strike, and then ML your Unarmed Strike for when they come close.

[Psykenthrope]

Yes, Ascetic Strike will work. Ascetic Style will unfortunately do nothing however, making it a feat tax.

A better option might be to apply Ascetic Strike to an actual weapon, and then take Monastic Legacy to improve your unarmed strike, so you get two boosts instead of one. Say, a ranged monk weapon (e.g. a rope dart) for Ascetic Strike, and then ML your Unarmed Strike for when they come close.

That would work. Thanks for the tip.

[Geigan]

Q310: This seemed pretty straight forward to me, but it was relatively specific and I wasn't 100% on it so I thought I'd get a second opinion before I brought it up in play. Does the Phase Locking weapon property and for that matter any similar effects that replicate the effects of a spell require checks to overcome spell resistance from the item in question? I assume spell storing would have to worry about such things, but I wasn't sure about weapon properties that replicate the effects of certain spells without specifying that they "cast" them. I assumed they wouldn't have to up to now, but it's never actually come up in game and I wanted to get out in front of this one before I tried to use it.

[Psyren]

A310: The general rule is that "magic items produce spells or spell-like effects" (CRB 459.) Both of those are subject to SR unless otherwise stated; therefore SR should apply to a spell or spell-like effect produced by a magic item. An item has to specifically say its effect is supernatural or extraordinary (or duplicate a spell/SLA that is not subject to SR) to bypass that.

[Gallowglass]

Q311: Are there any archetypes or alternate features to switch a bard or skald from spontaneous caster to prepared caster? I could swear bards used to be prepared casters with songbook instead of spellbooks but apparently I'm delusional.

[Da'Shain]

Q 312:

The rules for being grappled state: "A grappled character who attempts to cast a spell or use a spell-like ability must make a concentration check (DC 10 + grappler's CMB + spell level), or lose the spell."

As written, that sounds to me as though the "grappler's CMB" for this purpose does not benefit from any effects which add specifically to grappling (i.e. Improved Grapple adding a +2 on "checks to grapple a foe"). Am I correct in that interpretation? Because that seems rather ridiculous, that trained grapplers are only as good as untrained grapplers at preventing their targets from spellcasting.

[Slithery D]

A311: I don't think so, but there is the Studious Librarian archetype in Inner Sea Intrigue that gives you this ability that gives a limited ability to cast off-list spells from scrolls or spellbooks:

Comparative Arcane Studies (Su): At 6th level, the studious librarian is exposed to a wide variety of magical writing, and can use his own magic to duplicate spells from other classes’ spell lists. Once per day, a studious librarian can cast any spell from the bard, sorcerer/ wizard, or witch spell lists from a scroll or spellbook in hand as if it were one of his bard spells known, expending a bard spell slot of the same spell level to cast the desired spell. Casting a spell from a scroll this way does not cause the spell to vanish from the scroll. A spell cast in this way cannot be modified by metamagic. The studious librarian gains one additional daily use of this ability at 10th level and again every 4 bard levels thereafter, to a maximum of four times per day at 18th level.
This ability replaces suggestion and jack-of-all-trades.

It's better than prepared casting in the sense that you don't give up your regular spells known flexibility and can cast off some better spell lists, but obviously the limit per day is pretty harsh.

[Psyren]

A311 add.: I'm not aware of any either - your better bet might be to add bardic performance or similar abilities to a prepared class, e.g. Arcanist VMC Bard.

A312: "Grappler's CMB" means their CMB when grappling. So bonuses to grapple are added as those would modify their CMB.

[Geigan]

Q313: Can powers made permanent by Incarnate be augmented? If so, does this increase their minimum manifester level for determining their cost to Incarnate?