[Drop Dead Studios] Spheres of Might Open Playtest

[stack]

Just to be perfectly clear, the creature that uses the bind weapon talent cannot; I'm referring to the creature affected by it, in case that didn't come through.

Neither the weapon used to bind nor the weapon that is bound can be used during the bind.

[Dr_Dinosaur]

Just to be perfectly clear, the creature that uses the bind weapon talent cannot; I'm referring to the creature affected by it, in case that didn't come through.

Pretty sure stack means that language preventing the affected creature from doing so as well is supposed to exist

[BlackDragonKing]

Quick question on order of operations for certain combinations of talents:

Let's say I'm playing a conscript who specialized in the Brute sphere. When I successfully drag, bull rush, reposition, or overrun an enemy while I have martial focus, I can make a trip or grapple attempt against them as an attack of opportunity. Down the line, I take the Drop (Manhandle) talent, which lets me trip an enemy as a free action when I successfully drag, bull rush, reposition, or overrun them.

Would I be able to choose the order these triggers go off in, letting me do something like bull rush > grapple as an AoO > apply Drop to trip, activating talents like Rollercoaster?

As a side note, with Drop it notes that if you also have the hammer talent you can damage your enemy with the trip as though the ground was a wall. Am I correct to assume this only applies to trips made as a manhandle, not any trip a character who possesses both the Drop and Hammer talents performs?

[Triskavanski]

Q 413: Barroom Sphere - is this suppose to count as Throw Anything/Catch off Guard for the purposes of feats?

Cause there is the Grenade Expert feat that requires Throw Anything, but Throw anything is redundant with Barroom Sphere

I've still got this one.

Also does SoM have Herolab files?

[digiman619]

I've still got this one.

Also does SoM have Herolab files?

I know they're working on it (it was part of the stretch goals that was made), but I've no word on if it's out yet, though I do plan on buying it when it does. Which reminds me:

So did you guys get the prints back yet? You said that it'd take a week or three to get a final print run on them, and as soon as you did, you could begin sending physical copies to your backers. That was a month ago. Any news on when we can expect them?

[QuadraticGish]

Q 414 What does a Mad Scientist's unethical science inventions count as for applying improvements?

[EldritchWeaver]

Also does SoM have Herolab files?

The guy responsible is working on them, but this may take awhile. Not before summer is my expectation.

[ICN]

A Wrestling sphere question and a bunch of Sage questions; I apologize if these have come up before. I couldn't find anything when searching.

Q 402: For the Wrestling sphere talent Ground Game and similar abilities, am I missing something? You can't take attacks of opportunities with the grappled condition, and nothing I can see in the Wrestling sphere changes that.

Q 403: Is there any way to apply an enhancement bonus to the Sage's chi gong attack? It kind of gets murdered by DR otherwise.

Q 404: Chi gong counts as a light weapon, which means it's eligible for use with the energy blade talent; is that intentional?

Q 405: Does an Enhancer Sage get any bonus if they take the lingering enhancement talent?

Q 406: Do the bonus dice provided by the meditation ability have an action cost?

Q 407: Can the Sage manipulate items in any way within the reach of the Rubber Ki ability?

Q 408: For the infuser combat maneuver replacement thingy, should any penalties carried by the combat maneuver attempt carry over to the reflex save dc? e.g. the open hand sphere allows an unarmed trip attempt as a move action, but at a -2 penalty. If the Sage replaces that trip attempt with the infuser ability, should the reflex save DC be reduced by two?

Q 409: Do Sage magic talents count as ki abilities for the purposes of the ring of ki mastery?

Bumping for visibility

[Ualaa]

I've still got this one.

Also does SoM have Herolab files?

The Hero Lab files are not out yet.

According to the guy who's working on them, progress is being made.
It's the same guy who made the Spheres of Power files, and the files for the related handbooks as well.

He has a thread for Spheres of Power, which gets the odd Spheres of Might question, on the Wolflair Hero Lab forum.

[Scowling Dragon]

What does sphere specialization do when your Sphere is Skill based?

[ChrisAsmadi]

Is intentional that using the default option to trade proficiencies out for a martial tradition causes a character to lose any special class proficiencies (eg, Soulknives would lose their Mindblade proficiency)?

[Dr_Dinosaur]

Is intentional that using the default option to trade proficiencies out for a martial tradition causes a character to lose any special class proficiencies (eg, Soulknives would lose their Mindblade proficiency)?

It shouldn’t, since you only trade out your “All martial” or “One or more exotic” proficiencies

[torrasque666]

Can attacks that deal non-lethal damage inflict Bleed through the Duelist sphere?

[ChrisAsmadi]

It shouldn’t, since you only trade out your “All martial” or “One or more exotic” proficiencies

but characters who do not may choose to trade their starting proficiencies (other than simple weapons, light armor, and bucklers, if applicable) for a martial tradition at 1st level,

The way I read it makes it seem like since special ones aren't on the keep list, you lose 'em.

e: Is it intentional that Runic Knight adapts Spellstrike so that it works with ranged weapons but doesn't change Spell Combat (beyond getting it late) so you can use it with ranged weapons?

[torrasque666]

Regarding a Battlefield Tinkerer using a Dual Blade: You don't have to sheathe the weapon to change modes, so what happens if a Battlefield Tinkerer splits his Dual Blade and then wants to change the mode to a different weapon?

[Galacktic]

Question! Does the Battle Companion archetype for animal companions allow them to take a Martial Tradition or no?

[kkplx]

Same question for the archetype for conjuration companions - do they gain a tradition? Or only the progression and if natuiral attacks are given up 1 instance of battle creature?

[stack]

Same question for the archetype for conjuration companions - do they gain a tradition? Or only the progression and if natuiral attacks are given up 1 instance of battle creature?

They do not gain a tradition.

[RedMop]

Anything for Armor Spikes?

[N. Jolly]

A Wrestling sphere question and a bunch of Sage questions; I apologize if these have come up before. I couldn't find anything when searching.

Q 402: For the Wrestling sphere talent Ground Game and similar abilities, am I missing something? You can't take attacks of opportunities with the grappled condition, and nothing I can see in the Wrestling sphere changes that.

A 402: This is intended to allow you to break the normal rules for grappling, falling under the specific (the ability allowing you to make an AoO) trumping the general (no AoOs allowed during grapple).

I hate to say that you probably won't get sage answers because Michael's busy with other projects, and he was the designer of that class unless someone else on SoM/CotS wants to chip in with answers about it.

[Nyaa]

Can martial shifter get combat training for non-spheres of might classes?

[Ssalarn]

Q 403: Is there any way to apply an enhancement bonus to the Sage's chi gong attack? It kind of gets murdered by DR otherwise.

No, though since it can be applied as a rider on unarmed strikes or natural attacks, scales up to 10d6, and is normally a touch attack when not used as a rider its damage curve is pretty solid.

Q 404: Chi gong counts as a light weapon, which means it's eligible for use with the energy blade talent; is that intentional?

Yes, though there has since been some talk of errata that might affect this in the future. Currently that is a perfectly viable option.

Q 405: Does an Enhancer Sage get any bonus if they take the lingering enhancement talent?

It would extend the duration of any (enhance) talents he gained, but it would not extend non-talent class features.

Q 406: Do the bonus dice provided by the meditation ability have an action cost?

No. The dice are added as part of the same action used for the check they modify, or as a non-action when used to enhance CMD.

Q 407: Can the Sage manipulate items in any way within the reach of the Rubber Ki ability?

Only insofar as it would allow him to attempt an unarmed strike or melee touch attack against the items. It's not a delicate enough ability for fine manipulation of objects.

Q 408: For the infuser combat maneuver replacement thingy, should any penalties carried by the combat maneuver attempt carry over to the reflex save dc? e.g. the open hand sphere allows an unarmed trip attempt as a move action, but at a -2 penalty. If the Sage replaces that trip attempt with the infuser ability, should the reflex save DC be reduced by two?

Yes.

Q 409: Do Sage magic talents count as ki abilities for the purposes of the ring of ki mastery?

Yes, though the "minimum 1 ki point" cost still applies.

[Galacktic]

Regarding the Sage again, can their Chi Gong dice get multiplied on a crit? They're not precision damage - they're piercing - so I could see arguments either way.

[RedMop]

Armiger Workflow Check

Armiger 6
Prowess:

• Line Breaker

Talents:

• Barrage (Base, Mobile Focus)
• Sniper (Base)
• Equipment (Huntsman, Splitshot, Shortbow Mastery)

Feats:

• Great Focus
• Vital Strike

Weapon: Shortbow
Customized Weapon: 3 different groups of 50 arrows
Stats: 10/20/10/10/10/10
Default attack: +14/+9 = +6 (BAB) +5 (Dex) +2 (+1 from bow, +1 from Enhanced Customization) +1 (Point Blank from Barrage)

Stating with both foci

Start with Barrage Expending Focus using group 1 arrows

• +8 (14-4-2 w/ Vital Strike @ target 1) / +8 (14-4-2 Splitshot @ target 2 w/o Vital Strike) / +10 (14-4 First Extra Barrage Attack @ target 1 w/o Vital Strike) / +10 (14-4 Second Extra Barrage Attack @ target 1 w/o Vital Strike)
• +9 (14-5 Shortbow Mastery @ target 1 w/o Vital Strike)

If any of those hit, Expend Focus and switch to group 2 arrows

• Move between 10 ft and 1/2 move to regain a focus with Mobile Focus w/p provoking from target 1 with Linebreaker
• +12 (14-2 Rapid Assault w/o Vital Strike)

If any of those crit, spend immediate action to switch to any other group of arrows and recover focus.

Likely end with 1 Focus, so I can do all of this again if I can recover 1 focus during the barrage.

I can also start off with Sniper's Deadly shot in the first block to

• +12 (12-2 w/ Vital Strike and Deadly Shot Damage @ target 1) / +12 (14-2) Splitshot @ target 2 w/o Vital Strike
• +9 (14-5 Shortbow Mastery @ target 1 w/o Vital Strike)

[ICN]

Answers

Answers

Answers

Thank you all very much for the answers!

[stack]

Redmop - you cannot regain focus more than once per round.

[RedMop]

Redmop - you cannot regain focus more than once per round.

I knew, I just didn't type.

The rest look all good?

[Kaouse]

Is it intended for SOM archtypes that change proficiency to be incompatible with existing archtypes that also change proficiency? I remember the issue being raised before, but I don't see any wording that would allow them to be compatible.

Just bumping this, since it's been a while.

[Quarian Rex]

Hey, Ssalarn, I asked this in the Spheres of Power AMA, but don't seem to be getting any response. It's similar to the question you answered, so I'm gonna go ahead and repost it here;

Q430: Would it be reasonable to consider Telekinesis' Bludgeon as an "Attack Action" for the purpose of working with Spheres of Might? I understand that SoP obviously came out first and couldn't have predicted its followup martial counterpart, but it's a weird situation where base Paizo combat feats, such as Power Attack, are specifically called out as functioning with it if you have Dancing Weapon and Flair. I personally think that if you're invested enough into TK to have a good 5 talents or so to be able to reasonably use weapons with it, that you shouldn't be unable to combine Might's techniques with it. Hell, maybe make another talent to specifically allow that if it's a balance issue to piggyback SoM usage with the existing set of talents?

As an addendum; Mobile Bludgeon allows you to make a full attack action. To me, it seems entirely reasonable for Telekinesis to have a way to work with Spheres of Might when so much work has gone into letting it work with Paizo feats.

I have copied it verbatim to avoid any confusion. If you are unfamiliar with certain aspects of TK, I'll be glad to explain.

So, here's my understanding: Adam is very aware of this question and has been discussing whether or not it's something that should simply be backported via errata, or it if it's powerful enough to justify putting it behind a feat or talent gate. I'll let you know when I have more information.

I was just going through Telekinesis with an eye for combining the two Spheres product lines and searched to see if this was resolved. Looks like not so much yet. I think that a good rule of thumb would be that anything that lets an effect be used as a normal attack in virtually all ways (standard attack, full attack, can use associated feats with it, counts as a weapon or natural/unarmed attack, etc.) should allow it to be used fully in SoM.

For Telekinesis that would be the Dancing Weapon (counts as a weapon and allows melee feats w/Flair), Flair (allows ranged feats), and Mobile Bludgeon (allows full attacks) talents (possibly adding Divided Mind if you wanted to wield more than one weapon at a time). That would be a total talent cost of 4 (or 5 w/Divided Mind) if you count the cost of the Telekinesis base sphere. There would be absolutely no need for any other feat/talent tax to get this done. Perhaps shaving a couple of those off as requirements would be ideal.

Most of this was heavily implied in the clarifications in Ch 7 of the Telekinetics Handbook but I think that this sort of thing needs to be spelled out a bit so we know what's already on the table.

Thoughts?

[Doc_Maynot]

Regarding the Sage again, can their Chi Gong dice get multiplied on a crit? They're not precision damage - they're piercing - so I could see arguments either way.

Only flat non precision damage, base weapon damage, and damage that calls itself an exception to the previous gets multiplied on a crit.

So it would seem that the Chi Gong gets multiplied, only when as its own strike. Not when adding it to your unarmed damage or similar.

Can martial shifter get combat training for non-spheres of might classes?

To quote Champions of the Spheres: "A class or archetype that gains Blended Training counts as possessing the Combat Training class feature for all purposes." So no, they could not.