Drop Dead Studios Ask Me Anything #3

[Mehangel]

Q595: This may be something that should be a general PF question, but I'm unsure if there are multiple sources outside Spheres that would be realistic to pick up. If this shouldn't go here I apologize!
If you have two abilities that grant Tremorsense (in my particular case, I'm looking at Nature Spirit with the Earth Geomancing Package, which grants Tremorsense out to Close range, and the Touchsense Protokinesis feat), do the ranges stack, or do you just get the higher of the two?

A595: You use the higher of the two.

[Galacktic]

Q595: This may be something that should be a general PF question, but I'm unsure if there are multiple sources outside Spheres that would be realistic to pick up. If this shouldn't go here I apologize!
If you have two abilities that grant Tremorsense (in my particular case, I'm looking at Nature Spirit with the Earth Geomancing Package, which grants Tremorsense out to Close range, and the Touchsense Protokinesis feat), do the ranges stack, or do you just get the higher of the two?

Not a dev, but in general if you have multiple senses except for Darkvision, it just takes the biggest range.

[CactusAir]

Ssalarn pointed out that there are non-damage considerations. Even if you're only concerned about damage, though, it's not "pointless" for all of the 20/x2 weapons, it's without a question better than Improved Critical or Keen for them.

Even for 19-20/x2 weapons, it seems roughly equivalent to me. Improved Critical would get you to 17-20 instead of 18-20, but it doesn't give additional damage equal to BAB on a confirmed critical hit.

And when it's roughly equivalent, Critical Genius seems the better choice because talents are often more plentiful than feats.

You contradict yourself.

Most "crit fishing" builds have (multiple) special effects that trigger off a Crit, which is why they try to get high crit. That's your "non-damage" considerations.

When you consider those, bonus damage in no way makes up for lower crit threshold.

So no, the talent is not useful for builds that are crit-focused.

[Keante]

You contradict yourself.

Most "crit fishing" builds have (multiple) special effects that trigger off a Crit, which is why they try to get high crit. That's your "non-damage" considerations.

When you consider those, bonus damage in no way makes up for lower crit threshold.

So no, the talent is not useful for builds that are crit-focused.

I never said Critical Genius was useful for crit-focused builds (for which we can probably assume you are starting with an 18-20 crit range weapon anyway, so why even discuss Critical Genius?). I responded to the claim that Critical Genius is pointless (a claim which the poster did not specify was in relation to crit-focused builds only).

And then everything else I said was on this condition (as stated in my 2nd sentence of that post): "if you're only concerned about damage"

That's why I was able to say that 17-20 was roughly equivalent to 18-20 with an extra damage bonus.

[Biolink22]

Q596: My question is whether or not the Doomblade's Destructive Blade provokes an attack of opportunity? The reason for this question is that in base pathfinder a Swift action spell doesn't provoke but in the Using Spheres section there is this quote "Using a sphere ability provokes an attack of opportunity (unless cast defensively)" full stop.

Edit: I specifically mean the summoning of the blade or refreshing of the blade.

[Feliaria]

Q597: The Wunderkind Fey Adept has a special form of Wild Magic where they have a (base) 10% chance to trigger a 30ft area ability based on the emotion they chose at level 1. This chance can go up depending on what Emotions the character chooses (every time an Emotion ability from the same Emotion is selected the chance goes up by 5%), but how does this interact with Wild Magic from other sources, i.e., the Wild Magic drawback or Wild Magic feats? Do they stack (so that, say, a level 1 Wunderkind Fey Adept with the Wild Magic drawback will have a 20% chance to trigger the Wunderkind Emotive Magic effect), or are they separate (resulting in rolling twice, once with a 10% chance for the 'normal' Wild Magic and once with a 10% chance for the Wunderkind Wild Magic)?

[stack]

Q597: The Wunderkind Fey Adept has a special form of Wild Magic where they have a (base) 10% chance to trigger a 30ft area ability based on the emotion they chose at level 1. This chance can go up depending on what Emotions the character chooses (every time an Emotion ability from the same Emotion is selected the chance goes up by 5%), but how does this interact with Wild Magic from other sources, i.e., the Wild Magic drawback or Wild Magic feats? Do they stack (so that, say, a level 1 Wunderkind Fey Adept with the Wild Magic drawback will have a 20% chance to trigger the Wunderkind Emotive Magic effect), or are they separate (resulting in rolling twice, once with a 10% chance for the 'normal' Wild Magic and once with a 10% chance for the Wunderkind Wild Magic)?

A597: That archetype is from Worlds of Power, so is a bit different. Given the way it works, I would treat it as a completely separate ability.

[ImmortalTimothy]

Q598:
Is the Dreadlord Commander Archetype considered to have the Death Sphere for the purposes of qualifying for feats that affect the reanimate ability such as Superior Reanimation and Variant Necromancy?

RAW it seems that they do not, is that intended?

[stack]

Q598:
Is the Dreadlord Commander Archetype considered to have the Death Sphere for the purposes of qualifying for feats that affect the reanimate ability such as Superior Reanimation and Variant Necromancy?

RAW it seems that they do not, is that intended?

A598: RAW, you are correct (well, its muddy, but anyhow...). Those feats hadn't been printed when Champions of the Spheres came out. Dreadlord should be allowed to qualify for such feats, yes.

[AlienFromBeyond]

Q599: If I have two martial focuses (thanks to Great Focus), can I use the attack ability from the same Runesinger rune twice in combination with the Double Stroke and Sign of Devotion rune feats?

Q600: Does the Double Stroke rune feat count as "expending martial focus to alter the attack in any way" for the purposes of the Uncial Script rune feat? If yes, for both attacks or only the off-hand?

[A.J.Gibson]

Q599: If I have two martial focuses (thanks to Great Focus), can I use the attack ability from the same Runesinger rune twice in combination with the Double Stroke and Sign of Devotion rune feats?

Q600: Does the Double Stroke rune feat count as "expending martial focus to alter the attack in any way" for the purposes of the Uncial Script rune feat? If yes, for both attacks or only the off-hand?

A599: Yes.

A600: Hmmmm...it depends when you have to decide you are using double stroke. Obviously, martial focus can't benefit the second rune, since you used martial focus to make the attack so you've already lost it (barring greater focus), but benefiting the first rune is probably appropriate.

[Zsaber0]

Q601
Through the course of the game , through levels, custom rewards from the GM, and items, the general drawbacks my incanter took are no longer detrimental as I can no longer fail the concentration checks that occur with the Focus drawback. The area for drawbacks say that if they dont actually count as drawbacks they dont grant more spell points. Are there any rules for just overcoming the drawbacks midgame or do I just lose a bunch of spell points?

[AlienFromBeyond]

Q602: What exactly happens if I use Empower Spell on The Wheel? If *1.5 results in 4 or less everything is fine, but when you get 5 or 6 things get weird. Or should this metamagic just not be allowed on it in the first place?

[CasualViking]

Q603 (answered): Do the Temp HP from Sentinel's Reserve stack with those from the Berserk base ability? Nothing suggests that they do, but it leaves the Darkness Defender archetype in a weird spot.

[Biolink22]

Q603: Do the Temp HP from Sentinel's Reserve stack with those from the Berserk base ability? Nothing suggests that they do, but it leaves the Darkness Defender archetype in a weird spot.

Temp hp from separate sources stack, those from the same source don't unless otherwise noted in the ability.

[sunderedhero]

Spoiler: Relevant Text

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Launching Uppercut (counter)
Whenever you successfully attack with your counter punch, you may expend your martial focus to attempt a bull rush against the creature as a free action even while it is not your turn without provoking an attack of opportunity. A successful bull rush forces the creature an additional 5 ft. further than normal, and you may choose to force the creature to move vertically rather than horizontally (this movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity). If you choose to force the creature vertically, that creature begins to descend on the end of their current turn (creatures that can fly may attempt to do so); upon landing, they must make a successful Reflex save or fall prone, taking falling damage as appropriate (on a successful Reflex save, they take 1/2 the total amount of falling damage and do not fall prone).

You may use this talent on a willing ally other than yourself without expending your martial focus, dealing no damage to them and automatically hitting them. A willing ally treats their CMD as 10, adjusted for size. Willing allies can control their descent as though they could glide (until they reach the same elevation at which they started, falling as normal after that) and make an attack at any point during their descent; for every 10 ft. your ally descends before making this attack, they gain a +2 circumstance bonus to its damage roll. For every 4 points of base attack bonus you possess, you may launch a creature 10 ft. further into the air.

Q330: How does the final sentence of the Launching Uppercut Boxing Talent work? Is it automatic movement? Does it only apply to the willing ally? If I have +4 BAB and beat the enemy's CMD by 10 does the enemy move 30ft into the air? (5ft from succeeding at the bullrush, +10ft for beating the CMD by 10, +5ft automatically from the second sentence of the talent, +10ft automatically from the final sentence of the talent)

Spoiler: Relevant Text

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Alchemical Creation
You may create items that require mixing, such as alchemical items and poisons. You may spend 1 spell point to create an alchemical item(up to a maximum value of 25 gp per caster level). This functions exactly as the normal alchemical item except that any DC is 10 + your casting ability modifier + 1/2 your caster level and any damage it deals is increased by your casting ability modifier. These alchemical weapons remain for the normal duration of a created object at which point they disappear as usual. You may also alter mundane alchemical weapons up to a maximum value of 25 gp, enhancing their potency in the same way for the normal duration, at which point the items return to their normal damage and saving throw DC. This does not stack with other effects that increase the item’s DC.

As your caster level increases, so does your ability to create and sustain more materials. At caster level 5 you may create alchemical items costing up to an additional 25 gp per caster level (a total of 50 gp per caster level). Every 5 caster levels beyond this increases the total value you can create by an additional 25 gp per caster level (75 gp per caster level at 10th, 100 gp per caster level at 15th, and so on).

If you possess Divided Creation you may create any number of alchemical weapons whose total value is less than half the maximum value you may create and whose total size is less than or equal to your maximum size (with each alchemical weapon counting as a small object) but only one object created this way increases its saving throw DC and damage, all others retain their base, non-magical statistics.

If you possess Plasma Production then any time you create an alchemical weapon that includes a fuse as the method of activating it (such as with a fuse grenade and its variants, or fireworks) you may create it with the fuse pre-lit. This allows you to treat the weapon as if you had used it as provided in its description. (For example, creating a fuse grenade with this option causes the grenade to explode in 1d4 rounds.)

Q354: Does the Alchemical Creation talent from the Creation sphere cost 1sp (as it says in the text) or 2sp (1 for the normal "Create" ability plus 1 more for the Alchemical Creation)?

Anyone have any idea?

[Dr_Dinosaur]

Q604: How does one go about making Holy Water in a game with only Spherecasting? The only source I can find is the Bless Water spell in the normal rules.

[Mehangel]

Q604: How does one go about making Holy Water in a game with only Spherecasting? The only source I can find is the Bless Water spell in the normal rules.

A604: You can make holy water in one of three ways:
1st) Use the ritual bless water (not spherecasting, but another magic system in the same book).
2nd) Use the Aligned Liquid talent from the Alchemy combat sphere (not spherecasting, but close).
3rd) Use the Alchemical Creation talent from the Creation sphere.

[ImmortalTimothy]

Q605:
I got another question regarding the Dreadlord archetype for the Commander. The Greater Undead advanced talent requires Lingering Necromancy and Permanent Undead, however the Dread Minions class features that the Dreadlord uses to create his undead are already permanent (until dismissed or destroyed). This makes taking the Lingering Necromancy and Permanent Undead talents worthless, except for the purposes of qualifying for the Greater Undead talent.

Would it be a fair ruling to assume that the Dreadlord already possesses Lingering Necromancy and Permanent Undead for the purposes of prerequisites or should the Dreadlord need to still get the two talents in order to get Greater Undead?


Note: It seems that Permanent Undead may have a small utility (or negative depending on the situation) that the Dread Minions normally do not, which is that with Permanent Undead the Dread Minions that the Dreadlord dismisses would not be destroyed and would instead become independent mindless undead.

[stack]

Q605:
I got another question regarding the Dreadlord archetype for the Commander. The Greater Undead advanced talent requires Lingering Necromancy and Permanent Undead, however the Dread Minions class features that the Dreadlord uses to create his undead are already permanent (until dismissed or destroyed). This makes taking the Lingering Necromancy and Permanent Undead talents worthless, except for the purposes of qualifying for the Greater Undead talent.

Would it be a fair ruling to assume that the Dreadlord already possesses Lingering Necromancy and Permanent Undead for the purposes of prerequisites or should the Dreadlord need to still get the two talents in order to get Greater Undead?


Note: It seems that Permanent Undead may have a small utility (or negative depending on the situation) that the Dread Minions normally do not, which is that with Permanent Undead the Dread Minions that the Dreadlord dismisses would not be destroyed and would instead become independent mindless undead.

A605: I suppose it depends on if temporary greater undead are an issue and how you want to handle focus. Lingering Necromancy is useless to them, so I would say ignore that regardless. If you allow caster to make permanent undead, there shouldn't be a problem allowing the dreadlord to make permanent undead, though you would need to do something to cut down on spamming it. Maybe make it take an hour or make your focus stay expended for a certain amount of time. You don't inherently get a way to control free undead, so that would limit you as well, though beastmastery with mindless mastery would give you some mindless undead control ability. As for Greater Undead, they are uncontrolled by default. You would definitely need the longer time. Creating permanent undead of any kind is interesting from a cost perspective, since you pay once (often on a downtime day) but make something permanent, so making them without spell point cost via dreadlord isn't a problem the second day.

So, short version, ignore lingering, keep permanent since temporary intelligent undead would be rather unhappy about you poofing them when they are inv=convenient, bump up ritual times to make permanent and greater undead to prevent excessive spamming.

[freduncio]

Q590 Alchemy Sphere's Poison package states that "A poison remains potent until used or for 1 round +1 per 4 ranks in Craft (alchemy) you possess, whichever comes first". But the Ingested Application talent states that "When you create an ingested poison and add it to any food or drink, it remains potent for up to 1 additional day (for a total of 48 hours)(...)". Emphasis mine.
So we can assume that, by default, if you apply an ingested poison to any food/drink, it will stay active/potent for 1 day/24 hours?

Any answer on this? Also:

Q606 Can I use something granted after using an attack action if that action was used as other action? Ex: Can I use Follow-Through after the Brutal Strike granted by Bloody Counter (used as a free action)?

[Llyarden]

So I know there's a post in the original thread stating that Advanced Magical Training is intended to grant MSB/MSD, but searching through all three threads there are at least three different opinions on what it does to spell points, all of which say 'this is the definitive correct answer,' which isn't very helpful. So in the hopes of getting an answer that people can agree on...

Q607a: Do you get spell points from your pseudo-low-caster levels in the same way that you would get them from actual low-caster levels? (Eg does an incanter 1 / fighter 8 with AMT have 1+CAM or 9+CAM spell points?)
Q607b: And if so, do you also get spell points from your casting tradition applied to your pseudo-low-caster levels?

[Mehangel]

Q607a: Do you get spell points from your pseudo-low-caster levels in the same way that you would get them from actual low-caster levels? (Eg does an incanter 1 / fighter 8 with AMT have 1+CAM or 9+CAM spell points?)

A607a: An incanter 1 / fighter 8 with AMT have 1+CAM spell points.

Q607b: And if so, do you also get spell points from your casting tradition applied to your pseudo-low-caster levels?

A607b: Yes, you do gain bonus spell points from your casting tradition applied to your pseudo-low caster levels (otherwise, choosing certain casting traditions with the feat could end up being a major hindrance).

[Llyarden]

Q608: What is the Tradition Mastery for the Tinker hedgewitch tradition supposed to be? It seems to be missing.

[Malvoli0]

Q609: Do the Conjuration Archetypes Martial and Warrior stack?

The reason I ask is comparing it to mage: Mage has a mandatory free form talent (Magic Companion) which grants no talents on its own so you are limited to feats only. This also negates the ability to use Lingering as the free form talent.

Compare that to Martial and Warrior. If they stack that means without giving up lingering as my free form talent I get a Biped with Martial Weapon Proficiency, A Martial tradition (granting multiple spheres and talents) along with Proficient Talent Progression (More free talents) and 2 weapons that scale in enhancement.

One seems vastly superior to the other which makes me believe the intent was either Martial or Warrior not both.

[Llyarden]

Q610: Does an astrologer hedgewitch with a revelation from their Celestial Revelation secret qualify for the Extra Revelation feat (which only requires the Revelation class feature, not Mysteries)?

[AncientSpark]

Q611: The Knave archetype appears to be compatible with the Dawnflower Dervish, whose dances double bonuses but only cause those bonuses to affect themselves. Does this mean a Knave can double the effect of Fool's Play with effectively no downside?

[Biolink22]

Q611: The Knave archetype appears to be compatible with the Dawnflower Dervish, whose dances double bonuses but only cause those bonuses to affect themselves. Does this mean a Knave can double the effect of Fool's Play with effectively no downside?

Not a developer, but, Dervish of Dawn (aka Dawnflower Dervish) Battle Dance feature specifies it only affects Inspire Courage, Inspire Greatness, and Inspire Heroics, so I'd hazard to guess that no it wouldn't affect Fools Play.

[A.J.Gibson]

Q611: The Knave archetype appears to be compatible with the Dawnflower Dervish, whose dances double bonuses but only cause those bonuses to affect themselves. Does this mean a Knave can double the effect of Fool's Play with effectively no downside?

A611: I would say that the archetypes aren't even compatible. DD effectively replaces bardic performance with an extremely similar ability.

[Xararion]

Q612: This is almost certainly been asked. But what is interaction of Energy blade + critical hit. As in, does the destructive blast also crit if the main attack crits (like with magus), or is it treated purely as a rider effect that is not multiplied on a critical hit. In our current campaign we have been so far using it with the latter rider style, but I just ended up thinking on how does it actually go. Normal touch attack spells can crit, but how does energy blade crit if at all.