Alagos
2014-10-26, 02:05 AM
Hello All,
I have a few questions regarding the Soul Hunter archetype from Path of War, as well as a few general questions regarding the Stalker class, the Master of Many Styles Monk archetype and swift actions in general. I haven't found a whole lot of info on these specific cases.
Soul Claiming (Su)
A soul hunter is capable of attuning his own ki to a foe's vital energies, making it difficult for quarry to elude or escape him. As a swift action, the soul hunter stalker may Claim a target creature that he has inflicted damage upon. A Claimed target's position is known to the soul hunter, even if they have total concealment against him (though he still suffers the normal miss chance if his target is concealed, and is denied his Dexterity bonus if the Claimed target attacks him). Additionally, the target of his Claiming provokes attacks of opportunity from the soul hunter when using the withdraw action to escape him. A soul hunter may not Claim more than his Wisdom modifier in creatures at any given time; a creature remains Claimed until the soul hunter withdraws his Claim (a free action) or until the target is slain. If the Claimed target is slain (reduced to 0 or fewer hit points) by the Claiming soul hunter, then he may recover his Wisdom modifier in expended maneuvers. A soul hunter may not Claim a target creature with fewer than 1/2 HD.
This ability replaces the stalker's standard recovery method.
Soulburning (Su)
When combating his target, the soul hunter can use his ki to cause disharmony within a Claimed creature's very life energy, causing the foe's own ki to erupt into life-destroying energy. Some describe the pain experienced as being the worst that any could endure, like something was inside their very spirit and devouring it whole. When making an attack or initiating a martial maneuver against his claimed target, the soul hunter may force this subtle disharmony to become a geyser of agony, as the soul hunter's ki causes the target's life energies to ignite. This inflicts an additional 1d6 points of damage at 1st level upon a successful attack, and this damage increases by an additional 1d6 points of damage every four soul hunter levels. Stalker arts that utilize deadly strikes use soulburning instead, and function as written with the following caveat: Soulburning cannot be done against targets that do not have vital forces (this includes constructs, oozes, and undead with an Intelligence score of 0.)
This ability replaces the stalker's deadly strikes ability.
Does this mean that I cannot benefit from the bonus damage from soulburning until the 2nd successful hit? And on a side note, is it possible to take a swift action in the middle of a full attack or standard attack action? So, say I initiate the standard maneuver Flurry Strike. It allows 2 attacks for a standard action. Can I damage with the first one, claim the target's soul, and then damage with the second and soulburn him for +1d6 damage?
Also, does this completely replace the Stalker's former recovery method, including the standard action = 1 maneuver recovered? Or just the full-round action one?
Stalker Art:
Combat Precognition (Su) The stalker designates his combat senses towards his opponents and gains momentary flashes of insight into how to defend himself against them. Spending one point of ki as an immediate action forces opponents who attack the stalker to roll their attack rolls twice and take the worse of the two results due to the stalker's precognitive abilities. This art has a duration of 1 + the stalker's Wisdom modifier in rounds.
Is this really the intended function of this stalker art? Every attacker has to reroll twice, take the worst result, and it can last on average 3-4 rounds with a level 1 character? It seems very unbalanced, or poorly worded. The same question applies to Murderous Insight (for attacks instead of defense). If one were to houserule it, would you only apply this bonus reroll to a single designated opponent? A single attack within the round? Or have it last one round but have it apply to all attackers/targets? Mix of the two?
Also, I plan on taking 2 levels of Master of Many Styles Monk at lvl 2 and 3, for Panther Style/Claw and Snake Style. Now, as part of the class, you get the Fuse Style which lets you enter 2 style stances with a single swift action. How does this interact with Path of War stances?
From Path of War:
"A stance is a type of fighting method that you maintain from round to round. So long as you stay in a stance, you gain some benefit from it. A martial disciple who performs a kata and assumes a specific posture as he prepares to fight is using a stance. A stance is initiated as a swift action. When you enter a stance, you immediately gain its benefit. You continue to gain the benefit of a typical stance as long as you remain in it."
"You can use a single swift action to end one stance and begin another, or you can choose to simply end your current stance without entering another. You continue to gain a stance’s benefits until you switch to a new stance or end your current one."
From Style Feats:
"As a swift action, you can enter the stance employed by the fighting style a style feat embodies. Although you cannot use a style feat before combat begins, the style you are in persists until you spend a swift action to switch to a different combat style. You can use a feat that has a style feat as a prerequisite only while in the stance of the associated style. For example, if you have feats associated with Mantis Style and Tiger Style, you can use a swift action to adopt Tiger Style at the start of one turn, and then can use other feats that have Tiger Style as a prerequisite. By using another swift action at the start of your next turn, you could adopt Mantis Style and use other feats that have Mantis Style as a prerequisite."
Very similar wording, however there is nothing that says that the two cannot stack. One is a style stance, the other is a martial stance. There is a feat in Path of War that somewhat addresses this issue, however it is very vague and open to interpretation:
Fuse Styles [Combat, Style]
You are capable of mingling mundane and martial combat styles.
Prerequisites: One style feat, one stance known.
Benefit: You can enter a fighting style and a martial stance with the same swift action.
All it mentions is that I can enter these two different types of stances with the same swift action. However, it mentions nothing about being able to have them both enabled in the first place. One could assume that by becoming "capable of mingling mundane and martial stances", one was not capable before. But it does not indicate this anywhere else, including the detailed description of the feat's benefit.
Also, the wording of martial stances indicates that it can be activated at any time, even in say a tavern or a bedroom. In fact, there's several stances that have little to no effect on actual combat. Utility stances that grant scent, see invisibility/blur or teleportation are not necessarily needed in combat. There are no such style stances, aside from maybe Monkey Style adding WIS mod to acrobatics.
But the wording for Style Feats indicates that a style stance can only be activated once combat (and thus initiative checks) has begun. So I could be in the Inner Sphere Stance from PoW and then once combat begins, I take a swift action to enter both Snake and Panther Style stances. All that feat seems to indicate is a streamlining of the action economy. 2 swift actions becomes 1 swift action.
So say I was in Outer Sphere Stance before combat. I realize that I might need a bit more AC, so I switch to Inner Sphere Stance using a swift action, but by doing so I cannot enter a style stance now. However with the Fuse Styles feat, I would be able to switch from Outer to Inner AND enter both my style stances, all in the same swift action.
Am I correct in my interpretation? Is it RAI? Or must I take the Fuse Styles feat from PoW to be able to mix these two stances at all? And if I am correct in this part, is it also correct to assume that the Fuse Style class feature from MoMS Monk is compatible with this?
If I am being at all unclear, please let me know and I'll clarify as best I can.
Cheers!
I have a few questions regarding the Soul Hunter archetype from Path of War, as well as a few general questions regarding the Stalker class, the Master of Many Styles Monk archetype and swift actions in general. I haven't found a whole lot of info on these specific cases.
Soul Claiming (Su)
A soul hunter is capable of attuning his own ki to a foe's vital energies, making it difficult for quarry to elude or escape him. As a swift action, the soul hunter stalker may Claim a target creature that he has inflicted damage upon. A Claimed target's position is known to the soul hunter, even if they have total concealment against him (though he still suffers the normal miss chance if his target is concealed, and is denied his Dexterity bonus if the Claimed target attacks him). Additionally, the target of his Claiming provokes attacks of opportunity from the soul hunter when using the withdraw action to escape him. A soul hunter may not Claim more than his Wisdom modifier in creatures at any given time; a creature remains Claimed until the soul hunter withdraws his Claim (a free action) or until the target is slain. If the Claimed target is slain (reduced to 0 or fewer hit points) by the Claiming soul hunter, then he may recover his Wisdom modifier in expended maneuvers. A soul hunter may not Claim a target creature with fewer than 1/2 HD.
This ability replaces the stalker's standard recovery method.
Soulburning (Su)
When combating his target, the soul hunter can use his ki to cause disharmony within a Claimed creature's very life energy, causing the foe's own ki to erupt into life-destroying energy. Some describe the pain experienced as being the worst that any could endure, like something was inside their very spirit and devouring it whole. When making an attack or initiating a martial maneuver against his claimed target, the soul hunter may force this subtle disharmony to become a geyser of agony, as the soul hunter's ki causes the target's life energies to ignite. This inflicts an additional 1d6 points of damage at 1st level upon a successful attack, and this damage increases by an additional 1d6 points of damage every four soul hunter levels. Stalker arts that utilize deadly strikes use soulburning instead, and function as written with the following caveat: Soulburning cannot be done against targets that do not have vital forces (this includes constructs, oozes, and undead with an Intelligence score of 0.)
This ability replaces the stalker's deadly strikes ability.
Does this mean that I cannot benefit from the bonus damage from soulburning until the 2nd successful hit? And on a side note, is it possible to take a swift action in the middle of a full attack or standard attack action? So, say I initiate the standard maneuver Flurry Strike. It allows 2 attacks for a standard action. Can I damage with the first one, claim the target's soul, and then damage with the second and soulburn him for +1d6 damage?
Also, does this completely replace the Stalker's former recovery method, including the standard action = 1 maneuver recovered? Or just the full-round action one?
Stalker Art:
Combat Precognition (Su) The stalker designates his combat senses towards his opponents and gains momentary flashes of insight into how to defend himself against them. Spending one point of ki as an immediate action forces opponents who attack the stalker to roll their attack rolls twice and take the worse of the two results due to the stalker's precognitive abilities. This art has a duration of 1 + the stalker's Wisdom modifier in rounds.
Is this really the intended function of this stalker art? Every attacker has to reroll twice, take the worst result, and it can last on average 3-4 rounds with a level 1 character? It seems very unbalanced, or poorly worded. The same question applies to Murderous Insight (for attacks instead of defense). If one were to houserule it, would you only apply this bonus reroll to a single designated opponent? A single attack within the round? Or have it last one round but have it apply to all attackers/targets? Mix of the two?
Also, I plan on taking 2 levels of Master of Many Styles Monk at lvl 2 and 3, for Panther Style/Claw and Snake Style. Now, as part of the class, you get the Fuse Style which lets you enter 2 style stances with a single swift action. How does this interact with Path of War stances?
From Path of War:
"A stance is a type of fighting method that you maintain from round to round. So long as you stay in a stance, you gain some benefit from it. A martial disciple who performs a kata and assumes a specific posture as he prepares to fight is using a stance. A stance is initiated as a swift action. When you enter a stance, you immediately gain its benefit. You continue to gain the benefit of a typical stance as long as you remain in it."
"You can use a single swift action to end one stance and begin another, or you can choose to simply end your current stance without entering another. You continue to gain a stance’s benefits until you switch to a new stance or end your current one."
From Style Feats:
"As a swift action, you can enter the stance employed by the fighting style a style feat embodies. Although you cannot use a style feat before combat begins, the style you are in persists until you spend a swift action to switch to a different combat style. You can use a feat that has a style feat as a prerequisite only while in the stance of the associated style. For example, if you have feats associated with Mantis Style and Tiger Style, you can use a swift action to adopt Tiger Style at the start of one turn, and then can use other feats that have Tiger Style as a prerequisite. By using another swift action at the start of your next turn, you could adopt Mantis Style and use other feats that have Mantis Style as a prerequisite."
Very similar wording, however there is nothing that says that the two cannot stack. One is a style stance, the other is a martial stance. There is a feat in Path of War that somewhat addresses this issue, however it is very vague and open to interpretation:
Fuse Styles [Combat, Style]
You are capable of mingling mundane and martial combat styles.
Prerequisites: One style feat, one stance known.
Benefit: You can enter a fighting style and a martial stance with the same swift action.
All it mentions is that I can enter these two different types of stances with the same swift action. However, it mentions nothing about being able to have them both enabled in the first place. One could assume that by becoming "capable of mingling mundane and martial stances", one was not capable before. But it does not indicate this anywhere else, including the detailed description of the feat's benefit.
Also, the wording of martial stances indicates that it can be activated at any time, even in say a tavern or a bedroom. In fact, there's several stances that have little to no effect on actual combat. Utility stances that grant scent, see invisibility/blur or teleportation are not necessarily needed in combat. There are no such style stances, aside from maybe Monkey Style adding WIS mod to acrobatics.
But the wording for Style Feats indicates that a style stance can only be activated once combat (and thus initiative checks) has begun. So I could be in the Inner Sphere Stance from PoW and then once combat begins, I take a swift action to enter both Snake and Panther Style stances. All that feat seems to indicate is a streamlining of the action economy. 2 swift actions becomes 1 swift action.
So say I was in Outer Sphere Stance before combat. I realize that I might need a bit more AC, so I switch to Inner Sphere Stance using a swift action, but by doing so I cannot enter a style stance now. However with the Fuse Styles feat, I would be able to switch from Outer to Inner AND enter both my style stances, all in the same swift action.
Am I correct in my interpretation? Is it RAI? Or must I take the Fuse Styles feat from PoW to be able to mix these two stances at all? And if I am correct in this part, is it also correct to assume that the Fuse Style class feature from MoMS Monk is compatible with this?
If I am being at all unclear, please let me know and I'll clarify as best I can.
Cheers!