Personal Gravity + Skate

[Segev]

This is almost certainly not an intended interaction, but it's funny enough I have to share.

Skate (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/s/skate) is a psion/wilder 1 power that reads:
You, another willing creature, or an unattended object can slide along solid ground as if on smooth ice. If you manifest skate on yourself or another creature, the subject of the power retains equilibrium by mental desire alone, allowing her to gracefully skate along the ground, turn, or stop suddenly as desired. The skater’s land speed increases by 15 feet. (This adjustment is treated as an enhancement bonus.) As with any effect that increases speed, this power affects the subject’s maximum jumping distance. The subject can skate up or down any incline or decline she could normally walk upon without mishap, though skating up an incline reduces the subject’s speed to normal, while skating down a decline increases her speed by an additional 15 feet. (This adjustment is treated as a circumstance bonus.) If you manifest skate on an object, treat the object as having only one-tenth of its normal weight for the purpose of dragging it along the ground.
Emphasis added.

Personal Gravity is an Elocator (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/psionics-unleashed/psionic-prestige-classes/elocater/) class feature that reads:
As long as the elocater is within 1 foot of a sufficiently stable solid or liquid surface, she can change her personal gravity with a thought (free action). As a result, she may move on walls, ceilings, etc. as if they were level floors, including being able to run, jump, and take 5′ steps.

Personal gravity is constantly active, even when unconscious, unless the elocater deliberately suppresses it (a free action), is heavily encumbered, or is slain. If the elocater is carrying a medium load or wearing heavy or medium armor while using personal gravity, her speed reduces to 10 feet per round.

While Personal Gravity is obviously designed to let you place your gravity orthogonal to the surface you want to walk or stand or lay down on (I am personally amused by the idea of taking your sleeping bag to the ceiling and napping up there), it doesn't actually limit you to that. You can "change [your] personal gravity with a thought." This means that you can make it point such that otherwise-flat-ground slopes from your perspective. Even walls and ceilings. Which means that you can make it so that you're always going down an incline. With skate active and you going down an incline from your perspective, it gives you +30 enhancement to your speed!


Incidentally, why is burst, which is +10 ft. to your movement for one round for 1 power point (and +10 ft. for every 4 more pp you spend augmenting it) a Nomad-only power, while skate is psion/wilder? Skate is just plain better unless you're going uphill (admittedly annoying) or you're spending at least 5 pp, potentially 9 pp, on burst, and even then, burst is 1 round while skate lasts for minutes.

Then again, Nomad-exclusive powers seem pretty weak in general. :smallyuk: Nomad's Step is pretty darned spectacular, however.

[JMS]

Nice find! I'll store this for my Voyagers who dip Elocator. My bigger question is how Jumping and personal gravity work, given the 1 foot requirement (probably to prevent 60 feet per round perfect manueverability flight with a featherfall like ability). Does it shut off, reverting back to normal gravity or does it work as normal with a weird direction?

[Segev]

Nice find! I'll store this for my Voyagers who dip Elocator. My bigger question is how Jumping and personal gravity work, given the 1 foot requirement (probably to prevent 60 feet per round perfect manueverability flight with a featherfall like ability). Does it shut off, reverting back to normal gravity or does it work as normal with a weird direction?

Since it says you only have personal gravity when within 1 foot of a surface, if you jump more than a foot off that surface, you'd resume normal gravity. Ironically, this technically means the RAW would have you using your long jump if you leap "up" off of one wall and across a room to another, where your personal gravity would resume. I could see a DM house ruling against that pretty easily, though, and insist you use your high jump. I can see argument for the RAW, too, though, so hopefully you could talk a DM into it.

What this combo does for a nomad->elocator is make it worthwhile to stick close to a surface and use personal gravity with scorn earth. A nomad with Fast Step at character level 7 (first level a pure nomad can get into Elocator) is a 6th level Nomad and can, as a move action, teleport 35 ft. to anywhere in line of sight. With Scorn Earth, he can teleport to mid air and hover. While it's not quite flight, it's faster movement than most people's ground speed, and is to arbitrary points in the air.

This combo, however, means for 1 power point when within 1 foot of any surface, his base land speed (assuming a normal medium creature's 30 ft. base speed) is 60 ft. If he takes Nomad's Jump and runs Elocator, he won't match that for his Nomad Step distance until 11th character level. If he doesn't take Nomad's Jump and runs Nomad after level 1 Elocator, he won't hit 60 ft. teleport until character level 12. PAst that point, though, his teleport is as fast or faster than this trick would get him.

A non-Nomad Elocator (or at least one who isn't focused on being a manifester first), particularly one who goes into the class with more intent to be the kind of spring-attack gish it is built to handle, can actually get in a level earlier even with the extra feat requirement by taking a higher-BAB class, and might benefit from having some sort of trick for throwing ropes around and climbing rapidly when using scorn earth to hover more than a foot above the ground and away from other surfaces.

[Powerdork]

Do note that personal gravity specifies "level floors", which is absolutely not an incline, by my judgment.

[Segev]

Do note that personal gravity specifies "level floors", which is absolutely not an incline, by my judgment.

Ah, drat, you have a good point, there.

On the up side, at least, it still has the minor benefit of never having an incline work AGAINST you. If you're going up a hill, personal gravity will still let you make it "a level floor," which will mean skate still gets its full 15 ft. benefit.

And you don't have to use PErsonal Gravity if you would benefit from a normal incline down.