Drop Dead Studios Ask Me Anything #3

[Saperaud]

Q 307: When I Impale a target through the Lancer sphere do I threaten the target I impaled for flanking or AOO?

[Nyaa]

Q305: I am currently working on a new dual sphere feat for the new Death book (two technically) and I have a question; How would Mass Reanimate interact with a feat that lets you (as currently written) spend a spell point to enhance one undead upon its creation?

Would you need to spend one spell point for each undead or would one spell point pay for all of them?

As far as I understand spellcrafting rules, with currently published material, combining reanimate (0), mass reanimate (+1), enhance (+2), and one additional enhance talent (+1) gives us a spell with complexity 4 (+2 spell points cost [on top of 3 spell points for first 3 talents]) and +2 time increases, so 1 round casting time; but it should enhance all created undead as targets are set via mass reanimate.

[Funinyourgame]

I've come across a problem as a GM with one of my player using Creation with divided creation and multiple falling objects.
Rules is as follow: "A creature may be targeted only by as many falling objects as could target any square(s) the creature occupies (a Medium creature can only be targeted by 1 Small or larger object, a Huge creature by up to 9, etc.)."

Now with 2 simple talents
Acidic Creation: By spending an additional spell point when you create or alter an object, you may work with material with basic acidic properties. You may create acidic liquids (3 cubic ft. equals a Small creature) or apply an acid coating to a solid object, but may not create gases without Gaseous Generation.

Practiced Creation:
You may increase the casting time of any create effect by 1 step to reduce the spell point cost by 1 (to a minimum of 0)

Now with the incanter ability:
Master of Creation (2 specialization points)
Starting at 3rd level, any create effect you perform costs 1 fewer spell point than normal (to a minimum of 0). This spell point reduction is not applied to the creation of a casing for a creature.

Q308: Does that mean a character would be able to inflict, at CL 12 creation (fairly easy to do), 2d8+6d6 acid each time he hits a Large creature with a Medium Stone (potentially hitting him 4 times) Costing him 0 SP each full-round?

It sounds to me that multiple falling objects can be too powerful with very little effort (A player could add in Enhanced Creation (Dual Sphere) with Mass Enhancement and Energy Weapon)

[stack]

How does Mana Siphon work with the Prepared Caster Drawback? If my class has no native way to use spell points outside of spherecasting (as is the case with many archetypes to older classes), do I gain zero benefit from the ability?

I would say that you would assign the temporary points to a sphere when they are gained (though maybe limited to spheres to which you assigned points that day). Technically this allows you to blast yourself to shift SP around, but this inflicts damage on you and is mostly useless in combat due to set-up time. As A GM I would probably not allow cheesing it out of combat (fast healing or THP source).

These are just my thoughts on it.

[Nyaa]

2d8+6d6

That's 30 damage on average, 120 if you are hitting Large target. Does it have a save? For comparison, IIRC 1pp archers were clocking 90-100 dpr at level 10.

[Mcdt2]

That's 30 damage on average, 120 if you are hitting Large target. Does it have a save? For comparison, IIRC 1pp archers were clocking 90-100 dpr at level 10.

Acid dropped or created directly on a creature allows a save, but if applied to an object it's just a ranged touch attack.

If the acid is created in a way that it would immediately harm a creature, they are entitled to a Reflex saving throw to negate the damage (unless the acid is attached to a target dropped onto them, in which case an attack roll is made as usual). If they fail this saving throw and are coated in acid, they may continue to make Reflex saves every round as a move action to clean away the affected areas and prevent further damage. By spending a fullround action that provokes an attack of opportunity they may remove the acid without a saving throw.

Dropping an object on a creature requires a ranged touch attack, with a range increment of 20 feet.

[jff362]

A296No, it's only counted as an attack action for the purposes of what talents you can add to it.

Thanks for your answers. One followup.

As an attack action, you can attempt a single trip combat maneuver check against all creatures you threaten, tripping each creature whose CMD you successfully overcome. For each creature you target with this talent, you take a -1 penalty to your combat maneuver check. At +10 base attack bonus, all creatures knocked prone by this talent take damage equal to your base attack bonus.

Does this let a sentinel with Opportunistic Offense replace an AoO with a trip on everyone within her reach?

Thanks again!

[Polymorph]

Q309: What is the duration and spell point cost for using a Path of the Poltergeist Wraith's active possession on an object, and does it change if it is a refuge object? Asking because I'm strongly considering making an Unbodied, but it would be level 3 to start with and there's no guarantee I'd have any willing targets, so I want to try and work out my spell point management for a standard day.

[kkplx]

Q311

A player has the ward ability from the protection sphere, optionally also the greater barrier talent.
They ready an action to create a barrier to intercept the next melee or ranged attack made by an enemy.
The enemy attacks.

a) what happens to the attack? Can it be cancelled/redirected?
b) Does the attack damage the wall, or is it simply ruined?
c) what if the attack is a non-AoE spell (AoE would overpower the barrier and then continue) like a standard destructive blast?

Especially for spells it seems that a readied barrier could seriously mess with any spell relying on LoE that doesn't benefit from the spread AoE type.

[Kaouse]

One more question, does the "Shield Trained (discipline)" talent from the Equipment sphere give you proficiency in exotic shield-weapons such as the Klar and the Madu?

[stack]

Q309: What is the duration and spell point cost for using a Path of the Poltergeist Wraith's active possession on an object, and does it change if it is a refuge object? Asking because I'm strongly considering making an Unbodied, but it would be level 3 to start with and there's no guarantee I'd have any willing targets, so I want to try and work out my spell point management for a standard day.

A309: 1 sp for active possession as normal, duration is based on the animated object's HD. Refuge still uses the object ride rules, so is passive only and therefore doesn't affect the active possession of the poltergeist. That said, a refuge that you can lift with telekinesis (which you get free from your path) keeps you mobile for 0 sp.

[Dr_Dinosaur]

Q310: Could someone explain how trading the Mid-Casting feature for Adept Combat Training works with classes/archetypes that grant certain spheres as bonus spheres? Does it work like Basic Magical Training, with a caster level of 1, or what?

[kkplx]

Q312

Bleed Damage does not stack.
How exactly is the duelist bonus bleed damage intended to work?

If I hit a target two rounds in a row, with bab 4, does the target now bleed for 2 or for 4?
If I've inflicted bleed by other means at an earlier point, not related to the duelist sphere bonus (let's say shrapnel blast type), does the next attack that hit them increase the total bleed to [shrapnel bleed damage]+2(duelist bonus)?

[AlienFromBeyond]

Q312
How exactly is the duelist bonus bleed damage intended to work?

It stacks with any other bleed from the same attack.

[Ssalarn]

It stacks with any other bleed from the same attack.

A312 See above. Whatever your maximum possible bleed damage from a single attack is essentially sets your "ceiling"; if you roll poorly on any die-based bleed damage then each subsequent attack dealing bleed damage gives you a chance to ramp that up by rolling better. If you deal your maximum possible bleed damage with the first attack, that will generally be the amount of bleed damage the target takes until they die or remove the condition.

[Polymorph]

Q313: Still working on the same Unbodied, trying to think of a non-possession, non-action-eating method of communication. What options exist for that? I was considering the case of if I'm stuck in my refuge object, or just general floating around in it with (hopefully) allies, and I just realized that as far as I can tell I wouldn't have any free action talking by default if I did that.

Q314: Does using the possession action require you to not be possessing anyone/thing at the moment? Like if I was willing passively possessing one ally, and another willing ally was next to him, could I transfer the possession with my standard action without having to do the free leave action?

[Kaouse]

Q315. One more question, does the "Shield Trained (discipline)" talent from the Equipment sphere give you proficiency in exotic shield-weapons such as the Klar and the Madu?

Forgot to number my question, sorry.

[kkplx]

A312 See above. Whatever your maximum possible bleed damage from a single attack is essentially sets your "ceiling"; if you roll poorly on any die-based bleed damage then each subsequent attack dealing bleed damage gives you a chance to ramp that up by rolling better. If you deal your maximum possible bleed damage with the first attack, that will generally be the amount of bleed damage the target takes until they die or remove the condition.

That's flat out wrong though. You roll bleed damage die every round the target takes damage.
This also adds the interesting conundrum when dice-based bleed damage is overwritten by a different bleed without variance
When is my variable bleed damage of 1d4+3 overwritten? at 4, 5, 6, 7 or only at 8 points of bleed damage from another source?

[stack]

Q313: Still working on the same Unbodied, trying to think of a non-possession, non-action-eating method of communication. What options exist for that? I was considering the case of if I'm stuck in my refuge object, or just general floating around in it with (hopefully) allies, and I just realized that as far as I can tell I wouldn't have any free action talking by default if I did that.

Q314: Does using the possession action require you to not be possessing anyone/thing at the moment? Like if I was willing passively possessing one ally, and another willing ally was next to him, could I transfer the possession with my standard action without having to do the free leave action?

A313: You know, that was a bit of an oversight. Errata: you can speak in your normal voice while in your refuge object
(might need to be expanded to cover object possession in general, but definitely in the refuge object at minimum)

A314: Starting a new possession will end a previous one but I do not believe there is anything requiring you to formally end one possession before making another attempt. The distinction is fairly trivial since ending one is a free action anyhow.

Forgot to number my question, sorry.

A314: No, they are shield like weapons, but as far as I recall the intent of that talent was only to grant actual shields (buckler, light, heavy, tower).

[Skaia]

Q:315

Do the benefits of increasing the Panacea talent's DC allow it to cure all conditions under the set DC?

Spoiler: Panacea (Formulae)

Show

You create a vial of liquid that can be used as a potion, removing a single negative condition the drinker is currently suffering from. The conditions that a panacea can remove are determined by the Craft DC used for its creation:

DC 20: Deafened, fatigued, shaken, sickened.
DC 30: Diseased, exhausted, nauseated, poisoned, staggered.
DC 40: Frightened, blinded, deafened, paralyzed, stunned.

So if I make a DC 30 Panacea does it also cure all of the statuses under the DC 20 Panacea?

[sunderedhero]

Twinsoul Elementalist questions:
Destructive Capacitor says, "The elemental conduit may use any Destruction sphere talents and benefit from any feats, traits, or other abilities that modify destructive blasts that the twinsoul elementalist possesses when using a destructive blast enhanced by this ability, though feats, traits, and abilities (such as the Energy Specialization and Focused Blast Type Group feats) possessed by both do not stack."

Q316: How specific to destruction blasts does the "transferred" feat need to be? Stuff like Deadly Targeting obviously applies but what about feats like Point-Blank Shot and Precise shot?

Q317: How would "Greater Blast" work with this? At 8th twinsoul elementalist level (using Gift for Magic[destruction] and Bonded Ally traits to get full caster levels in destruction and conjuration) my conduit companion would have 6HD with a CL of 6 (since the Gift for Magic[destruction] trait carries over). Thus when "channeling" the companion casts a CL14 blast. What happens if the companion has Greater Blast taken as a feat and the character has it taken twice? How many get applied to the blast? One, since things "possessed by both do not stack". Two, since I've taken it twice. Or three since a CL of 14 would allow for all 3 to apply?

Q318: Would the Half-Orc FCB, "Increase the damage dealt with all destructive blasts not augmented by favored element by +1/2." apply to the blasts since "Focused Fire" is not technically "Favored Element"?

[Ssalarn]

That's flat out wrong though. You roll bleed damage die every round the target takes damage.
This also adds the interesting conundrum when dice-based bleed damage is overwritten by a different bleed without variance
When is my variable bleed damage of 1d4+3 overwritten? at 4, 5, 6, 7 or only at 8 points of bleed damage from another source?

You should not reroll every round for exactly that reason. My understanding is that the reference on d20pfsrd to the contrary is out of date and incorrect.

[Ssalarn]

Q:315

Do the benefits of increasing the Panacea talent's DC allow it to cure all conditions under the set DC?

Spoiler: Panacea (Formulae)

Show

You create a vial of liquid that can be used as a potion, removing a single negative condition the drinker is currently suffering from. The conditions that a panacea can remove are determined by the Craft DC used for its creation:

DC 20: Deafened, fatigued, shaken, sickened.
DC 30: Diseased, exhausted, nauseated, poisoned, staggered.
DC 40: Frightened, blinded, deafened, paralyzed, stunned.

So if I make a DC 30 Panacea does it also cure all of the statuses under the DC 20 Panacea?

A315 Yes, these benefits are cumulative; a DC 40 panacea removes all conditions listed for DC 40 and lower.

[stack]

Twinsoul Elementalist questions:
Destructive Capacitor says, "The elemental conduit may use any Destruction sphere talents and benefit from any feats, traits, or other abilities that modify destructive blasts that the twinsoul elementalist possesses when using a destructive blast enhanced by this ability, though feats, traits, and abilities (such as the Energy Specialization and Focused Blast Type Group feats) possessed by both do not stack."

Q316: How specific to destruction blasts does the "transferred" feat need to be? Stuff like Deadly Targeting obviously applies but what about feats like Point-Blank Shot and Precise shot?

A316: If needs to apply specifically to destructive blasts, so general feats would not apply.

Q317: How would "Greater Blast" work with this? At 8th twinsoul elementalist level (using Gift for Magic[destruction] and Bonded Ally traits to get full caster levels in destruction and conjuration) my conduit companion would have 6HD with a CL of 6 (since the Gift for Magic[destruction] trait carries over). Thus when "channeling" the companion casts a CL14 blast. What happens if the companion has Greater Blast taken as a feat and the character has it taken twice? How many get applied to the blast? One, since things "possessed by both do not stack". Two, since I've taken it twice. Or three since a CL of 14 would allow for all 3 to apply?

A317: Temporary bonuses to caster level to not qualify for prerequisites. A 6 HD companion with a caster level of 6 can take greater blast twice. A 6th level elementalist with CL6 can also take it twice, but using destructive capacitor you only benefit from it twice, not four times.

Q318: Would the Half-Orc FCB, "Increase the damage dealt with all destructive blasts not augmented by favored element by +1/2." apply to the blasts since "Focused Fire" is not technically "Favored Element"?

A318: RAW, they are different, but as a GM I would be disinclined to allow it to stack with abilities similar to favored element like focused fire or the admixure savant's intense study ability. Tagging this for possible errata.

[RedMop]

You should not reroll every round for exactly that reason. My understanding is that the reference on d20pfsrd to the contrary is out of date and incorrect.

I think it's pretty clear that you should roll.

Bleed: A creature that is taking bleed damage takes the listed amount of damage at the beginning of its turn. Bleeding can be stopped by a DC 15 Heal check or through the application of any spell that cures hit point damage (even if the bleed is ability damage). Some bleed effects cause ability damage or even ability drain. Bleed effects do not stack with each other unless they deal different kinds of damage. When two or more bleed effects deal the same kind of damage, take the worse effect. In this case, ability drain is worse than ability damage.

The Glass Golem has 2 slams with bleed. The listed amount of bleed damage is 1d8. You don't roll a longsword damage once, and use that result for the rest of combat. So you roll the bleed damage every turn, just like the sword.



What isn't clear is if/how it stacks.

Lets say it hits you twice. How many times do you roll the bleed? Is the "effect" the 1d8 (roll once), or is the "effect" the result of the d8 (roll twice and take the higher)?

[Ssalarn]

I think it's pretty clear that you should roll.


The Glass Golem has 2 slams with bleed. The listed amount of bleed damage is 1d8. You don't roll a longsword damage once, and use that result for the rest of combat. So you roll the bleed damage every turn, just like the sword.



What isn't clear is if/how it stacks.

Lets say it hits you twice. How many times do you roll the bleed? Is the "effect" the 1d8 (roll once), or is the "effect" the result of the d8 (roll twice and take the higher)?

I'm actually kicking it by the design team when I get to work; the fact that bleed effects come in both static and rolled variants means that there's basically a black hole when it comes to separating stacking between static and rolled values, and the answer I gave previously is based on my discussions with my coworkers, so I think this is pretty firmly at a point where the answer has to be "the GM makes a call and runs with it" until such time as official clarification from the Paizo design team happens.

[sunderedhero]

I just wanted to thank you guys, no other devs do this sort of thing. You guys rock!

A316: If needs to apply specifically to destructive blasts, so general feats would not apply.

I thought so, I guess that means the companions first 2 feats are locked to be point-blank shot and precise shot.

A317: Temporary bonuses to caster level to not qualify for prerequisites. A 6 HD companion with a caster level of 6 can take greater blast twice. A 6th level elementalist with CL6 can also take it twice, but using destructive capacitor you only benefit from it twice, not four times.

Alright but what if the companion takes it once and the player takes it once? Since the companion's CL6 would let him take and apply it twice would he be able to or would that fall under the no stacking rules?

A318: RAW, they are different, but as a GM I would be disinclined to allow it to stack with abilities similar to favored element like focused fire or the admixure savant's intense study ability. Tagging this for possible errata.

I agree, just wanted to check.


New question! This time on the Trap sphere:

Q319: Does the damage from Razor Wire only occur if the creature fails the save to fall prone?

Spoiler: Relevant Text

Show

Tripwire (snare)
A creature that fails its save against a tripwire snare falls prone. Once knocked prone, a creature is no longer at risk of triggering the trap in that square. This trap is not destroyed when triggered; instead the duration is reduced by 5 rounds per creature that fails its save. Running and charging creatures take a -2 penalty on their Reflex saves against this trap.

Razor Wire
When you place the tripwire snare, you may choose to have it deal 1d6 slashing damage + 1d6 at 3 ranks in Craft (traps) and every 2 ranks thereafter to the triggering creature. Alchemical items cannot be added to this snare. A razor wire snare otherwise functions as a tripwire snare.

[stack]

I just wanted to thank you guys, no other devs do this sort of thing. You guys rock!


I thought so, I guess that means the companions first 2 feats are locked to be point-blank shot and precise shot.


Alright but what if the companion takes it once and the player takes it once? Since the companion's CL6 would let him take and apply it twice would he be able to or would that fall under the no stacking rules?


I agree, just wanted to check.


New question! This time on the Trap sphere:

Q319: Does the damage from Razor Wire only occur if the creature fails the save to fall prone?

Spoiler: Relevant Text

Show

Tripwire (snare)
A creature that fails its save against a tripwire snare falls prone. Once knocked prone, a creature is no longer at risk of triggering the trap in that square. This trap is not destroyed when triggered; instead the duration is reduced by 5 rounds per creature that fails its save. Running and charging creatures take a -2 penalty on their Reflex saves against this trap.

Razor Wire
When you place the tripwire snare, you may choose to have it deal 1d6 slashing damage + 1d6 at 3 ranks in Craft (traps) and every 2 ranks thereafter to the triggering creature. Alchemical items cannot be added to this snare. A razor wire snare otherwise functions as a tripwire snare.

Since multiple instances of the talent have increased effect, each having it once works.

If you don't want to take PBS and Precise shot, you can either grab sniper sphere to get precise with no pre-req, or orb expert and just not make touch attacks.

A319: Damage should only occur on a failed save.

[sunderedhero]

If you don't want to take PBS and Precise shot, you can either grab sniper sphere to get precise with no pre-req, or orb expert and just not make touch attacks.

Ah, I had forgotten about the Sniper sphere thing! Although Orb Expert is also an interesting idea....

A319: Damage should only occur on a failed save.

Thought so.

And a bonus question that's not a real question: Is there a reason that nothing in SoM gives you/counts as Combat Expertise?

[Ssalarn]

And a bonus question that's not a real question: Is there a reason that nothing in SoM gives you/counts as Combat Expertise?

We kind of jumped over it by going straight to a lot of the things it unlocked in talents. At one point in time the Fencing sphere had a Combat Expertise component, but I think instead of splitting it off of the main sphere into it's own talent it may have been discarded entirely.