Simple RAW for Pathfinder Thread VI: Return of the Red Die

[Psyren]

Q 333

Does the limit of participants in the Collective ability (the tactician/highlord/vitalist one) include the host?

A333: No, the host of a collective (the one with the class feature) does not count towards the participant limit. They are always considered a "free" member of their collective.

[Rynjin]

A334 Addendum: It actually says this right in the ability, first paragraph.

The tactician is always considered a member of his own collective, and does not count against this limit.

[Calthropstu]

A334 Addendum: It actually says this right in the ability, first paragraph.

The others also say this. Just in case you were wondering.

[Draconi Redfir]

Q334: Creeping doom reads "As a standard action, you can command any number of the swarms to move toward any target within 100 feet of you." Does this mean that the swarms can only move if i sacrifice a standard action? or is the standard action just to get them to attack a specific target, and they'd still take their own move and standard actions on my turn without me needing to sacrifice my standard action?

[Rynjin]

A334: So, Creeping Doom is a bit odd. Basically, unlike Summon Monster, which has a clause that the monsters A.) Attack enemies to the best of their ability and B.) Can be ordered to do a thing as long as you can communicate, the ONLY listed way to control the swarms from Creeping Doom is as listed; Standard to direct them to move.

Essentially you can summon the swarms as stationary hazards, which deal 4d6 damage automatically and force 2 Fort saves from people caught in them. As a Standard action you can make them move. They won't move or do anything on their own.

[Draconi Redfir]

Q335: My character is currently under the effects of a "Confusion" Spell, with a 50/50 chance of attacking my allies. I do have Primal Scream as a spell though, which is used to break enchantment or paralysis effects. If i rolled the confusion and hit "Attack my allies", should i be able to use Primal Scream instead of attack in order to break the enchantment? Or do you think I'd only be able to do that on turns where I'm thinking normally?

[Psyren]

A335: Primal Scream only affects you, so on an "attack nearest creature" turn you wouldn't be able to use it. You are forced to attack that creature instead.

[Palanan]

Q336: Does a masterwork ranged weapon impart the +1 enhancement bonus to ammunition fired from it? Or can the masterwork quality only be applied to individual units of ammunition?

[Cieyrin]

A 336 The enhancement bonus from masterwork on a ranged weapon or its ammunition both apply to attack rolls with the weapon. They don't stack but one or the other will get the +1.

[Psyren]

Q336: Does a masterwork ranged weapon impart the +1 enhancement bonus to ammunition fired from it? Or can the masterwork quality only be applied to individual units of ammunition?

A336: You can have both a masterwork projectile weapon (bow) and masterwork ammunition (arrows.) Indeed, you must do so if you want to enchant them separately.

However, masterwork enhancement bonuses don't stack, either with each other or with other enhancement bonuses. Only the higher one will apply. So whether you fire masterwork arrows from a regular bow, regular arrows from a masterwork bow, or masterwork arrows from a masterwork bow, the result is the same - +1 to attack rolls.

[Rynjin]

A336 addendum 2: The only particular benefits of enchanting ammunition is for specific effects.

So you can have your +5 longbow, and then have a handful of +1 Seeking arrows, +1 Limning arrows, etc. on the cheap, since ammunition is enchanted differently. When you craft them, you make 50 enchanted arrows for the cost of 1 weapons, so you can buy, say, 5 of those +1 Seeking arrows on the cheap from certain vendors, since the arrows only actually cost 160 gp apiece.

This is also good at low levels, since the archer can afford emergency ghost killing capability even with their starting gold, since +1 arrows only cost 40 gp.

[Chaos Jackal]

Q337

Does metamagic like Maximize Spell and Empower Spell affect one or all the rolls of a spell like chill touch or frostbite?

[Calthropstu]

Q337

Does metamagic like Maximize Spell and Empower Spell affect one or all the rolls of a spell like chill touch or frostbite?

A337: It affects the spell. So all randomized effects are affected.

Q338: What happens if you maximize teleport? Is the roll to check for mishap set to 100 thus dealing infinite damage to you?

[Cieyrin]

A 338 Yes, though only if it's not a Very Familiar location, in which case you'll just pop into somewhere similar or the spell fails. Sounds like a reliable way to vaporize yourself, though you could choose to negate it with a Will save, as you get a choice on whether to save against it or not.

[Calthropstu]

A 338 Yes, though only if it's not a Very Familiar location, in which case you'll just pop into somewhere similar or the spell fails. Sounds like a reliable way to vaporize yourself, though you could choose to negate it with a Will save, as you get a choice on whether to save against it or not.

This sounds like a truly evil trap. "Ok, there's only one of my apprentices who has been to that location. I will give him a scroll to teleport your party there...

[Psyren]

A338 dispute: I disagree that Maximize Spell would work on Teleport like that. Teleport's result is not a "numeric effect" - you roll the d% to look up a non-numeric result on the table. A numeric result is something like "how much damage did my fireball do" or "how many hit points did my cure light wounds restore" - not "which of these outcomes happened to me."

[Calthropstu]

Q338 showdown:

Obviously there is only one way to resolve this. Roll initiative!

No seriously, I was leaning towarda Psyren's answer before asking but I'd definitely like a definitive raw answer.

[Rynjin]

Q338 showdown:

Obviously there is only one way to resolve this. Roll initiative!

No seriously, I was leaning towarda Psyren's answer before asking but I'd definitely like a definitive raw answer.

The RAW answer is that the table is not a variable numeric effect. The table CHOOSES the effect, which could potentially be Maximized separately in some cases. Maximize likewise doesn't work on Confusion, or Prismatic Spray (save to maximize the Blinded status).

[Draconi Redfir]

Q339: Does the Sayona leave a body behind upon death? or does it turn into ash? It's vampire-like, so i would assume it turns to ash, but i can't find any proof of this. Nor can i actually find anything that actually says Vampires turn into ash upon death, so i can't use them as a reference.

[Calthropstu]

Q339: Does the Sayona leave a body behind upon death? or does it turn into ash? It's vampire-like, so i would assume it turns to ash, but i can't find any proof of this. Nor can i actually find anything that actually says Vampires turn into ash upon death, so i can't use them as a reference.

A339: If the monster entry does not say it turns to ash, it does not. The turns to ash for vampires I believe only happens when exposed to sunlight and "it is destroyed utterly." This generally means ash.

If the creature in question has "vampire weaknesses" then it has the same vampire weakness of turning to ash in sunlight.
Edit: after reading the entry closely, nothing says vampire weaknesses so you are fine.

[Draconi Redfir]

A339: If the monster entry does not say it turns to ash, it does not. The turns to ash for vampires I believe only happens when exposed to sunlight and "it is destroyed utterly." This generally means ash.

If the creature in question has "vampire weaknesses" then it has the same vampire weakness of turning to ash in sunlight.
Edit: after reading the entry closely, nothing says vampire weaknesses so you are fine.

Q339 Clarification: And since it doesn't say "Vampire" anywhere, linking to the Vampire page, it also wouldn't enter Gaseous form at 0 HP, and would instead leave a solid corpse upon death, right?

@V Thank you!

[Calthropstu]

Q339 Clarification: And since it doesn't say "Vampire" anywhere, linking to the Vampire page, it also wouldn't enter Gaseous form at 0 HP, and would instead leave a solid corpse upon death, right?

That is Correct.

[Segev]

Q340: Would CleanseBody be able to remove effects of Malefic Metamorphosis, or would you need to use something more like Body Purification?

The relevant passage from Malefic Metamorphosis reads:

This power cannot be dispelled normally, but any effect that would remove ability damage is capable of removing the effects of this power.

The question here is over what the difference between temporary ability damage and [non-temporary] ability damage is, if there is such a difference, and whether it matters in a way that means an ability that "cure[s] 1d4 points of temporary ability damage to one of the subject’s ability scores" [Cleans Body] counts as "remov[ing] ability damage" [Malefic Metamorphosis] or it needs to read that it "restore[s]...points of damage to a[n]...ability score" [Body Purification].

[Calthropstu]

Q340: Would CleanseBody be able to remove effects of Malefic Metamorphosis, or would you need to use something more like Body Purification?

The relevant passage from Malefic Metamorphosis reads:

The question here is over what the difference between temporary ability damage and [non-temporary] ability damage is, if there is such a difference, and whether it matters in a way that means an ability that "cure[s] 1d4 points of temporary ability damage to one of the subject’s ability scores" [Cleans Body] counts as "remov[ing] ability damage" [Malefic Metamorphosis] or it needs to read that it "restore[s]...points of damage to a[n]...ability score" [Body Purification].

A340: All ability damage is slowly healed over time, so all of it is temporary. Raw, you are good with cleanse body.

[Segev]

A340: All ability damage is slowly healed over time, so all of it is temporary. Raw, you are good with cleanse body.

Thanks! I have been scouring my books and the internet trying to find a rules reference to what "temporary" ability damage was vs. "non-temporary," and nothing seemed explicit. I'm guessing - but haven't gone back to 3.5 or 3.0 rules to try to check - that the term choice is a hold-over from one of PF1's parent editions of D&D.

[Psyren]

Thanks! I have been scouring my books and the internet trying to find a rules reference to what "temporary" ability damage was vs. "non-temporary," and nothing seemed explicit. I'm guessing - but haven't gone back to 3.5 or 3.0 rules to try to check - that the term choice is a hold-over from one of PF1's parent editions of D&D.

Temporary Ability Damage... is just ability damage. The "Non-temporary" kind would be drain.

Cleanse Body is just DSP's name for Psionic Lesser Restoration.

[Segev]

Temporary Ability Damage... is just ability damage. The "Non-temporary" kind would be drain.

Cleanse Body is just DSP's name for Psionic Lesser Restoration.

Yeah, I was comparing it to the same-level power Body Purification, which has the sole effect of restoring 2 points of ability damage. No "temporary" about it. But Cleanse Body is just better; this happens sometimes with psionics between a few different books, I've found. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Q341: This one's a bit of a stupid question, but a psicrystal's "half its master's hp" is impacted when the master gets a Con boost (e.g. from Animal Affinity), but is not impacted when the master gains temp hp, right? i.e. using Vigor to add 10 temp hp to the master doesn't increase the psicrystal's hp by 5 due to "half master's hp" being the formula. (Still can, obviously, use Share Powers to share Vigor with the psicrystal.)

[Psyren]

Yeah, I was comparing it to the same-level power Body Purification, which has the sole effect of restoring 2 points of ability damage. No "temporary" about it. But Cleanse Body is just better; this happens sometimes with psionics between a few different books, I've found. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Body Purification comes from 3.5 - it's part of the "psionics is just worse at some things than magic" philosophy that was prevalent in that edition, and that DSP quickly moved away from. But when they did their initial conversion they brought over some of those weaker powers wholesale. It's the same reason we have e.g. the weaker Body Adjustment (3.5) alongside Natural Healing (DSP).

A341: I don't have a RAW answer for you - I don't think it should count any temporary changes to your HP, otherwise just taking damage during the day would hurt your psicrystal/familiar. Maybe Con changes would be the exception to that rule, but only DSP knows for sure.

[Calthropstu]

A341:

This required some thought.

The hp line refers to the monster's max hp. So, when it says 1/2 masters, it is referring to the hp column of the master's sheet. Meaning max hp.

Anything that alters THAT number, will alter the max hp of the psicrystal. So yes, a con boost would alter the psicrystal max hp. Temp hp would not. Note, I do not see anything that increases its current hp upon gaining max hp. And the text for con boosts does not apply here.

[Draconi Redfir]

Context: So my charracter is currently under both a Paralysis (Hold person) AND an Enchantment (Song of Discord) effect, plus an unknown effect that left her Stunned.

Q342: A: Would the spell Primal Scream be capable of breaking both the Hold Person and the Song of Discord effects on a single cast? Or would it be a pick-and-choose situation?

Q342: B: Would the Stunned condition prevent casing Primal Scream? or does Primal Scream's ability to cast even when paralyzed prevent this? (Does it matter if the Stun is from a magical or non-magical source?)