Ranged touch attack?

[Asmo]

Game coming up in one hour, and I´m not 100% sure how it works in PF.
Can someone please give me a quick rounddown about the rules, even better with an example. Thanks!
(I´ve a wizard that´s gonna make use of Disrupt Undead, and I need to know how it works)

Asmo

 

[Kaisoku]

Straight from the PRD's Combat section:

Touch Attacks: Some attacks completely disregard armor, including shields and natural armor—the aggressor need only touch a foe for such an attack to take full effect. In these cases, the attacker makes a touch attack roll (either ranged or melee). When you are the target of a touch attack, your AC doesn't include any armor bonus, shield bonus, or natural armor bonus. All other modifiers, such as your size modifier, Dexterity modifier, and deflection bonus (if any) apply normally.

And from the Magic Section:

Ray: Some effects are rays. You aim a ray as if using a ranged weapon, though typically you make a ranged touch attack rather than a normal ranged attack. As with a ranged weapon, you can fire into the dark or at an invisible creature and hope you hit something. You don't have to see the creature you're trying to hit, as you do with a targeted spell. Intervening creatures and obstacles, however, can block your line of sight or provide cover for the creature at which you're aiming. If a ray spell has a duration, it's the duration of the effect that the ray causes, not the length of time the ray itself persists.
If a ray spell deals damage, you can score a critical hit just as if it were a weapon. A ray spell threatens a critical hit on a natural roll of 20 and deals double damage on a successful critical hit.

So basically you make an attack roll (1d20), and add your Dexterity modifier. Since it's a spell with it's own range (close is 25'+5/2 levels), it uses this instead of normal "increments". No penalties for distance, but you are capped.

The defender uses his "Touch" AC to defend against your attack. Typically, this means unless the guy has a decent Dexterity score, he's going to be fairly easy to hit.
In fact, large creatures having a penalty from size modifiers, ranged touch attacks make great things to use against those "brutish big baddies" types.

This is one-half of the reasons why casters are told to have a decent Dex score. The other half being Reflex saves and AC.

So:

Ranged Touch Attack Roll: 1d20 + Base Attack Bonus + Dexterity Modifier
vs
Touch AC: 10 + Dexterity + size modifier + misc (deflection, luck, etc)


Note that you are allowed to pick up Weapon Focus (ray) if you wanted (at least, according to previous 3.5e rulings). Since it can critical too, you could potentially grab Improved Critical (ray) too.
These you might want to run by your GM though, because he might hold different feelings on this, and I believe there isn't a specific rule in Pathfinder that calls this out as legal (there was in a 3.5e supplement, Tome of Magic? Someone else will clarify, I'm sure).

Hope that helps.

 

[Asmo]

Thanks; if the fighter is in meele with the intended target does the wizard have -4 to hit due to cover?

 

[Nebten]

It depense if he has line of sight or not. He will have -4 for shooting into melee and an additional -4 if the target has cover from the fighter.

A lot of these questions can be answered by the DM or fellow players. Have fun at your game!

 

[Asmo]

I´m the dm, but I´m quite rusty (as my group, we haven´t gamed in several years)
Thanks for the replys!

Asmo

 

[Kaisoku]

Yes.

At least, that's how we've run it. It's still a ranged attack, just a ranged touch attack.

 

[John4]

Edit: Ninja'd!

Ranged touch attacks are just like normal ranged attacks, except that they ignore armor and shield bonuses to AC. They use the "Touch AC" value on the target's stat block. Note that cover bonuses still apply to regular ranged touch attacks (I know there's a line in the combat section about incorporeal touch attacks; ignore it for now).

You add your BAB and your Dex modifier together (along with any miscellaneous attack bonuses, like having the Weapon Focus: Rays feat or luck bonuses from active spells or anything else), roll a d20, and add the bonuses to the roll's result. If the roll is equal to or greater than the target's Touch AC, you hit and the spell affects the target as the spell description notes. In the case of Disrupt Undead, it deals 1d6 damage.

It's unlikely that you will encounter any creatures with Spell Resistance at a level at which Disrupt Undead is useful as an attack; however, note that their Spell Resistance will apply if you do.

Example:

Your level 1 Wizard, Joe the Enchanter, encounters a bunch of skeletons. The noisy one (the one from Army of Darkness, screaming "Kill the mortals!"--I'm using the standard Human Skeleton stats from the Bestiary) has annoyed him enough that he wants to destroy it. Unfortunately, it's standing around a corner, just within sight (giving it a cover bonus to AC of +4), and its friends are standing in Joe's way, making a melee attack difficult.

So, he decides to use Disrupt Undead, checking to see if it is within range before attacking. It's twenty feet away, so that's no problem. Joe has a Dex score of 14, giving him a +2 to his attack roll (since he's a 1st-level wizard, he has a +0 BAB). The skeleton's Touch AC is 12 (10 + 2 Dex), and it gains a +4 Cover bonus to AC from being around the corner, bringing its Touch AC to 16. Joe will need a roll of 14 or better (14 + 2 = 16) to hit the annoyingly loud skeleton. He rolls a 15, making the attack a success (note: if he'd rolled a 20, he would have a critical threat, and would roll to confirm just like a normal attack)!

After seeing that his attack is a success, Joe's player asks the DM if the skeleton has Spell Resistance (it doesn't, by the way). Learning that it doesn't, Joe rolls 1d6 for damage. He rolls a 6, destroying the annoying creature altogether!


If you have any questions, let me know!

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Nebten's got it. If you're a wizard who is going to be focusing on ranged touch attack spells, then the Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot feats are going to be pretty useful for you; you might want to pick them up.

EDIT:

Oh, yeah - important point about Pathfinder. Disrupt Undead is a cantrip (0-level spell); in PF, you can use cantrips at will. Unlike higher-level spells, they are not forgotten when cast.

 

[frankthedm]

Also, it was fuzzy in d20, but pathfinder was clear that using the ranged touch attack draws AoOs, in addition to the act of casting.

Ranged Touch Spells in Combat: Some spells allow you to make a ranged touch attack as part of the casting of the spell. These attacks are made as part of the spell and do not require a separate action. Ranged touch attacks provoke an attack of opportunity, even if the spell that causes the attacks was cast defensively. Unless otherwise noted, ranged touch attacks cannot be held until a later turn.

 

[Kaisoku]

So yeah, I didn't actually check the feat, but Weapon Focus does specifically state that "Ray" is an option for it as a spellcaster.

There's a FAQ entry that specifically calls out allowing Improved Critical too, found here.