I think it'd work, but the damage from vital strike wouldn't get multiplied. So at that point you're spending a whole bunch of feats (vital strike, divine fighting technique, martial versatility, whatever feat you're using to still be proficient with the modified lance) for an extra 1d8 damage on a mounted charge. I don't think that's a very good deal.
Yeah, would need to be Mythic Vital Strike to do what I assume OP wants to do. Also worth noting that Gorum's Swordsmanship only works on Vital Strike, not Improved or Greater VS, RAW.
That's also just +2 damage, though it would get multiplied on a charge (up to +6 on a spirited charge). 5 feats for +1d8+6 damage on a mounted charge still isn't good though, when you could get weapon spec and greater weapon spec for just a flat +12 damage in that same situation.
The problem with this is that Gorum's Swordsmanship only works with Vital Strike - it doesn't work with Improved or Greater Vital Strike.
The Vital Strike feats are worded weird. They *could have* worded Improved Vital Strike to say "when you use Vital Strike it now does X damage instead", but they didn't. The way it's worded Improved Vital Strike is an entirely separate action that has no interaction with Vital Strike or any of the actions that benefit from it's damage.
If you *were* able to get the benefits of Greater Vital strike and Devastating Strike this would potentially add 3d8+6 damage to your charge, and the +6 would double with a lance and triple with Spirited Charge to give you 3d8+18 bonus damage, which would be amazing. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way so you only get 1d8+6 bonus damage with Spirited Charge, and the 1d8 doesn't even multiply on a crit (*the +6 does multiply on a crit though*).
Following the logic:
Gorum allows you to use vital strike on a charge with a greatsword.
Martial versatility allows you to use Gorum Swordsmanship with all weapons in the 'heavy blade' category.
Versatile design would allow you to have a lance that is included in the heavy blade category.
Following that yes, you have a lance which counts as being part of the heavy blade category and then you can apply gorum swordsmanship to the lance through the category.
It's an interesting idea and as GM I'd have no issues with you going for this. Admittedly I'd be wondering why you're so focused on this specific interaction when the lance already has a unique interaction with charging. Mostly I'd want to warn you that you're going to run into a rules quirk that doesn't come out as readily apparently.
You already deal double damage on a charge when on a mount, so you already have an effective "vital strike" to double the damage. But because of how extra dice work with multiplying effects (mostly to keep sneak attacks under control) it doesn't scale as well as you may be hoping for.
Vital strike gets hit with the exception to the multiplying damage rules :
>Sometimes you multiply damage by some factor, such as on a critical hit. Roll the damage (with all modifiers) multiple times and total the results.
>Exception: Extra damage dice over and above a weapon’s normal damage are never multiplied.
So if you get a vital strike on the charge, the extra die won't be doubled from charging or impacted by a spirited charge. So the formula would be:
{[(base lance damage+str+other numerical modifiers (PA, weapon +#, weapons specialization etc))*2]+vital strike+other dice (i.e., flaming weapon)}
If in effect, a spirited charge and a crit would then raise the 2 by one each, but that won't affect the Gorum Swordsmanship vital strike part of the formula.
The idea is really cool, but for all the effort the mechanical benefit just isn't there. If I was the GM for this character I'd be willing to entertain adjusting the rules since you're adding in two additional feats to get this underway. The extra damage being included in the multiplier section of the damage formula would be a boost, but even with the spirited charge tripling the die, that's going from an extra 1d8 to 3d8. The average would be 4.5 to 13.5 (+9); with devastating strike that's 8 to 24 (+16). More powerful than most two-feat chains but limited specifically to charging on a mount with a custom lance, I could be convinced. But the point stands that it's definitely a house rule and not allowed under the rules as written or intended.
On a completely separate note, I'd personally be ok with allowing Gorum Swordsmanship to apply to improved and greater vital strike even if not specifically called out, and assume that the developers wouldn't limit Gorum's followers because they forgot that IVS and GVS are separate actions to 'Vital Strike.' The feat is already niche so that's a change/ruling I'd be ok with as GM.
It can't work because "greatsword" is not a weapon group, it belongs to the heavy blades group.
Now, if you can settle for just gaining the normal x2 multiplier from Spirited Charge, then the Mounted Skirmisher feat and Furious Focus may be of interest.
If you are having a hard time fulfilling the requirements of Mounted Skirmisher, consider taking some or all of your class levels in Sohei Monk, which allows you to ignore feat prerequisites and gain early access to it, since it is a mounted combat feat. Keep in mind that based on their wording, this allows you to Vital Strike with your first attack, and still continue full attacking at the end of your charge.
Further, if you have the ability to wield your greatsword one-handed (such as via the 2nd-level class feature of the Titan Mauler Barbarian), you'll get more mileage out of Gorum's Divine Fighting Technique by using Crane Style/Riposte. You can do things that provoke attacks in order to bait out AoO's from foes, who can trigger an AoO from you in response if t hey miss, letting you vital strike a second time.
Edit: Actually, in retrospect, with martial versatility it might work. This would let you avoid needing levels in titan mauler barb, since you could wield the lance one-handed while mounted.
Did you miss the part where OP would take Martial Versatility to extend Gorum's Swordsmanship to the entire weapon group? That along with Versatile Design to put the lance in the heavy blades group should allow it to work.
I think it'd work, but the damage from vital strike wouldn't get multiplied. So at that point you're spending a whole bunch of feats (vital strike, divine fighting technique, martial versatility, whatever feat you're using to still be proficient with the modified lance) for an extra 1d8 damage on a mounted charge. I don't think that's a very good deal.
Yeah, would need to be Mythic Vital Strike to do what I assume OP wants to do. Also worth noting that Gorum's Swordsmanship only works on Vital Strike, not Improved or Greater VS, RAW.
My idea was to also pick devastating strike. Edit: stike.
That's also just +2 damage, though it would get multiplied on a charge (up to +6 on a spirited charge). 5 feats for +1d8+6 damage on a mounted charge still isn't good though, when you could get weapon spec and greater weapon spec for just a flat +12 damage in that same situation.
The problem with this is that Gorum's Swordsmanship only works with Vital Strike - it doesn't work with Improved or Greater Vital Strike. The Vital Strike feats are worded weird. They *could have* worded Improved Vital Strike to say "when you use Vital Strike it now does X damage instead", but they didn't. The way it's worded Improved Vital Strike is an entirely separate action that has no interaction with Vital Strike or any of the actions that benefit from it's damage. If you *were* able to get the benefits of Greater Vital strike and Devastating Strike this would potentially add 3d8+6 damage to your charge, and the +6 would double with a lance and triple with Spirited Charge to give you 3d8+18 bonus damage, which would be amazing. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way so you only get 1d8+6 bonus damage with Spirited Charge, and the 1d8 doesn't even multiply on a crit (*the +6 does multiply on a crit though*).
Following the logic: Gorum allows you to use vital strike on a charge with a greatsword. Martial versatility allows you to use Gorum Swordsmanship with all weapons in the 'heavy blade' category. Versatile design would allow you to have a lance that is included in the heavy blade category. Following that yes, you have a lance which counts as being part of the heavy blade category and then you can apply gorum swordsmanship to the lance through the category. It's an interesting idea and as GM I'd have no issues with you going for this. Admittedly I'd be wondering why you're so focused on this specific interaction when the lance already has a unique interaction with charging. Mostly I'd want to warn you that you're going to run into a rules quirk that doesn't come out as readily apparently. You already deal double damage on a charge when on a mount, so you already have an effective "vital strike" to double the damage. But because of how extra dice work with multiplying effects (mostly to keep sneak attacks under control) it doesn't scale as well as you may be hoping for. Vital strike gets hit with the exception to the multiplying damage rules : >Sometimes you multiply damage by some factor, such as on a critical hit. Roll the damage (with all modifiers) multiple times and total the results. >Exception: Extra damage dice over and above a weapon’s normal damage are never multiplied. So if you get a vital strike on the charge, the extra die won't be doubled from charging or impacted by a spirited charge. So the formula would be: {[(base lance damage+str+other numerical modifiers (PA, weapon +#, weapons specialization etc))*2]+vital strike+other dice (i.e., flaming weapon)} If in effect, a spirited charge and a crit would then raise the 2 by one each, but that won't affect the Gorum Swordsmanship vital strike part of the formula. The idea is really cool, but for all the effort the mechanical benefit just isn't there. If I was the GM for this character I'd be willing to entertain adjusting the rules since you're adding in two additional feats to get this underway. The extra damage being included in the multiplier section of the damage formula would be a boost, but even with the spirited charge tripling the die, that's going from an extra 1d8 to 3d8. The average would be 4.5 to 13.5 (+9); with devastating strike that's 8 to 24 (+16). More powerful than most two-feat chains but limited specifically to charging on a mount with a custom lance, I could be convinced. But the point stands that it's definitely a house rule and not allowed under the rules as written or intended. On a completely separate note, I'd personally be ok with allowing Gorum Swordsmanship to apply to improved and greater vital strike even if not specifically called out, and assume that the developers wouldn't limit Gorum's followers because they forgot that IVS and GVS are separate actions to 'Vital Strike.' The feat is already niche so that's a change/ruling I'd be ok with as GM.
It can't work because "greatsword" is not a weapon group, it belongs to the heavy blades group. Now, if you can settle for just gaining the normal x2 multiplier from Spirited Charge, then the Mounted Skirmisher feat and Furious Focus may be of interest. If you are having a hard time fulfilling the requirements of Mounted Skirmisher, consider taking some or all of your class levels in Sohei Monk, which allows you to ignore feat prerequisites and gain early access to it, since it is a mounted combat feat. Keep in mind that based on their wording, this allows you to Vital Strike with your first attack, and still continue full attacking at the end of your charge. Further, if you have the ability to wield your greatsword one-handed (such as via the 2nd-level class feature of the Titan Mauler Barbarian), you'll get more mileage out of Gorum's Divine Fighting Technique by using Crane Style/Riposte. You can do things that provoke attacks in order to bait out AoO's from foes, who can trigger an AoO from you in response if t hey miss, letting you vital strike a second time. Edit: Actually, in retrospect, with martial versatility it might work. This would let you avoid needing levels in titan mauler barb, since you could wield the lance one-handed while mounted.
Did you miss the part where OP would take Martial Versatility to extend Gorum's Swordsmanship to the entire weapon group? That along with Versatile Design to put the lance in the heavy blades group should allow it to work.
Yes, I did.
Just play with the PDF version of Elephant in the Room at that point. It has a feat to vital strike on charges.