While I personally start with class, and it seems many others do so as well, for new players it's not necessarily the best first option. Personally, having a character concept first is best, and for some concepts picking a class next would be easiest but there's plenty of people who having an idea of their ancestry and background would help make the decision on their finally class easier.

A 'character who swings a sword' could be soooooo many different classes, but then maybe chosing a goblin that worked occult relics would help them realize they ultimately want to be a thaumagturge instead of say a fighter or barbarian.

Ultimately, there needed to be an order to decisions and for players who know what their doing the order in the book really doesn't make that much of a difference, where as using the framework of it being an ABC to character creation helps make it seem simple vs. a convoluted or complex thing that would scare off some prospective players and, personally, flows alot better than CAB or CBA.

... Myself, I might houserule that they get to add their spellcasting ability modifier to cantrips even though the system says they don't - but I am going to wait until the full remaster comes out before doing so. If in my opinion casters don't get anything meaningful...yeah, I'll cheerfully buff them.

Hrmm personally adding the ability modifier to their slotted spells might be a better balanced buff. Maybe halved on AoE/multi-target spells. It'd be a boost still but not run into the issue of making cantrips significantly better than slotted spells. (I mean 3d4+4 from Needle Darts would be a similar amount of damage to the 1d12 and 1d4 from Thunderstrike. Mind you an attack spell vs. a save spell but still.)

No but you can take away option from Society play and that may be the most play some people are able to do. Sudden Bolt seems more of the inspiration of the new Thunderstrike. That spell could have been changed instead of Shocking Grasp. I see nothing that needed to be changed so fundamentally in shocking grasp for OGL change. You could change the damage type to anything else and keep it a melee touch attack so Magus can still have a good attack spell. Now by RAW they don't.

Horizon Thunder Sphere is right there. Yes, it's originally ranged, but that doesn't matter for a magus spellstrike. Given the severely limited number of spell slots you have in the first place, looking at the new/changed cantrips, like Ignition which is solid for a magus given the d6s it rolls for melee strikes, than loosing ONE spell that only really worked well for the magus.

Also, there's really no touch attacks in 2e.

Casters in 3.x were OP if you crunched the numbers (though this was less true in actual combat).

Uhhh, you must not have played a lot of high level 1e. There's reasons why it was almost universally agreed casters were stronger than martials, why the tier system was developed in the first place and it was not just 'looks better on paper.' I have run high level PF1e and the amount of things a high level caster could just flat out negate/ignore/invalidate was astounding especially compared to what a martial character could do in the same situation. I can understand arguments about the balancing going too far in favor of martial characters, but trying to argue that the balance before was okay is either disingenuous, lacking understanding/knowledge/mastery or based off of biased anecdotes/experiences.

Since theoretically the redesign is not complete, here are my two coppers.

Way, way, waaaaayyyy too late for this. The book is definitely off to the printers. Probably either being printed now or finishing and getting ready to ship back to the US.

Also I think cantrips have changed to be more swingy, take needle darts for example. It's been built with the new paradigm and doesn't have ability modifier, but instead an extra 2d4 compared to most cantrips. Which at level one is effectively like having a two variable ability modifier bonuses. Effectively you can have a +2 to a +8 on damage, which help balance how much weaker attack cantrips are to save. We'll likely see 2d4 for single target save based cantrips.

Again abandoned on the ground, Wuffles is overjoyed to have friends come down and visit him, even if it looked a little painful on the way. He pounces on Meadow first, licking her up and down as he gets pegged in the back by Silence. He then bounds over to Isaku and gives him lots of slobbery love as well.

This time THREE friends came down to see him. What a good day!

Right, Vyviane is ready!

And she has a few new toys.

First she got a turquoise cube aeon stone that lets her retroactively add +1 to a failed saving throw, attack roll or skill check to make a failure into a success once per day

And two she got some Force Soles that allow her to walk on air. So she can walk just about anywhere whether it be on the ceiling or walls or in mid-air.

I think Vyviane is one off too. I'll see about a quick VTT game this weekend/Tuesday (it's a national holiday.) but if needed I can bring back Ceolor, the ranged Solarion.

Perception DC 20, pursue a lead?: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 12 + 1 = 14
Symeon frowns over the panels, and actually to he's the one that Meadow was reaching for. He gets shocked and sucks on his finger. "Rovht, youchjng dat would be dumb."

Wuffles Barkolomew Wagginston the Fluffy, the giant white and brown dog with long fluffy hair that is an absolute pain to maintain in the sandy desert, watches everyone climbing up the monoliths and whimpers slightly at getting left behind. Anyone who does fall gets covered in happy dog kisses before they can right themselves.

Symeon takes his time in the desert to make sure that he, Wuffles, and everyone else in the party stay hydrated and avoid the risk of heat exhaustion or, worse, stroke. During the trip he decides to set the Jistikan relic and the things causing interference with the knife as his primary leads. Pursing a lead on the Relic and then another on the interefrencees.

At the pillar, Symeon stares up at it for a moment, before climbing the ladder that Brekovi so graciously provided. At the top he pauses, "I also have a feather token ladder, if we'd just like to use that instead of forcing people to climb."

He waits for some feedback on using the second ladder.

Hopefully Symeon will be able to keep people above the point where they're going down, but that's an amazing reaction to have just in case.

There's a couple of (semi) unusual things Symeon can do. First, he has Known Weakness that allows him a Recall Knowledge every time he takes the Devise a Stratagem action. I tend to roll a flat d20 behind a spoiler with relevant (or likely relevant) modifiers on the side.

Second, with the Forensic Medicine methodology (which gives level to HP healed from Battle Medicine) and Medic Dedication (boosts the HP Healed for higher DCs,) he can heal people via Battle Medicine for more than normal (+5 for regular DC, +20 for expert DC) and people are only immune for an hour.

Finally, he has treat condition that allows him to try counteracting the Clumsy, Enfeebled, and Sickened conditions on others.

"Oh my goodness! Symeon! I didn't recognize you. Did you get a haircut or something?"

Symeon gives a nod, "I did cut it short to try handling the desert heat better. Also grew a goatee."

Smiling, the ysoki chuckles and says “Well then, this should work splendidly. A pleasure to meet you Symeon, my name is Brekovi.”

“You can take care of the medical health while I concentrate on keeping our trip through the desert as safe as it can be.”

“No, I don’t have any ailments.”

Symeon jots a very quick note down in a notebook and smiles at the ysoki. "Perfect! Preventive care is always a better shot, anyways."

Isaku's eyes take on a far away look, as if recalling something.

"Symeon Isafira. Are you the same Symeon Isafira I read about in an old Pathfinder chronicle about some strange happenings in an Absalom school? The fellow who runs the coffee stand next door, a nice chap named Gnimish, mentioned the name. As for myself, no, I don't have any pre-existing conditions, other then maybe I'm allergic to ne'er do wells that I try to stamp out whenever possible."

Symeon's cheeks brighten a little at the mention of his exploits at the Dalcine Academy. "Oh, no! You've been talking with Gnimish, have you? He hasn't talked about, you know... the mannequin has he? I was a bit shaken up by everything and not in my right mind."

"Pre-existing conditions?" Tess raises an expressive red eyebrow, and then smiles wryly at Symeon. "Do you consider possession a pre-existing condition?"

"Mother made me six months ago, in the plains of Geb. She infused parts of three different souls into my creation, and most of the time everybody takes turns. But when things get stressful, they all have different ideas of what I should do, and so I sometimes have to struggle with them - er, me - a bit. " She sighs. "It's complicated."

Symeon, posed to start writing notes, pauses at the unusual question. "While I'm sure many of my peers in the mental health realm would definitely, I've met enough Pathfinders to know it's not necessarily a concern. As long as they don't interfere with your day-to-day or cause you other concern, it's not something to worry about. Just let me know if I should do anything different when treating your wounds, you know your body the best afterall."

He jots down a short note, and then drops the professional demeanor. Giving a bright smile, his own shickingly red goatee splitting to show his teeth, Symeon comments, "You're only six months old? That's amazing. I bet you're probably the picture of perfect health."

@Symeon will you cover tracking of purchases?

Already on it.

So Symeon is going to pick up a few things in addition to a riding dog.

Symeon isn't adverse to some time on the road, the halfling with shocking reddish orange hair enjoying the time to reflect and think back on things he'd been through. He'd needed it after that encounter with a fey realm and the monarch of it trying to kill him and his group. It also helps that this was a good place to ply his trade. Large groups of people on the road always meant someone was likely sick or needing some medical attention... It wasn't his true passion of surgery, disappointingly, but did provide good places to gather evidence of that new theory of 'microbes' that had gotten him kicked out of his university in the first place.

He'd spend time during the day bundled in white and ferrying water around to the various groups, all the while keeping an eye out for a sick person, and asking for a sample of blood and mucus. The nights, with a little ingenuity, made great times to study the samples by microscope and get and idea of what illnesses were caused by what.

The sands and dunes... made things... interesting. It'd mess with his slides and cultures if he wasn't careful and could lead to some badly abraded skin if the wind picked up, literally sand blasting anyone caught unawares. However, it was better than moisture or a creeping chill and moreover lead to him swiftly moving tons of his homemade skin ointment that helped with sunburns and small cuts.

Taking a look at characters I have available in level range, I realized I only have Symeon here, a medicine focused investgator, free. He'll be here to make sure everyone stays alive, healthy and in a good mental state.

I would suggest putting the DC at Easy for level. You’ve got to roll for it so often that even at easy you are going to have failures. Every time you get hit there is a chance of you going prone.

As for the fighter, they are probably going to learn that they need both Athletics and Acrobatics on any character that needs to move around. That has been my experience with PF2.

I did get a suggestion to use trained/untrained simple DCs as well. However, we ultimately got around the issue by virtue of the leap action and the hazard only being 5' wide. Here it's a speed bump not a road block.

Seggas gives Sturm a raised eye as the dinner finishes.

On the way over to the Idari, Seggas hands out a series of waivers of liability to everyone but Sturm. "Right, due to certain ... uh.. reasons I need anyone who wants to benefit from my medical care to sign one of these. In effect you agree to not sue me over any complications that might happen due to unforseen circumstances. Of course, if there was clear negligence it doesn't cover that. Also you might be subject to light, exceedingly temporary, and purely cosmetic genetic testing."
This is Seggas' way of ensuring that you are okay with her using biohacker class features on your PC.

On the Idari she gives the group a look as they get into the Outlands Market. "There's a masterful genetics augmentations specialist here I've been DYING to meet. They might be the only people in the Pact Worlds to have the only genetic samples I need for a few projects I'm working on. I'll meet you back up here in an hour or so? If that works."

I made a few purchases, and am flavoring it as her getting them here. Seggas is picking up a Synaptic Symbiote mk 1 for Dex, an Applied Knowledge species graft and a Electrolocation species graft as well.

55 minutes later she shows up with a small scar on behind one ear and some modified boots, but otherwise seems rather unchanged. "Right, let's get to looking for this kasathan... Can't be too hard here right?"

Heyoh! I decided to join up and brought a friend. I've been playing through the scoured stars scenarios with a solarion, but he's already in a different scoured stars game and thus I needed to bring someone else. But my biohacker, and the dragonkin soldier she's bonded to, were both free and looking for a game! She is level three I just need to level her up.

Signature spells allow you to cast the spell at what ever level of spell slots you still have. So no they do not auto level like cantrips, but you don't have to take them as spells known at different levels.

Non-signature spells you can only cast at the level you added them to your spell repertoire.

This is the last thing I'm going to post on this because A) it is not the intent of this thread and B) you probably have some baggage/issues about people claiming status over others and have clearly made up your mind on this and I doubt there's little I can say to change it.

You seem to be focused exclusively on that one phrase and ascribing emotions and motivations to it that are not present in the rest of the post. It was a call to action (e.g. Buy now!) and expression of the merits of sanctioning. These are a common way to motivate people to do something. It might be couched in the terms of a demand but so are most forms of advertising.

I doubt this was intended to set up a frame work nor, given context, was it likely intended to be a demand on the organized play people on the sole merit of being a 'most loyal customer.'

Finally, I would counter that digging into someone this much over a single line is crappy, especially when that one line is not even the main point of their argument. They've been polite and contentious.

Lesrek wrote:

I didn't demand anything

”Reward your most loyal fans!”, your exact words, is literally a demand.

In context, it was a call to action. Yes isolated it is a demand but everything around it was couched in a completely different tone that was for the most part respectful. I don't know why you seem to be objecting so hard to it.

I have been planning out a fetchling assasin who takes advantage of the feats for them from Knights of Lastwall and this is such good news!

Not my check, just for the fun of it, Cha check: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4

Oraeus stares at Buddy as he points out the android for a moment. There's a small narrowing of the lens aperture in his eyes that suggest that he doesn't appreciate getting called out like this. He stands and with a flat wooden affect, adds "It is I, Pallena Lervo. I didn't steal an artifact. You are a liar. She is slandering me and wants to kill me. We should lock her away until she dies from, given the penitentiary and year she died, most likely Orthomyxoviridae Alphainfluenzavirus X9G3Y7, common name 'HP Absalom Halfling Flu...'"

The android tries to play counter the properly intimidating Buddy, but fails to be much more than one out of five stars.

Instead when it becomes his turn to give a story, Oraeus switches to a completley different topic talking about why he exists in the first place. "I was made to be a combat medic during the last few years of the Lashunta-Formian wars. It has little bearing with either of our predecessors, their conflict, or the Night's Call but if you want my most important stories, then I should probably tell you about the horrors I encountered those few years..." He then proceeds to talk, in medical detail, some of the worst things he encountered during his service.

Medicine?: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (17) + 11 = 28

There's a small puff of air before a dwarf appears in the room. He's dressed in some EXTREMELY unusual clothing and carrying some long metal stick. He mutters something about eating strawberries as always landing him in the oddest places before tasting the air. There's an exclamation of "PRE-GAP?" before the dwarf runs out of the room, laughing giddly.
Sorry, but I'd likely never get such a chance to do this again.

So sorry for the lack of posts, I got busy prepping for Paizocon too and then got news a few days before hand my 4 year old cat has a quick acting terminal illness and doesn't have much longer to be living. I haven't been handling it well.

Rose gives the necklace a very wide berth and eyes Nilaglade for longer than necessary as he puts on the necklace. Shoot, giving this to the tiny one was a stupid idea! His teeth are so small I can't tell if they're becoming pointed or not!

She decides that he isn't going to leap for the throats like a crazed vampire and resolves to just keep her jezail in hand incase he proves to have turned into a sneaky vampire instead. "Let us know if you start feeling any different, Nilaglade."

Will Save, DC 25, Guidance: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 10 + 1 = 19
Will Save Hero point, Guidance: 1d20 + 10 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 10 + 1 = 25

Symeon just barely avoids the effects of the spell, but does so and with the aplomb of a surgeon who has faced worse in an operating theater.
Gusty Halfling heritage makes that a Crit Success

Symeon then moves forward a few feet and then stops and listens for the sounds of feet on floor tiles as he seeks the Mother that shouldn't have children.

Seek in a burst around him, +10 Perception, with a +2 from Keen Senses

If he finds the woman he takes a moment to point her out, but if he fails to find her, he instead tries to take a moment to recall what the other invisible thing in the room might be instead.
+8 Religion

If anyone else tries to Seek out Mother, Symeon will use his Clue In reaction to give them a +1 to their check.

And sadly, the Radiant Oath's small symbol image is broken (as are many of the PF2e factions.)

So sorry for not posting for a while. Life has been busy recently. I'm moving from all of the schools I teach at and my base school closed down so I was running around helping them clean-up, move things around and get rid of unnecessary things or stuff with personally identifiable information. It's sapped my energy and time. Things will be settling down next week, and I should be able to post more regularly.

So sorry for not posting for a while. Life has been busy recently. I'm moving from all of the schools I teach at and my base school closed down so I was running around helping them clean-up, move things around and get rid of unnecessary things or stuff with personally identifiable information. It's sapped my energy and time. Things will be settling down next week, and I should be able to post more regularly.

Symeon takes a moment to perform a dissection of one of the hellhounds on the boat and with detailed drawings creates a small anatomy book about it.

Surgery Lore: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15
It just barely sells enough copies to make a profit. That should be a success at task level 1 for 1.6 gp

I'm a level 3 CORE Dwarf Monk - anyone need something punched?

"Good idea. We should get a hand costume. Maybe one person per finger."

Ionic frowns at the mention of this. It means that there'd probably be need for all of the group to participate instead of just the talented ones. He gives a sigh before commenting, "'Ll play de dumb. 's long as it's a NON-speakin' role!"

He then leaves the group to plan out a play as he gathers what ingredients he can find. An hour later the dwarf has his hair and beard up and out of his face as he finishes butchering a deer that didn't escape the fire in time as a fire heats up what looks like a flattened shield with a bit of oil and vegetables splayed across it. A good thirty minutes later, the meal of grilled vegetables and meat is ready. He looks at the rest of the group and says, "Well, dig in."

@Symeon - who is your HP provider? I saw that the bonus to medicine changes from +11 to +12 ;)

I had one hero point left, I just moved it away cause I was using it. Also whoops on the +11/+12 that was a typo. The +15and +3 both come from his class and archetype. +5 from the Medic and then class level (+3) from forensic investigator.

Ionic turns to give Pip a congratulatory clap on the back and comment on her bravery when she approaches, but gets surprised by the sudden potion in his face. He chugs it down, before taking a deep breath. "Bit unexpected... Also potion'as definitely bit stale."

Ionic blinks for a few second as he, he takes down the spirit. Knew should've double or noding-ed dis fight! He gives a slightly cocky grin and wave at Bardyth as he tries to hide how weak he truly feels. With his last two actions he hands Hoppper back his doglsicer and pulls out two potions with a PFS mark on it and downs the contents on his next round.

Using the school items to heal up.
Lesser Healing Potions x2: 4d8 + 10 ⇒ (6, 7, 5, 5) + 10 = 33

He then starts to look for his trident on the ground.
Should all take 5 actions which the dwarf should still have left.

Rereading Inspire Defence, I think Ionic should be down two more hit points as the resistance only applies to 'physical damage' and these attacks appear to be pure negative damage and making the argument of them stacking or not moot.

Seelah chuckles to herself at the underutilized grasshoppers before turning back to the rest of her group. "May Iomedae's light and grace guide you forever more."

She joins in the festivities and partying, in appropriate moderation of course, but after all is said and done, she does sit alone staring at her pointer finger and slowly flexing it. All said and done, she really DID enjoy using that 'rocket launcher.'

Thanks for running, as always it was a pleasure to play at your table! I really wish I could have played this with someone I actually had more understanding of their character with, but otherwise this was a fun experience.

Pip shakes her fist. "Think you can scare me? We gnomes are made of sterner stuff!"

Ionic nods from across the circle. "Show 'em, Pip! Ain't nodin' scarin' you!"

Ionic dodges under the first attack leveled at him and then rolls away from the other two, using the momentum from his dodging to roll over to the next rune and troll, as he hopes to stay under the swing of this one that seems prepared for him to come in. "Bah, big lumberin' trolls!"

He then takes a quick look at the partially destroyed rune and just gives it a kick. "Ain't time ta be fancy!"

Athletics, M: 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (17) + 17 = 34

I am on Wave 4... Which frankly will be awesome because rescuing Pathfinders will let my group have another ten minutes of healing after having had to deal with those Hounds of Tindalos.

Is there a back-up GM available? I am not feeling well, and am wondering if I could get a couple days of coverage for today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday.) My party is currently rescuing the Pathfinders from Mission 2, and once they do, they can heal for another ten minutes and fight dinosuars in Mission 3. They have 24 challenge points.

Also... they have already acheived the success condition on Mission 2 but I was giving them one last round to see if they could rescue the remaining Kyras.

Got it!

I'm an EASY SELL!

I hear there's a great bridge in Brooklyn for sale. ;P

Symeon takes a look at the room as well. Perception, DC 17: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

He stops for a moment and then takes a few steps back, before looking at everyone else in the room. "Hold still for just a moment. I think there's foot prints in the dust here that don't belong to us."

He then starts to trace a path through the mess before arriving at a podium far away from everyone else. "These were someone else's footsteps. They stopped here and... Looked for... Ah! Yes, they took something here... Something arachnid like with eight legs. Perhaps a spider? We might want to be careful about any spiders we see."

There's no way to identify the spider with just this is there?

"It's been a long day, especially for you Johnny! Let's get some good rest for the inevitable time schenanigans we'll experience tomorrow."

Seelah finds a comfortably spot to rest and opens up a mystery novel titled "The Goblin I used to know", which she picked up in Absalom. Why you might ask? Because I'm playing Seelah, and I'm deciding she likes reading mystery series. And there's nothing that paizo can do to stop me.

I'm playing Seelah at another table of this special and I will definitely be bringing out a mystery novel at some point now! This is too good.

Seelah stares at the hole for a long moment and then silently thinks to herself, Iomedae above, I NEVER want to be on the wrong end of one of these! She stares at Ashasar taking in the hole and smoke slowly before gingerly setting the launcher down. "I was uh... Testing out these TACTICAL CLUSTER ROCKET LAUNCHERS."

She then turns to the rest of the group and says, "And that is why I was saying we should be extremely careful about these things. Did you see that explosion? How it turned part of the wall there into nothing-ness? We shouldn't mess with things we don't know what they are. Now toss those fruits out and let's try not to mess with what ever that fire extinguisher does. For all we know it doesn't actually extinguish things."

Seelah looks at the 'TACTICAL CLUSTER ROCKET LAUNCHER' bat things and spots the tiny thing with a curve to it as if to fit a finger. "Wait I think I've seen something similar to this in Alkenstar... I think they called it a tigger? Anyways, it might launch what ever rocket like thing is in here. Didn't know a firework could be clustered and tactically at that." She raises the bat like thing gingerly and turns to face away from everyone the bat parellel to the group in case it launches the wrong direction and pulls the 'tigger'.

"Wouldn't be 'ere if'n I weren't! Now Bardyth, who ya dink gonna take dis ding down first? Wanna bet? Loser buys dinner."