General comments - played both scenarios with the same GM.
RSR - Party and main schtick
Half-Elf Sorc - Telekinetic Projective
Human Paladin - Sword and Board (Hospice Knight, Deity)
Human Ranger - Companion and Shortbow - my character (Bear and Monster Hunter)
Goblin Fighter - Power attack w/Greatsword
General Comments
Scenario - This scenario had the feel of a typical PFS scenario. I liked the short quest format, even though it functionally is not much different from a normal scenario. The difficulty of this scenario was fairly low. At no point was the party in any real danger. Nobody went to 0 hit points, though the Paladin did use LoH a couple of times, probably incorrectly given he didn't put away his weapon (GM treated as if he has Warded Touch).
Combat - The combats were generally easy. However, players seem to be a slight disadvantage with the action economy because NPCs seem to be less concerned with living and GM played them fairly aggressive. Lack of AoO's means its harder for meleers to control the battlefield. NPCs can simply move past whomever and attack anyone. This cuts both ways, and means NPC casters are more exposed.
Very nice for one of the encounters to allow a non-diplomacy skill check to eliminate a combatant. More of that please.
Combat's did not last any longer than P1. Most things died in one or two rounds. In addition, a third attack is pointless of PCs who lack the accuracy boost to hit.
[u]Social Skills[/u] - This is always the weak part of PFS because the players are often railroaded into simply rolling predetermined skill checks, and most of these are Diplomacy. Nevertheless, it was good that options existed and was pleased that the Ranger was able to use Nature to do something.
Classes - The Fighter, using Power Attack totally dominated combat (despite a 16 STR). I tracked damage and over four encounters it looked like this:
Fighter - 118
Paladin - 69
Ranger - 23
Scorc - 29
The Paladin was fairly effective. Used his shield to block damage, but did not hit with any Retributive Strike. In addition, this ability seemingly had no impact on the GMs tactical decisions regarding the NPCs. However, the need to move and raise shield reduce the Paladin's attack rate.
The Ranger was a joke. This class is functionally a mess. Hunt Target was of zero benefit throughout the entire scenario despite applying it before combat began : 1) Never hit with a second attack that would have missed but for Hunt Target. Nor did I crit as a result. +1 just does not have that much of an impact; 2) it's not possible to get 2 attacks in when controlling an NPC and having to move; 3) If HT is screened or has cover, you're better off attacking something right in front of you; 4) HT gets killed, you have to burn another action to identify another target; 5) A third attack is pointless. So despite getting -8 on the third attack, the benefit is essentially worthless because there's little incentive to use it at low level.
The Animal Companion sits idle for about 1/3 of the combat. In rounds where the Ranger wants to choose another HT and then move and then fire, the AC cannot be given commands. If the Ranger wants to use Monster Hunter, that's another action. There is a potential for the AC to add damage using Work Together. This is far superior to having the creature attack.
Monster Hunter is entirely pointless at this level: 1) You need to first have a Hunt Target (action); 2) You have to Critically succeed on a Recall K check (Another action); 3) It's +1 for one attack, not one around; 4) The Ranger is only trained in Nature. So that means it's impossible for the Hunter to critically succeed on any non-Nature monster >= Ranger's level unless he rolls a nat 20. I tried to use this ability, it never worked. It literally gave zero benefit.
Ranged combat - Being stuck with a shortbow means pitiful damage. The Ranger was out damaged by the Sorc using TK Projective. What's more, the Sorc could use different ammunition and get different damage types. The Ranger can get slashing with a Bear.
In combat, my Ranger did 16 of his 23 points (total) in one crit against a zombie with the bear threatening.
At no point was Tracking or any Survival skills beneficial. Though Nature did help. The scenario apparently calls for two Survival checks, but in our case, whatever we did made them unnecessary. The point here was that none of the Ranger's background or theme played a factor.
The Sorc was effective. Telekinetic Project did a fair amount of damage and the Sorc had enough skills and modifiers for Diplomacy that if he did not outright dominate the Social skill checks, he was easily the most effective.
Arclord's Envry
General Comments - Player creating for 5th level characters took myself and the Paladin about four hours and this with us extending the 1st level characters.
Party -
Human Ranger - Bear companion, Monster Hunter, Monster Warden, Favored Aim, Bonded Companion, Expert Bow
Human Paladin - All three 1st level class feats, Shielded Ally, Divine Grace,
Goblin Wizard - Thief dedication
Cleric of Nethys
Bard -
General
This adventure wasn't nearly as satisfying as the first. The non-combat felt particularly railroaded. IMO, the story was too complicated for a game store environment where its hard to hear the GM (and I sat right next to him) and there is lot of banter back and forth. The combats felt more deadly than 1st level, but no one was reduced to zero hit points.
Combat
The combats were move involved and where enjoyable. There were a lot more crits in this game than in the 1st level scenario. The Flesh Golum crit several times, nearly every time it hit. Still no one got the Dying condition as most of the damage was taken by the Cleric and the Paladin.
Social/Skills
As is typical with PFS, there isn' a lot of decision making in the non-combat part of the game. This aspect boils down to obligatory skill checks, with everyone at the table rolling and someone getting a 18+ which prompts a data dump on the players.
Classes -
Damage for this one was harder to track due to more resistances/weakness. But over three encounters, the damage came out to as follows:
Ranger - 82
Paladin - 233
Wizard - 108*
Bard - 0
Cleric - 100*?
The Goblin Wizard was easily the MVP, imo. As is typical in P1, the wizard had an answer for every encounter, and never seem to run out of spells (and this was a Wizard with with Rogue multi-class).
In the first encounter, the Wizard used fire and summons. In the second, the GM allowed the Wizard to use TK Projective to fling water at the elementals.
During the one skill encounter, the Wizard and Bard were able to buff themselves and complete it, without any help from the Athletic trained Ranger and Paladin.
In the final encounter, the Wizard was able to use Grease to totally incapacitate several NPCs and summon an illusion to harry another. If Wizards were nerfed, it didn't show up in this adventure.
The Paladin dominated melee combat. Retributive Strike scored several hits, about 30-40 of the total 233, and that's with the player forgetting to use it half the time. A +1 weapon makes a big difference. The Paladin did not use LoH at all, nor did he use True Strike from his deity.
The Ranger was more effective than 1st level on account of a +1 bow and scoring a couple of crits/Nat 20's. This brought in the Deadly property and triggered the Crit Spec which twice forced an NPC to burn a round. However, given the specifics, this had minimal effect on the combat. Nevertheless, the Ranger came in dead last for damage (ignoring the bard who never actually attacked anything).
As with level 1, HT continues to be mostly worthless, and this is with my frequently using HT before Initiative is rolled. I might have gotten benefit from the second Range modifier on one shot. Despite getting two attacks (at the expense of the Companion doing nothing) not once did the +1 on the second attack make any difference. When I did command the animal, it never got any benefit from Hunt Target, so Companion's Bond did nothing. I used Favored Aim once, and quickly realized that the +1 you avoid from Screened or Cover, is not worth giving up an extra attack, or, more importantly, the ability to Command Animal.
Monster Hunter and Monster Warden never got used. There's no point in burning an action to try and identify a non-Nature NPC, when you need a natural 20 to critically succeed. In fact, almost no one used Recall Knowledge after initiative on account of it requiring an action.
Ultimately the Ranger is totally plagued by lack of actions, lack of agency, and lack of effectiveness. A composite shortbow with +1 on damage is not an effective weapon for a level 5 Ranger.
Finally, none of the Ranger's Background (Hunter) or Skill Feats (Experienced Tracker) had any impact. Tracking, Cover Tracks, an anything involving wildlife was of zero value.
The Bard did a lot of aiding and bard song. This did add damage to attacks and at one point the Bard gave the Paladin a +5 to hit on one attack. The Bard's biggest contribution was Stupefying the BBEG. This had a huge benefit and essentially was a primary motivation in the GM calling the fight early.
The Cleric was a force and a meat shield. He took a ton of damage in all the encounters and survived. Using Vampiric touch and Harm, he laid waste to many NPCs. In the final encounter, he dispelled a summon creature right at the onset. The player had to leave early so did not finish the final encounter.
