
Wandering Wastrel |

Hey all,
welcome to the discussion thread. You know how this works. Gameplay thread is open, so feel free to dot in.
First things first: I'm running another game on this forum and it will always take precedence - though I imagine that rules queries and so on will probably slow us up a bit anyway. tl;dr - I'm not looking for more than 1 post a day, although if you can manage more than that then great.
As for character generation: feel free to playtest any class, but PLEASE no goblin ancestry (I'm prejudiced, I know).
The playtest AP contains backgrounds to use, instead of those from the rulebook, and I list them below for ease of reference.
BUDDING OSIRIONOLOGIST
The secrets buried in the seemingly endless sands of the nation
of Osirion have long intrigued you, even though you’ve never
actually visited the nation. Some day, you hope to correct that.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be to Dexterity or
Intelligence, and one is a free ability boost.
You gain the Terrain Stalker (rubble) feat, and you’re trained in
the Ancient Osirion Lore skill.
ESOTERIC SCION
One of your family members belongs to a semisecret society
called the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye. You’ve long held an
interest in perhaps some day joining the order and have studied
strange topics in preparation for that day.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be to Intelligence or
Wisdom, and one is a free ability boost.
You gain the Quick Identification feat, and you’re trained in the
Esoteric Order Lore skill.
FAMILY FRIEND
Your family has been friends with the Deverins of Magnimar
for a generation, and you’ve grown accustomed to hobnobbing
with the aristocracy even if you have little or no interest in
such matters.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be to Charisma or
Intelligence, and one is a free ability boost.
You gain the Hobnobber feat, and you’re trained in the Nobility
Lore skill.
MIND QUAKE SURVIVOR
As a child, you once woke from a particularly harrowing
nightmare, and this nightmare has plagued you ever since.
You’ve had strange thoughts and knowledge that you always felt
weren’t truly your own.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be to Constitution or
Wisdom, and one is a free ability boost.
You gain the Dubious Knowledge feat, and you’re trained in
the Dominion of the Black Lore skill.
PATHFINDER HOPEFUL
You’ve long wanted to join the adventurous Pathfinder Society,
a world-spanning organization of relic hunters. This aspiration
has led you to take up the dangerous life of an adventurer
eager to make a name for yourself and gain the attention of the
Pathfinder Society.
Choose two ability boosts. One must be to Strength or
Intelligence, and one is a free ability boost.
You gain the Additional Lore feat, and you’re trained in the
Pathfinder Society Lore skill.
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The first part of this AP starts in Magnimar, and you start as an ally of Keleri Deverin, an aristocrat and scholar living in Magnimar, who has a problem.
When Keleri entered the old vault beneath the family estate to retrieve the star from storage, she found the chamber in total disarray. Chests lay smashed about the room, shelves were knocked over, and worst of all, the steel lockbox containing the Star of Desna was missing. The source of the robbery was made evident by a gaping hole in the center of the floor, leading down into the sewers, and sewage stains in the shape of goblin footprints leading out of it.
Enraged, Keleri lashed out at the now-empty shelves and ruined containers, only to find that she was not alone. A quiet whimpering came from behind a partially collapsed armoire. Investigating, she found a lone goblin, wounded and wretched. Keleri demanded answers about her stolen heirlooms, but the goblin only began howling in greater terror and begged for mercy. Keleri’s rage subsided, and she asked the goblin what had frightened her so.
The goblin introduced herself as Talga and explained that her tribe, the Mudchewer tribe, had been enslaved by a brutish hobgoblin named Drakus the Taker, who was forcing members of her tribe to dig into vaults and basements all around town to rob longshanks of loot and treasure. Those who refused were taken away, only to have their blood-drained bodies put on display as a warning to the other goblins. Immediately after the robbery on the Deverin basement, Talga and a few other desperate goblins rebelled, but they were cut down and slaughtered. Only Talga survived by retreating up to the Deverin vault and hiding.
Now with no home and nearly paralyzed with fear over the fate of her fellow goblins under Drakus’s increasingly violent rule, Talga became desperate. She begged Keleri to send adventurers to her old lair, a complex called the Ashen Ossuary that was accessible via the Magnimar sewers. She promised to sketch a map of the lair and to lead Keleri and anyone who might help to the entrance, and vowed that in return she would work to spread the word among other goblin tribes in the sewers that longshanks are friendly.
While Keleri was sympathetic to the tale, she is a scholar, not an adventurer. However, she does have contacts, and knows of at least one eager new nominee for the task. Ever the forward thinker, she hopes that by calling upon allies — that's you lot — she can not only recover her stolen heirloom, but perhaps even start a new diplomatic alliance between Magnimar and one of its most notorious antagonists.
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Doomsday Dawn assumes that you all have ties of some sort to Keleri Deverin and dispenses with much of the preamble of setting things up in order to jump right into the action of dungeon crawling — and playtesting!
I envisage this playtest to be as much about roll-play than roleplay. Still, it might not be a bad idea to describe your characters and decide whether you have established relationships or connections to each other. Your characters may all know Keleri, but that doesn’t mean they know each other.
Other than that, does anyone have any questions? It would be good to let the other players know what you're thinking of in terms of build so that we get a good mix.

TreasureFox |

Thanks for inviting me, GM.
Question #1: Do you suspect there will be periods of downtime that are greater than 1 day?
Question #2: Do you think regional languages such as Varisian or Shoanti will be of use? Are there any languages that you would recommend?
Question #3: Is there a player's guide?
I know Sandpoint very well from Rise of the Runelords, so I will very likely have my character come from there. Will probably take Family Friend background, with Kendra Deverin being that friend.
No idea what race or class yet. I'm generally partial to lawful characters.

Wandering Wastrel |

Question 1: I can't see any downtime specifically listed in the AP, but I have to confess that I'm still going through it (i'm planning to read it in detail this weekend). I know Brainiac is running it and they may have a better idea of how to answer this one.
Question 2: for the first bit of the AP, Goblin is a useful language. Can't see Shoanti or Varisian being especially helpful. Again, Brainiac has already started running this so may be better prepared than I am!

Nikolaus de'Shade |

I've played this once before - I'll try and keep anything important out of the character though.
I actually played a goblin in that one, it was good fun but rather silly. At some point I'd like to try making a goblin serious - probably a paladin who speaks in perfect received pronunciation, but maybe for another time. ;)
I'm thinking about a monk, so probably dwarf unless someone else wants it. I'm flexible though so I don't mind.
Question 3: not really. There's one relevant page which lists the backgrounds, which Wastrel has up top, otherwise no - like he said its short on fluff so it can be big on playtest!
Thanks for the invite Wastrel!

Wandering Wastrel |

One more thing to note: the AP is divided into 7 'chapters'
The characters you create now for chapter 1 will come back into play for chapter 4 (at 9th level) and chapter 7 (at 17th level). For the other chapters, you will create one-off PCs, so those chapters are more like a module than an adventure path.
Hope that helps.

Lani Bralani |

Brainiac here, dotting in with my gnome angelic sorcerer. I think everything on my character sheet is right, but we're all still new at this so mistakes are bound to happen. Going with Mindquake Survivor for background. Will have more detailed descriptions soon.
To answer earlier questions: there isn't really any downtime baked into the playtest, so don't plan on any. Varisian and Shoanti don't show up in the playtest so I wouldn't take those languages except for flavor.

Lani Bralani |

Background: Born in the gnome community of Whistledown, Lani was a typical member of her ancestry. She enjoyed games, jokes, and experiencing everything the world had to offer. At least, until the nightmares began.
When she was still a child, she awoke screaming from a particularly harrowing dream. She could only recall vague details of strange, alien beings assaulting her and warping her mind and body. The memories lead to recurring night terrors, dulling her mood and making her especially tense and jumpy.
When Lani came of age, she made the pilgrimage to Magnimar, hoping the big city could provide a remedy to her problems. And indeed, it was there that she fell in with the mystery cult of Ashava the True Spark, empyreal lord of dancers, lonely spirits, and moonlight. The azata's teachings spoke to her very soul, and the gnome obsessively immersed herself in the cult. Whether due to her intense devotion or a trace of celestial blood in her veins, Lani soon manifested her sorcerous abilities. Taking the surname Bralani in honor of the azatas she emulated (and because it rhymed!), she pledged to use them to help others like herself, to save souls that have lost their way.
Party Role: Lani is an angelic sorcerer, so she has access to the divine spell list. She's mostly a support character, with buff spells like bless and magic weapon. She can also cast heal for a bit of back-up healing, though she's a poor main healer. Her First World Magic ancestry feat gives her access to the electric arc cantrip for some damage, and she has lots of social skills thanks to her high Charisma.

Lani Bralani |
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Here's a handy cheat sheet for conditions, exploration mode tactics, and skill uses.

Solicitor |

I'm trudging through the rules right now and am thinking of a ranger. Race? No idea. A druid might also be fun, but I've yet to read the spell section so I can get an idea of how wild shape works. My first idea was a wood elf barbarian, but it seems the 'elf ancestry' goes HA-HA at the mere notion of an elven barbarian ._.
How does healing work in PF2?

Wandering Wastrel |

I think the game designers' terror that Someone Might Multiclass means that none of the classes are really much good until level 2 or 3.
Personally, I've always disliked multiclassing and wouldn't have shed any tears if had just been outright banned, particularly in view of the way archetypes now work - if you want a bit of cleric/rogue/wizard you can get it that way.
But I digress.

Lani Bralani |

Healing is rare and difficult to come by, unless you have a cleric in the party. No more wands of cure light wounds keeping you topped off all day long.

Solicitor |

I was afraid of that. I am wholly against the idea of pushing certain roles on specific classes as it basically heralds a return to the good old AD&D days of 'you're the cleric, so you're the medic'. Or, reversely, 'I want to heal so I must be a cleric'. Channel Energy seems so darn good in PF2 that any non-cleric healer must be lackluster?
I'll continue digging through this tome.

Lani Bralani |

Bards, druids, and divine sorcerers can do a bit of healing at the expense of using their spell slots for anything else. Clerics get a bunch of heals for free on top of everything else.
I agree that something should be changed to make up for the discrepancy.

Nikolaus de'Shade |

Clerics do it really well - I played a bard last time I did this and Soothe would have been good healing if I'd needed to use it (we had a cleric). Important to remember that everyone gets a lot more HP (high teens to mid 20's at first level) so constantly keeping everyone at full isn't anywhere near as important as it was before. My monk currently packs 23 HP so losing 8-10 HP is less than 1/2 rather than his entire life pool.
Worth noting that we start dying at 0 though, no more negative HP!
I'm going to have a go at a human monk too, see which one I end up liking more.

Solicitor |

I'm glad that Sumatra PDF is amazingly fast at searching through documents and browsing back and forth between search hits because if not, I'd have somehow tossed this digital editorial disgrace out of the window ages ago.
The cleric's list of domain powers fills an entire page. Said powers aren't then listed underneath, no, they're thrown in between all the other powers. So getting a feel for what they all do requires both nimble fingers and a respectable amount of dedication. Most of the first level domain powers feel like more thematic cantrips.
*screams internally*
Okay, I'll stop dispersing salt now. The feeling I'm getting is that at level 1, you're truly a nobody and most of your powers reflect this.

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Edric is here and ready to go. It's not the picture I would have liked but the avatar selection pages are really screwed up right now so I'm going with it...
For reference he has a long and neatly tied braid, but no beard.

Irfán Arasindaki |

Solicitor here. Have yet to type out his background, but I got a good idea of who Irfan is. I'll be gone for most of the day though so perhaps I won't down to typing it until tomorrow.
Other than that, I think Irfan is ready to go. He's a half-elf cleric of Nethys with more skills than one ought to have. I've yet to pick his prepared spells, so there's that as well.

Wandering Wastrel |

Ok, hope we're all back and nobody got lost in translation. I'll try and get us started Thursday or Friday, assuming we're spared further interruption
EDIT: Please will you all do a stat line? Remember to put your proficiency (U, T, E, etc) against Perception, skills and saves. Thanks!
EDIT II: Irfan, where are you getting your "Initiative" from in your stat line? I don't think initiative as such exists any more.

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Edric, don't forget to add your level to everything: Perception, AC, attacks, skill bonuses, etc.
Thanks Lani - I'd mis-read exactly how proficiency worked the first time... would have made our first play-through of this much easier!

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Indeed.
First time I didn't actually read it, my wife read it to me - so we got Untrained = -2, Trained = 0, Expert = +1, which seemed really mean and meant we did the playtest with some skills at -3 modifiers... and nothing higher than a +4!
This time should be a lot easier, just be glad you don't have to cope with Nibbles my goblin bard! ;)

Gaven Deverin |

Geez I suddenly became much better XD
Now I might have half a chance at shooting anything with my super crossbow.

Gaven Deverin |

So eventually when we would hit level 20, we would have at least 30AC and +20 to hit with an attack, regardless of our class (but excluding using equipment untrained).

Wandering Wastrel |

Heh. Amazing what a difference a few downtime days to RTFM will do for my understanding of the game...
Incidentally, I'm going to start the game in medias res with flashbacks as needed to bring you up to speed.
You're going to start the game in a sewer, which is entirely dark apart from the light sources you carry (not that this affects our dwarf monk, of course).
Can you let me know what light source(s) you are using? Torches/lanterns etc require a free hand which can't then hold a shield/holy symbol - or reload a missile weapon!
Also, we will be starting the game in Exploration Mode (but quickly switching to Encounter Mode). Please let me know what Exploration Tactic you are using (most likely Searching/Defending/Wandering - Sneaking is tricky if you're carrying a torch into the darkness).
Looking forward to getting this up and running!

Gaven Deverin |

I have torches along with flint&steel. If we travel close together we may not need to use a torch each.
I'll just be wandering, but sticking with the group.

Lani Bralani |

Lani will be searching first, switching to detecting magic when we get to the destination. I haven't spent all my silver yet but will likely buy a hooded lantern and keep it in one hand.

Gaven Deverin |

I should mention that since we're likely in a hostile area, Gaven would have his sword drawn and resting on his shoulder plate.

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Searching I think, and grumbling about the terrible building work!
Also, I'll go first unless someone stops me, with DV and frontline combat I'm probably the best point dwarf.