AceofMoxen's page

I don't want to derail this, but only the worthy is a spammable level 4 feat that's often more disruptive than the spell slow. It's causing problems for me to create interesting encounters around. If I could easily break the weapon withouy risking destroying it, that would help balance some.

Of course, it takes potentially hundreds of years for judgement to occur so it's not generally a problem unless you're trying to get access to someone from a long time ago.

This is in Starfinder, so anything more than 325 years ago is automatically off limits.

(broken armor -7)

https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=60&Redirected=1

Broken armor only ever reduces ac by -3 plus the loss of runes.

I'm Still curious about exampler's 'only the worthy' feat. Is it fair to break/destroy a weapon the PC pins an enemy with?

I'm very happy to have an updated version of this, and I'm really impressed that you reread almost 250 issues with dungeon magazine. I wish I had read this before committing to blood lords.

So if an Exampler uses "Only the Worthy," the weapon becomes unattended? Could the pinned target strike it? Would that be fair to the player?

AceofMoxen wrote:

What happens when someone time-travels from lost omens to before Aroden's death? Do they create a zone of non-prophecy while they're in the past or do they become ruled by prophecy while in the past?

You'd have to ask Shyka or Yog-Sothoth about that.

Do you have their email?

I think expecting GM core to be a guide to homebrew an entire setting is asking too much. I can't imagine any book dedicated to creating an setting to be very useful.

Some GMs just like making worlds, but it's often better for the table if the players have a hand in the creation. So for this game with a small number of gods, I would ask each player to create a god and a hero chosen or representing that God. They would need to work to create non-overlapping gods. Then you create one or more gods to cover everything else.

As the players create their characters, they can take any spell that fits their God's theme if you and the other players agree. Only one God can claim each spell. You don't have to sort spells and the players are more invested. Balance is going to be a minor issue, You might be making some classes 10% or 20% stronger/Weaker, but that's normal. Unless you take away or give a key focus spell, like the bard song or champion lay on hands, it'll work out.

Actually, with this idea, I might make the PCs dual classed, with one full caster and one class without spell slots. Each would embody their God's casting and martial traditions.

What happens when someone time-travels from lost omens to before Aroden's death? Do they create a zone of non-prophecy while they're in the past or do they become ruled by prophecy while in the past?

The guide claims this is the 'Final' Runelords story. Let's check back in five years.

But yeah, Pharasma's approach is a bit like preventing climate change and global warming, Necromancers are effectively burning fossil fuels in a funky cosmic way.

OK, but I would classify this as 'good.' Why is fighting climate change neutral?

I think we've exhausted the topic.

Offsetting your necromancy is easy! Just kill two or three rival necromancers.

Plot Hook: Powerful good necromancer needs to kill more evil necromancers for his offset this year. He's willing to pay for your Credits.

That said, I dont expect we'll find ethical Necromancy very common (if that's what's happenin). It kind of messes with some of the appeal of playing against type with dark powers if theres no "type" to play against--and if you could do all the things with ethical Necromancy as with classic void-soul-slavery, why would people resort to the latter in the first place?

In the USA, any Chocolate product that does not have some kind of "Slavery-free" or "fair trade" label was made by slave children.

All major chocolate companies missed the June 2005 date of the Harkin–Engel Protocol. The deadline was repeatedly rolled back. In 2021, The Economist reported that child slave labor in chocolate manufacturing had actually increased due to Covid19. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/08/23/the-number-of-child-lab ourers-has-increased-for-the-first-time-in-20-years (I'm a subscriber, I've read the article, and can provide quotes if you wish)

When this issue came to attention around 2001-2005, some comopanies tried to get chocolate labeled "Slavery-free" or "fair trade" into stores. The retail locations (Walmart, gas stations) quickly discovered that putting M&Ms next to "Slavery-Free" chocolate just made most customers skip buying anything.

According to wikipedia (I know), A Chocolate product needs only 11% of the cocoa to qualify as "fair trade" to use that label on packaging. Kit Kat in 2010 switched to fair trade, and at some point before 2020, quietly switched back.

AceofMoxen wrote:

Quote:

Many cursed items can’t be discarded. Some use magic to fuse to the wielder, making it impossible to remove the item, while others attune to their owner and return even if discarded. (This section uses the term “fuse” to describe either situation.)

If an Eidolon is cursed and dismissed, what happens to the item?

That was explained above in that they can't USE the item. In your quote is says "fuse to the wielder" and Wielding means "When wielding an item, you’re not just carrying it around—you’re ready to use it." This means the eidolon never has to worry about that kind of item since they can never use/wield it. there are curses they activate simply by moving into an area or moving an abject, things an eidolon can actually do. They can also only attune to items with the eidolon trait, so no worries there either unless it's a cursed item with the eidolon trait.

The Stone of Weight fuses after being carried for one minute. https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=608

AceofMoxen wrote:

I'm still unclear on cursed items and eidolons.

Cursed depends on how the curse activates. If it's picking it up or opening it they can get the curse but if it's activating it then no.

Many cursed items can’t be discarded. Some use magic to fuse to the wielder, making it impossible to remove the item, while others attune to their owner and return even if discarded. (This section uses the term “fuse” to describe either situation.)

If an Eidolon is cursed and dismissed, what happens to the item?

AceofMoxen wrote:

Given the above, I am confused that a key is an item, and a doorknob is an item, but the eidolon can use one and not the other to preform the same action.

The issue is that the magic doorknob isn't being used as a magic item or an independent item at all: the normal use of the Phantasmal Doorknob is as a spellheart attached to armor/weapons. In your question, you tried to sidestep it but it becomes part of the door instead of its own item you activate/use in your example: you are opening the door, not Activating the knob and that is the difference IMO.

There is a difference between holding and using an item for instance: the same applies here. you can hold a two handed sword in one hand, you just can't swing it. For the knob, you can turn it to open the door, but you can use it as a spellheart. Being unable to use doesn't mean you can't Interact with it.

Alright, how about a ladder? It's equipment, not terrain. https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2729 So eidolon can carry a ladder, but can it set one up? Or use it? Can it unfold a folding ladder? https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1396

I'm sorry. I opened this, took a nap and responded to graystone without seeing your thoughts, Trip.H. Your solution makes a lot of sense, and I think I will apply it going forward.

I'm still unclear on cursed items and eidolons.

Given the above, I am confused that a key is an item, and a doorknob is an item, but the eidolon can use one and not the other to preform the same action.

My party regularly uses the eidolon to open doors. Last Saturday, they failed to detect an alarm spell on the door, which raises some weird questions.

Can an eidolon open doors? Can it use keys?

Can it open a door enchanted by alarm? Can it trigger an alarm?

If I replace a regular doorknob with a phantasmal doorknob (TV PG 127), can it open the door? Does matter if it's in encounter mode or combat? Does it matter who knows about the magic item?

Loaded dice are nonmagical, but luckless dice are cursed. Luckless dice appear to be loaded. Can an eidolon be subject to a curse? Can it use the cursed item at all? Could a party use their eidolon as a curse detector? If the eidolon becomes cursed, it can't abandon the item casually. What happens if it is unsummoned?

Will there be a foundry module?

I've missed RD posts.

I feel like they always generate either interesting discussion or heated debate and I'm here for it.

I was thinking there might be overlap between free-hand and concealable, but there really isn't. Just the wrist launcher, which is not great.

Gauntlets are part of my heavy armor. We might be asked to turn in weapons, even hand wraps, but no one asks the fighter to start taking off his armor. No silly thievery checks needed, and at high levels, I'm etching basic runes on the inside of the gauntlets. Or maybe my wizard buddy is keeping runic weapon ready.

One of my gauntlets is sliver and the other is cold-iron. Someday, I'll remember which is which.

Long-lived creatures
When a soul incarnates into a creature, it is accounted for based on that creature's life span (whether this accounts for early returns is unclear). The sun orchid elixir is a good example because Pharasma did not like this very much, but worked out an arrangement with its creator. Mythic creatures like Sorshen are a bit more arbitrary, and probably invokes some amount of "Pharasma knows when they will die and they have been accounted for in their destiny"

I'd like to know more about the creator of the exixir and his deal with Pharasma. Iirc, the queen in Wrath of the Righteous held the record at three doses of Sun Orchid. It makes sense that Pharasma could forgive 4x on a lifespan. But the creator himself has been taking an elixer himself when needed for thousands of years.

On the topic of descicrating the dead, I again think this is a silly rule for any universe with common undead. Do we really expect the knights of lastwall to return living members of the whispering way to their church intact?

In historical food safety, there's an interesting connection where religious forbidden foods are often ones that were unsafe in that time/region for reasons we now understand. The same thing should apply to undead. On Earth, even ancient rules/honor/codes of warfare say it is best to return bodies to enemies or allow them to collect their dead. In practical terms, this is a way to reduce revenge.

In a Universe with spontaneous undead or common undead, it's simply practical to take steps to prevent such return. All cultures should allow hacking off the head and storing it elsewhere, for example, as long as the process is done respectfully.

So what happens if the party attacks Drusilla, she runs away, and they don't find the path or the hagbook? I've having hard time navigating a fail-forward that's not going to kill them or let them navigate a fey forest with no nature or survival skills.

Mad Dog Mike wrote:

I honestly get the impression literally the only reason Pharasma cares at all about good vs. evil is that it gives her a sorting mechanism to get soul energy to the right places and everything else is a very minor consideration to her. Whether undeath is "wrong" morally doesn't mean much to her because she hates them for screwing with the Cycle.

100% this, I'm with you because that's my same view on Pharasma. She isn't making a "moral" judgement on undead in the traditional way other might. Pharasma knows undead are a prevision on the cycle of souls and prevents souls from getting to their final destination, which causes the system to slow and degrade bit by bit, putting the universe a little more at risk of collapse.

If collapsing the universe is "bad," then we're back at Pharasma is better than good. If Pharasma is torturing souls to prolong her life and her families', then we get Pharasma is evil. One of the reasons Im happy alignment is gone is that it allows for both to be true.

Quote:

So her opinion on the subject isn't really about moral judgement. I think she isn't quite as worried about life extension stuff per se (though some of her psychopomps may be) simply because those frequently aren't indefinite prolonging of life so the soul energy moves along eventually, and why worry about a few centuries when there are plenty of creatures that live that long anyway? But theoretically infinite lifespans like undeath can provide goes too far, as well as things that can divert souls from their proper place (pretty sure it's canon you can sacrifice good people to Hell and the other lower planes and their souls go there, and Pharasma opposes that too), which undeath might also do given how undead creatures tend to go quite far from their living moralities. Add in undead can often create more undead and you can see the problem it poses to her Cycle. But her ethics only focus on what's good for her work; there might actually be good necromancers out there, but she probably would still want them stopped/killed (though she'd send their soul on to Heaven if that's where it belongs).

Yep, I'm on basically this same page as well.

The problem is that all the good-ish deities I know are against the undead or unconcerned. If there was a good god of undeath, I could accept the perspective that Pharasma has biases. But, the original comment that got me invested in this discussion was that stories in Pathfinder seem to end with Pharasma was right. I think either Pharasma is suppressing the knowledge of good undead or the universe justifies Pharasma's opinions.

This gets us deep into Descartes' Evil Demon Hypothesis.

Mad Dog Mike wrote:

I honestly get the impression literally the only reason Pharasma cares at all about good vs. evil is that it gives her a sorting mechanism to get soul energy to the right places and everything else is a very minor consideration to her. Whether undeath is "wrong" morally doesn't mean much to her because she hates them for screwing with the Cycle.

100% this, I'm with you because that's my same view on Pharasma. She isn't making a "moral" judgement on undead in the traditional way other might. Pharasma knows undead are a prevision on the cycle of souls and prevents souls from getting to their final destination, which causes the system to slow and degrade bit by bit, putting the universe a little more at risk of collapse.

Before I discuss this, Why do you think Pharasma wants to protect the cycle of souls? For herself? For her daughter? Or for future happing by by

I believe the idea behind holy and unholy is the cosmic war of "good" and "evil" which is why it replaced alignments and why Pharasma is still cosmically above it all.

There's an RPG precedent for True Neutral working for the greater benefit of reality. In Greyhawk, Mordenkainen and some peers recognized that the mortal, even immortal, conflicts paled in comparison to the ultimate threat of Tharizdun, that all resources would be necessary to fight him (or in practice continue to contain him by manipulating his own power so he traps himself; even combined he's still stronger). This higher awareness led to "heroes"/PCs doing some questionable deeds, arguably self-righteous evil ones! "From a certain point of view" indeed.

I dislike the idea that "the greater good" is a TN focus. Good should be the "alignment" of any good person. I'll go back to Marvel's first secret wars, where a still-villianous Magneto was sorted with the good guys, because he fights for selfless reasons. As I commented above, It's like Angels and demons are scrambling over crumbs and Pharasma is making sure the next meal (universe) is coming.

Note also that people are not tortured by Pharasma. Each soul goes to the outer plane that fits it best according to the soul's morality (previously known as Alignment).

And people on Golarion know about Hell and the other planes. If they then decide that Lawful Evil is their way, that is on them. Not on Pharasma.

The message I'm getting is that it is impossible for the players to comprehend the mind of a god like Pharasma, but the average dude on Golarion understands the full moral picture of the universe.

Pharasma delivers sentences with either no jury, or a jury of psychopomps. She has full knowledge of what happens to souls she sends to Hell. I am reminded of Kant's example of lying to the murderer at the door, in which most people agree you should lie to a known murderer about hiding his target.
I'll also bring up "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" again. Pharasma is running Omelas in my mind, but at the very least, she isn't walking away.

You could argue that Pharasma is neutral because her ends justify her means, but I've never liked the logic. We all agree that some ends justify some means.

Mangaholic13 wrote:

Also, do we have any source that "objectively" states 'this is why undead lead to the heat death of the universe'?
Yes, undeath disrupt the River of Souls... but has it been stated clearly what that does?
Basically, I'm asking, do we have something that says right out, "This is what undeath does to the Universe".
I only ask because the Book of the Dead is written by Geb, and therefore still a subjective view.

The Windsong testaments' story about the three fears of Pharasma, as well IIRC as planar adventures, explain that what keeps the whole of reality regenerating so that it is not eroded to nothingness by the Maelstrom is the cycle of life and death where the souls of dead mortals are sent to the outer planes they are most attuned to so that the essence their soul carries strengthens it and thus reinforces the bulwark that the outer planes form against non-existence.

Then they are eroded by the Maelstrom (or the Void, not sure which role they play there) which sends them back to Creation's Forge where they are recycled as newborn mortals' souls, who go on to live their life, develop moral trends that align them with an outer plane, die and are judged by Pharasma...

Less souls going through the Cycle means that the whole of reality becomes more fragile and more likely to end.

Pharasma is the caretaker of this whole cycle. It is why she is dead set on keeping the souls flowing.

If you accept this at face value, then Pharasma would seem to be "more good then the good gods." It's like Angels and demons are scrambling over crumbs and Pharasma is making sure the next meal (universe) is coming.

This story suggests that Pharasma is focused on delaying and ensuring the next universe. If the side of the Angels were to defeat Hell, the entire universe would decay, right? I hate this idea that the universe requires absolute evil to ensure tomorrow.

I'm deeply reminded of "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." Pharasma is willing to torture an unlimited number of people who cannot comprehend their crimes in order to maintain a system that will continue to torture people.

Dead God's Hand is not an Adventure Path. It's long, but not that long. It's gonna be a standalone adventure.

Can you tell us what level the PCs should be at the end?

Let's pin down Phrasma's stance.

As far as the narrative in Pathfinder is concerned, Pharasma is always right.

Is she always on the side of right? Or is she singly focused on ensuring (and maybe delaying) the creation of the next universe and absolutely has the correct knowledge about how to do so? Without alignment, we can really ask these questions.

In theory, when alignment was part of the game, Phrasma should have been an opposing force to the party just as much percent of her appearances as Abadar, right? That is, if you took a random 30 appearances of each or their followers across the pre-remaster period, you would find them opposed to the party vs. aligned with the party at the same ratio? I doubt it. The only time I remember her opposing the party is at the beginning of Tyrant's Grasp.

In 1e, she allowed NE clerics, but I'm absolutely confused about what they would do. I've been told since 2006 that "Neutral is not Good-lite." I still have the same response that if I'm a Neutral traveler, I would absolutely prefer to sleep at the inn of a Good-aligned innkeeper than an Evil innkeeper. Did a NE cleric of Phrasma ever appear? In 2e, She only allowed GN, TN, LN followers. (Is Phrasma Neutral on Law-Chaos? clearly no) I'm pinning a "good-lite" label on TN Phrasma.

Pharasma didn't care about good or evil, and doesn't care about holy or unholy, though? The presence or absence of the unholy trait is irrelevant when it comes to her.

Phrasma allows neither sanctification, however, a list of tasks she might assign her followers includes killing Soul-stealing Fiends, but not Celestials. So Holy could be helpful to her followers. The wiki says "Her followers ... carry tiny vials of holy water"

Let's look at the wiki:

anathema "rob a tomb" is replaced with "take from the dead in bad faith".

Her followers can take from the dead in good faith? Or in no faith at all? There are many ways to interpret this. Let's say a rich man is buried with his wealth, and a young Phrasmain cleric vows to keep his tomb sealed. A few years later, a judge rules that his wealth was acquired through fraud. Is breaking the cleric's vow 'Bad faith,' or was the rich man already acting in bad faith because of the fraud? What if he does break the seal, and later finds out the judge was corrupt? I think he's under no obligation to correct his mistake. Is the only way a Phrasmain cleric can be bad is in unlikely hypotheticals?

Worshipers

Midwives, pregnant women, morticians

So a villainous Midwife is just not doing her job correctly? A villainous mortician can't worship Phrasma and steal from the dead in bad faith. I guess they could overcharge the families for their services? I'm aware of jokes about a Pregnant Woman (sidebar for non-woman who can get pregnant?) using her embryo as a hostage to commit crimes. It absolutely feels like she only allows evil in the silliest situations?

Edicts

Strive to understand ancient prophecies, destroy undead, lay bodies to rest
Anathema
Create undead, desecrate a corpse, take from the dead in bad faith

Do 'Destory undead'and 'Don't create Undead' are at the center of this whole discussion. 'Understand ancient prophecies' is almost certainly not meant to apply to Great One Olds or Outer Gods, so it's not evil. I have a personal bugbear about "desecrating corpses" in settings with undead. There should be agreement that any corpse that might be turned against you can be chopped up or burnt, as long as you do it respectfully. By Earth rules, Lastwall should be making efforts to return bodies of living whispering way followers to Tar-Baphon and/or the church of Urgathoa. You can't just import Earth practices into a fantasy setting.

The Pharasmin Penitence is an extremist sect that views worldly pleasures as going against Pharasma's plans and actively seek out those whom they feel upset their beliefs by making life easier, for instance, arcane casters

Alright, that's a villainous group. Phrasma doesn't care about suffering or boredom.

Iomedae still bears a slight grudge against her for not revealing Aroden's impending death

This is silly, and the only source seems to be a 2008 book. I really hope this isn't canon, especially as it appears to be only "legends" that Phrasma knew. (there is some Canon dispute on Phrasma's foreknowledge)

The god of accidental death, Zyphus has a fierce rivalry with the Lady of Graves, but it is not altogether clear if this feeling is mutual.

Zyphus, 'Most Hated Rival of Pharasma,' 'Most other gods view him as more of an annoyance than an actual threat' I think this guy is a masochist looking to get stepped on by the most powerful woman he can find.

Pharasma's clergy often worked with those of Aesocar, especially those who delivered Azlanti babies

This is interesting. Aesocar is labeled as LG, but she was involved in Azlanti "creation of life, creating many lifeforms through magic." I assume Pharasma was aware that the Azlanti were slaves of the Alghollthu, making any lifeform they create also slaves. So maybe Phrasma is ok with the creation of slave races? That's pretty evil.

Maybe Pharasma is more evil than I thought.

As a general rule, when you see something that has a real-world science based solution, it's usually pretty safe to assume that's the case in Golarion. That's why the planet is the same size as Earth, why it has one moon the same size as our moon, and why its 93 million miles away from the sun which is more or less the same as our sun. There's stuff living on the sun of course, because fantasy, but something like a solar dragon? That'd make sense for it to be able to nest on the sun, but assuming you want them to fight and encounter a PC, they should be able to go other places.

Can a Dragon lift itself on the sun? Objects weight 28 times as much on the Sun. Looking at some of the highest Creature level dragons on AoN, they seem to be +10 Str and Gargantuan. Fafnheir,the fabled Father of Linnorms, has +12 Str, so it can hold 17 bulk if it were medium. If I'm reading table 6-19 correctly, it's limit is 8 times that, or 136 Bulk. So Fafnheir could drag 272 Bulk.

A Gargantuan creature has minimum bulk of 48, and gets to carry its own bulk for free. Now, "The Bulk value of an item reflects how difficult the item is to handle, representing its size, weight, and general awkwardness." Size and awkwardness are not going to increase. If we treat each each factor here as equal, we get that Bulk should increase 1/3 for every doubling of gravity. So (28-1)x1/3 gives us a nice 9x modifier to bulk. That givens use 432 bulk of extra weight on the Sun for Fanheir.

A gargantuan creature would need Str +22 to drag itself across the surface of the Sun.

I believe the real world reason is that they've been "halflings" since TSR was sued by Tolkien Enterprises for using some Middle Earth names (ents [treants], hobbits [halflings], balrogs [Type VI demons/balors]).

There's no point in renaming halflings now. In about 8 and a half years, the original version of 'The Hobbit' will enter the US public domain, and every Fantasy setting will immediately be full of them. This will be followed by the Tolkien estate claiming totally reasonable extrapolation of the first edition's depiction of Hobbits is actually based on later works. (See also: the period where only the first couple Sherlock Holmes books were out of copyright, and the Doyle estate claimed "respecting women" was only a trait you could have stolen out of a later book)

Arkat wrote:

Really? "cross-breed" is offensive??

Yes. Yes it is.

I'm not a biologist, but I know how to research and remember stuff. Modern Humans do not have the "genotype–phenotype relationships and phenotypic diversity" of Dog Breeds. Calling any Human a cross-breed is explicitly inaccurate. Therefore, it's similar to B$%#@, an insult by comparison to dogs. (Cite: https://evolution-outreach.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12052-019-01 09-y) (I like dogs better than humans, so I would use this insult)

I'm actually kinda obsessed with the idea of playing a character who failed the test of the Starstone now. I'm thinking of Neo in the Matrix after the oracle tells him he's not "the one."

So did anyone take or know a player who took the bribe in exchange for infamy?

I'm very curious how that worked out in actual play.

No way a simple mortal, no matter how gifted, would join the Shining Crusade and within one year become the leader of the Knights of Ozem.

It's not impossible that she was 12th level and renowned in some other way, is it? There's no mention of her age. Maybe she had been fighting in some smaller conflict and earned the respect to take over.

I've thought the stories need to be about 50% longer to hit their emotional beats in the right rhythm. Is it intentional that they are so short? Many blog posts are longer.

You have five domains, with none listed as alternate. Most deities have four, with two alternate.

You probably want to clarify her stance on undead.

I have no comments on lore without boarder knowledge of your setting. (And no time to learn, either, sorry)

Thanks for the feedback. I'm assuming retraining is pretty easy, so weapon trait specific options aren't traps, but could cost downtime.

You're right that swift capacity is too strong. I think I'll move it to a fighter/champion/ranger/barbarian feat at some level. I really want flash grip and swift grip to be available to many classes, but you're right that action compression should be class feats.

I want lozenges to be stronger, but I think buffing them directly is a better approach. I'll wait to see the alchemist remaster first, however. I have a lot of hopes riding on that one.

I don't think grease works on elementals, either.

To add to the other posts, the Starstone specifically killed Acavna, the Azlanti goddess of the moon, when she tried stopping it with the moon. Seeing this, Amaznen, the Azlanti god of magic, sacrificed his own life to slow it down enough to not destroy Golarion. So effectively, that stone has two divine kills.

And only three God-creations, right? One of whom is the god of lies, and another is not confident in his own godhood, according to the prophecies. Interesting.

I'm eager to try occult witch plus loremaster with 6 slots of Hypercognition. "Just hand me the stat block, GM."

Bear in mind, Pathfinder in particular owes a lot of its DNA to 3rd edition D&D... which had a "core" pantheon of (IMO, insanely boring and forgettable) Greyhawk deities... but never used the words "Greyhawk" or "Oerth" anywhere in the text.

Vecna is an amazing god, actually. Probably my favorite D&D God in the strictest terms about what a god is. St. Cuthbert demanding good so much he's neutral about it makes him a great antagonist (for the time and place I was, at least) Pholtus also makes clear that Greyhawk good does not equal our good. Wee Jas is one of the better death gods in D&D and has some fantastic imagery. Corellon Larethian is the biggest example of "your good is not our good." He/She was abusive of Lolth and her followers, has next to no regrets about it, but is still CG.

This entry needed to be about twice as long to have the emotional impact it deserved. All the right pieces are there, but it moved too fast to settle me in one mood before moving to another. I know you have word limits for good reason, but I think this one suffered.

I have a bit of a long-term prediction, that whoever dies, there will be a future event where they come back, but it'll be after years. Maybe the transition to 3E. Because if I recall correctly, they said the dead deity wasn't going to be brought back "at the end of the thing", nothing about them not pulling a Red Hood.

...which honestly I think would be really cool; the deity comes back, possibly changed, and the world's already moved on without them. No returning to where they had been, because that spot has been filled.

The whole problem with "killing off a character and then bringing them back to life" is the idea of doing something for shock value, but then undoing it so you can maintain the status quo. But if the status quo does NOT survive, then "the character's continued status as dead" becomes less important.

Whoever dies will echo in the setting for a long time. Aroden is still a big deal.

Rant about Red Hood

I'm really bored of taking the same 5 or 6 general feats on each character, so I designed some new ones to diversify. I think these are balanced against the power of Fleet, Shield block, and toughness, but I'd appreciate some feedback.

Alchemist’s Friend level 1
You gain resistance to splash damage from your allies equal to one-half your level, with a minimum of one.

Better Backstabber level 15
When you hit a flat-footed creature with a Backstab weapon or unarmed attack, it deals one precision damage per damage die in addition to its normal damage instead of the normal backstab benefits. You may choose to use the standard backstab benefits instead if you wish.

Better Brace Level 15
When you ready to strike an opponent who moves within your reach, until the start of your next turn strikes with the brace weapon deal an additional 1 damage of the same type as the weapon for each weapon damage die it has. This is in addition to Brace’s regular damage but is not precision.

Dangerously Deadly level 19
When you would add a deadly weapon damage die, add one additional die of the same type.

Day Tripper level 1
You have a +2 circumstance bonus on fortitude saves to avoid addiction.

Expert Study Level 3
You gain a 1st level feat from your class that you qualify for.
Note: You may not take this feat if you have the human feat Natural Ambition, nor may you take this feat and later take Natural Ambition

Expert Training level 7
Advance one of your skills from trained to expert
Fatal and Deadly level 19
When attacking with a fatal weapon or unarmed attack, it gains the deadly d6 trait, in addition to its other traits.

Flash Grip Level 11 Free Action
Requirement: You are holding a combination or modular weapon.
Frequency: Every ten minutes
Change your grip on the weapon from one mode to another.

Great Backswing level 3
In addition to Backswing’s regular bonus, after missing twice in a row with a Backswing weapon or unarmed attack, you gain a +2 Circumstance bonus on your next attack. After missing thrice in a row with a Backswing weapon or unarmed attack, you gain a +3 Circumstance bonus on your next attack.

Great Force level 19
When using a Forceful weapon or unarmed attack, your third attack each turn with the weapon gains a circumstance bonus to damage equal to thrice the number of damage dice, and your fourth attack each turn with the weapon gains a circumstance bonus to damage equal to four times the number of damage dice.

Great Resonance level 19
When you use the conduct energy action granted by a Resonant weapon, the energy lasts until the end of your next turn.

Hidden Lethality level 1
When using a weapon or unarmed attack that has the nonlethal trait, you may make a lethal attack with a -1 circumstance penalty. If you are an expert in that weapon or unarmed attack, you may make a lethal attack with it with no penalty.

Legendary Training level 19
Prerequisite: master Training
Advance one of your skills from trained to expert, from expert to master, or from master to legendary.

Master Study level 11
Prerequisite: Focused Study or Natural Ambition
You gain a 2nd-level feat from your class that you qualify for.

Master Training level 11
Prerequisite: Expert Training
Advance one of your skills from trained to expert or from expert to master.

Small Bite level 1
Frequency: once a day
The first time each day you bite down on a Lozenge, you may choose to gain the secondary effect without ending the primary effect.

Swift Capacity level 11 Free Action
Frequency: Every ten minutes
Requirement: You just fired a capacity weapon.
Switch to the next chamber or barrel of the weapon.

Swift Grip Level 7 Free Action
Frequency: Every ten minutes
Change your grip on an item from one-handed to two-handed, or two-handed to one-handed, or from one hand to another free hand.

Triple Sweep Level 7
When using a sweep weapon or unarmed attack, if you have attacked two different targets this turn with the weapon already, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your attack roll if you attack a target you have not attacked yet this turn. If you have attacked three different targets this turn with the weapon already, you gain a +3 circumstance bonus to your attack roll if you attack a target you have not attacked yet this turn.

Wand Wielder level 15
Frequency: Once a day
You may activate a single wand one additional time each day.

Saw this on Reddit and it was an instant buy for me. A PF2e Video game? Finally! It’s clearly worth the $5 price tag, but I’m torn between “leaves you wanting more” and “maybe classes should have more than a single 2nd level feat?” I thought it had good encounter design, but terrible writing. I’d have played more if Champion was an available class.

I'm no historian, but I was told that a gun wasn't as tiring as a crossbow. A crossbow requires a minute of heavy rotation to wind back the firing mechanism. A gun takes a minute of light activity. The muscle required for the comparative crossbow was a significant cost in both training and calories. A unit of musketeers could practice once every few months, while a unit of crossbowmen would require weekly strength training.

I tend to suspect "not Nethys" if only because it would make things weird with the archive.

plenty of archives are dedicated to dead beings, but I doubt Neyths would die without a major shake up in the way magic works.

Loved Darkseid in worlds finest. Great to see him rebuilt as something two Supermen and two batmen and some help can't stop.

How does this work with the thaumaturge? Can a thaumaturge exploit weakness to holy? Or spirit? If I remaster an monster weak to law, should I give it a weakness to spirit?

AceofMoxen wrote:

Arachnofiend wrote:

Shelyn definitely goes into the "more interesting alive than dead" category. Zon Kuthon is just an edgelord without her.

Unless Shelyn's death sets Zon-Kuthton back on the path of light. That creates lots of interesting stories.

True, but it's also a minefield.

"Kill the happy nice sister so her edgelord brother can be redeemed" gets justifiably panned on a regular basis.

Of course, if there's anyone I trust to navigate that arc well, it's Paizo. I'm just guessing the other way around (with pieces of Zon-Kuthon becoming part of Shelyn) is more likely.

I don't think it would count as a "frigding," because Shelyn wouldn't be forgotten, we had plenty of time with her, and she had other connections. Like, Desna's hair trigger would be pulled, setting up a great conflict.

Shelyn definitely goes into the "more interesting alive than dead" category. Zon Kuthon is just an edgelord without her.

Unless Shelyn's death sets Zon-Kuthton back on the path of light. That creates lots of interesting stories.

James Jacobs wrote:

Kittyburger wrote:

Anorak wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

CreepyShutIn wrote:

"Belief makes a god" is perhaps my least favorite description of divinity. I shall be happy to determine that this was delusion.

This has been a core fundamental of the setting from day one (although it took a bit to scrub all of that influence out—certain other TTRPG campaign settings have a lot of influence!), because the idea of a god who has no worshipers active but can still be a god and potentially come back or have secret cults and all that was there from the very start of the Pathfinder Adventure Path in Lissala's story.

Hrmmm this reminds me of Xanderghul for some reason.

So does that mean Razmir could or potentially has become Deific?

I believe JJacobs is saying that Razmir can only become Deific if he either follows a path like Irori (purifies himself to his deific potential) or the Ascended (takes the Test of the Starstone).

(In my headcanon, he's undertaking preparations to become a lich, because he cannot stomach the idea of dying, and if/when he dies, his final fate is going to be rather similar to that of Sisyphus in Greek mythology)

Razmir's biggest challenge to overcome on the path to becoming a deity is that stories about him are more interesting and compelling when he's NOT a deity.

And the (very valid) Doylist explanation rears its head ;)

does it actually count as Doylist? A deity is a story itself. They literally have meta-narative powers.

I'm struck by an image of Razmir as Marvin the depressed Android in starfinder. "Two and a half times as old as Pharasma, and I still haven't become a god."

Take Nenio with you at the end of act four, and you get what I think is the funniest dialogue in the game.