Albatoonoe's page

We have already seen that some beloved spells are making their return, such as Aqueous Orb, Mad Monkeys, and Blistering invective. What others do you want back?

I, for one, want the old Bigby's Hand spells back. With how PF2 spells heighten, it could all be one big spell that let's me magic slap everyone.

While we haven't seen the full rules, seeing how consistent the rules are got my gears turning. All of the rules are built around very consistent mechanics between Proficiency and Feats. With everything functioning along the same line, I feel that things can be broken down into more granular/atomized options divorced from level and class.

It'll take a bit more work than just breaking down class features. I actually look toward Legend of the Five Rings for a bit of inspiration, where the feats you have inform your level, rather than the other way around. It could even be broken down into smaller categories to reflect combat and non-combat, but I think it could work.

Does anyone else have ideas concerning this? What do you think?

Also, shout out to E6, which is gonna get some new life with these rules, methinks.

So, we saw them try out the Cavalier as an archetype in the playtest document. I think that is actually a really cool idea because a mounted class can have some difficulty in certain adventures and is a bit more narrowly focused than some concepts. That got me thinking about what other classes would make good archetypes.

Gunslinger: Nearly every class got a gun using archetype and this had to be the most narrowly focused class in all of Pathfinder. It is a no brainer as an archetype,

Magus: Now, a lot of people will hate this idea, but I think the magus could be a lot more interesting if it can be applied to more casting classes. Being able to apply a Magus archetype to a bard or a sorcerer would honestly be one of my favorite things.

Vigilante Well, do I really need to explain why with this one?

Any other thoughts on Archetype only classes?

I am one of those that feels the Ancestry to be a bit too light in the beginning. Directly, I had wished for a second ancestry feat which I feel would solve the problem. I had a different idea when I was looking through the general feats and noticed that you don't get any at first level, though.

Characters could have a floating 1st level feat that can be used for General, Skill, or Ancestry feats. This could round out the character a bit more while not focusing on the Ancestry itself. Class feats should probably not be allowed, as they are higher tier of feat and would diminish the more flavorful choices.

So, looking over the document, I see one problem that crops up a bit with class feats, a thing I otherwise like. That is the repeating of certain feats so that other classes can have it. This shows up with some feats like "Sudden Charge" or metamagic feats.

I feel like including some class feats in a generic list (maybe divided among magic and combat) could alleviate some of the need to repeat certain feats in different classes.

One thing I though about concerning proficiencies is how they affect a multiclassed character. The profiency, once it is gained, scales of character level. Applied to weapons, spells, and skills, this will make Multiclassing characters way more attractive. No longer will you have to hamper all of your abilities just to multiclass.

Additionally, depending on how feats are gated, this too could make things a lot better for multiclassers. I'm hoping we hear more on the subject.

So, the kama is a sickle. It is literally a farming tool, but it is treated as exotic because it is Asian (maybe it is the association with ninjas?).

The Katana is a pretty standard sword. A bit of a longer handle than some but basically it is a sword like any other. Again, it is treated as exotic because reasons.

I see this as a problem. Pretty basic weapons get classified as "exotic" for simply being East Asian. On top of that, we have the Samurai alternate class which is the most unnecessary class in all the game. It's mostly just the Cavalier but a flavored Japanese. It should have been an archetype.

At the end of the day, lots of mundane things in addition to these are made exotic simply because of their foreign nature. I think this addition change would be a good chance to right some of these wrongs, I think. The Bo, Kama, Siangham, Katana, etc. are very straight forward. Let them join their martial siblings,

In a rather off-handed remark in the blog about levelling, they mentioned that there would be a downtime system. As one that loved that system from Ultimate campaign, I am wondering how robust it might be.

Do you think they will included teams and organizations? Do you think it will create more interesting activities outside of entrepreneurship?

So, a lot of people see rather concerned about the usage of the term, and apparently mechanics, of "skill proficiencies" that sound similar to 5e. Personally, I find that to be one of my least favorite design choices from 5e. That being said, reading some of the faqs and listening to the preview podcast, I'm feeling a bit better about the sound of this version.

First of all, they have been demonstrated to be slightly more complex, with "trained" as well as "expert", offering an additional plus 1.

Now, with mention of "master" quality weapons, I believe that there are additional proficiencies.

Also, with the mention of "skill feats", I feel like this may replace skill ranks to some extent. It is possible that you gain skill feats at a set rate based on class.

If this is true, it certainly sets aside some of my fears for skills. Thoughts?

So, I posted this in the product thread, but it is better suited here, so I'll just copy and paste by question.

I could use a clarification on weather rules, actually. Concerning climate, it says to reduce intensity and frequency for cold climates and increase them for tropical climates.

Aside from this, there is a table that lists the baseline frequency with the Cold and Temperate climates. However, if I follow this, there is so little chance for precipitation in cold climate. Was this intentional?

So, I'm curious if there is any word or at least conjecture on the status of Nocticula, who has been stated in many places to be near fully deity power, and

So, is there mention anywhere about official status of these two? If not, what would you prefer to be the case?

So, Pathfinder has a great many optional rules systems that I love, like the expanded fear system in Horror Adventures and the downtime rules in Ultimate Campaign.

So, with the basic framework in Starfinder being very similar to PF, I'm wondering how much work each system needs to convert, in no particular order.

Now, I think the Fear system is one of the easier ones to adapt, as it mostly just expands on the situations that can increase fear, as well as the number of statuses. I daresay it needs no conversion at all.

How do you think Downtime (or any other system you like) would fair in Starfinder?

So, I got my limited edition book and I love it, but one thing just seems odd to me. Why is weapon specialization a feat when every class grants it at 3rd level? And that alone seems to make Versatile Specialization a bit redundant.

This isn't a complain so much as me realizing that I'm probably missing something related to this.

So, with the near release of Adventurer's Armory 2, I had a thought about a book we could actually use. We've seen a lot of rules involving equipment in all sorts of interesting ways, such as equipment tricks, alternate weapon master traits, weapon customization, etc.

Maybe we need another equipment focused book. Something to reprint some of these options as well as expanding them. We could get more special materials, new ranger traps (remember that archetype?), and all sorts of new class options based around using interesting items.It could also be a good place to revisit firearm rules or give new optional systems in the vein of "armor as DR".

What do you guys think?

So, we all know that Paizo loves point pools. It's a pretty simple mechanic that gives a more flexible limit than "x/day" abilities. We learned from a preview that characters all have "Resolve Points" that can heal a character for short rest.

After seeing these same resolve points interact with an envoy ability, I thought that, maybe, these replace individual point pools for classes. I posit that resolve points can be used for all sorts of special abilities, acting all manner of Phrenic, Mental Focus, Arcane, etc. pools. It'd be a pretty smart idea to bake that in to each character.

So, how plausible do you think this theory is?

Wayangs are one of my favorite races in Pathfinder. This is exciting.

So, with the release of Horror Adventures, I see a lot of people talking about how you can't use horror in Pathfinder because of the heroic nature of the game. How you can't have fear and be powerful at the same time. Now, I haven't looked at the new book yet, but I am a fan of horror as a genre, so I want to help. I'm here to allay those worries and teach you the 101 on Horror for anybody that wants it in their games. You can trust me. I'm a skeleton.

So, there is basic theory on horror that divides fear into three (sometimes more) categories or types. These are Dread, Terror, and Revulsion. Only the first two of these really utilize a feeling of helplessness, and only one actually requires it.

First, there is Dread. This is a feeling of unease that arises at what might happen. What is in those shadows? What is around the corner? What is about to happen? This is a pretty simple type to utilize by leaving mysterious statues or markings around a dungeon. It is merely the idea of something terrible that is at work here. As Hitchcock once said, "Nothing is scarier than a closed door."

Secondly, there is Terror which is the hardest of the three to use here. Terror is more of an active fear. It is focused on the here and now and your inability to deal with that situation. Now, in Pathfinder, that doesn't come up too often between the powers of the PC. They can deal with a lot. However, environmental modifiers or even sheer, overwhelming numbers of enemies is a good way of instilling Terror in your players.

Last, but certainly not least, is Revulsion. My personal favorite and also the easiest to use. Revulsion does not rely on "fear" as we typically understand. It's disgust and concern at something not being right, whether it is strange townsfolk all too cheery or a dungeon with strangely soft, warm walls. This is primarily horror atmosphere and is your strongest tool for using horror in your pathfinder games.

I hope this helps you in creating horrific, fear inducing games.

These are just a few of my house rules I've been writing out. The Wounds and Vigor variant has been tested and works well. The changes to Crossbows and Guns have not been tested, though. Everything is just me compiling everything I use. I'd love some feedback.

The Rules

Is...is that an X-files reference?

So, as the title says, I'm looking for the best undead to make use of a cleric's abilities in its unlife. What do you think is the best choice of undead for this?

So, plenty of classes can now become necromancers, including a few of the new ACG classes. So, what's everyone's favorite? I'm not talking about the best necromancer, necessarily. Just the one you like most.

I, personally, love the Reanimator. Something about the flavor and style of using serums to reanimate the dead is just cool.

So, the basic idea is that combat maneuvers only provoke AoOs when they fail by 5 (or a higher number). The improved maneuver feats would further prevent that AoO.

And a grappler will automatically gain control of a grapple if he succeeds by 5 (or higher). This would benefit specialization and hopefully expedite grappling.

So, I know they aren't much, but do you see any potential problems? And is 5 too low a margin?

So, let's say you want to charge a guy and just take him to the ground and still hold on to the sucker. How would I do it? It feels like it would be half-way between the Trip and Grapple maneuver, but neither adequately cover it.

I'm looking for big cities to run a big "Doing random stuff in a city" adventure for my players. What big and diverse cities that would be suited for this kind of adventure?

So, let's say I wanted to play an awakened ape as a character. Would I need to raise the CR from the base creature to account for the spell's effects?

For those of you that don't know, the Jian is a Chinese long sword, or the Tai Chi sword. It is thin, light, and very maneuverable. And, in all the many eastern weapons they included, they didn't include a big one. Was this an oversight, was this just done on purpose for some reason? I'm a bit disappointed in that fact. Especially since they included obscure weapons like the Urumi.

So, looking at all the classes and their abilities, I'm feeling that there is one skill that is not really fleshed out, and with new siege engine and gun rules, I think it is more relevant now more than ever.

There needs to be a class that takes up engineering as it's abilities. Making traps, explosives, complex gadgets, and maybe even golems. These skill sets are only lightly touched on throughout other classes, and they are too cool not to get some recognition at some point.

So, the question is, do you think this would be an Alchemist archetype, and Alternate Alchemist class, or do you think it would need a new Class all together?

Also, naming scheme. Artificer, Mechanic, or Engineer?

So, for the Elemental body spell, how would you approach taking on the form of one of the alternate Elementals, such as Ice and Lightning?

It's not a terribly important rule, but if I'm an arctic or ice subdomain druid, wouldn't I want to transform into an ice elemental rather than water?

So, are there any rules out there that I should look for, or do you have an recommendations on their stats?