Archmage Variel's page

So in an earlier forum post you said that the aboleths are "natives of Golarion". But the aboleths supposedly destroyed and left that world when their servitor race(s?) rose up against them. Which one is true. And if both are true, how?

Archmage Variel wrote:

Any new class options for the wizard or shifter. One for fun, the other for guide reasons.

** spoiler omitted **

-Skeld

I don't know what a Worldseeker does but it sounds cool! Thanks for the heads up!

It says "archmarge" vairel on your site and I am now to be known as the archmarge. All lesser marges bow down before me.

P.S. Thanks so much for up-keeping such a great resource.

I took a break from writing this guide for a while until recently, and while I still need to work on the equipment section at the time of writing this, it is complete enough that I feel it is worth sharing. Hopefully you find this guide helpful. Please feel free to leave thoughts on it.

Archmage Variel's Guide to the Vampire Hunter

I'm not seeing anything about scribing spell scrolls into your spellbook. Is that hopefully still a part of the class?

Since everyone else it putting out there thoughts on the change to having goblins as a core ancestry, I thought I'd talk about my own feelings. I think my biggest issue with goblins as a "core" playable race (and I'm a bit on the edge in terms of playable goblins) is also what I love so much about goblins in Pathfinder. One of the things that has always made Pathfinder's setting what it is for me was my first fight against a band of goblins sacking Sandpoint. As I've learned the game and begun to GM myself, goblins were always my go to first level enemies because of how memorable and well written they were as monsters.

A huge role of a first level monster in an RPG is that it gives new players their first chance at a kill. Often times (in my experience) such players begin the game completely abhorrent with actions that players who would be categorized as more "murder hobo"-like would be totally ok with. That is where goblins come in. Pathfinder goblins as they are often written in the first edition present an important challenge. A being which is cunning, yet both unwilling and unable to speak a common language. They still CAN be good. But they retain enough of those monstrous tendencies that you can be fairly certain they're not charging in for a hug. Having them as a core race seems to throw a much greater moral dilemma for new players who might already be resistant to this game into an encounter like in the beginning of Burnt Offerings, an encounter which made this game for a lot of us starting out (it certainly had an impact on me).

This isn't to say that goblins as a playable ancestry will ruin the game, or hurt it in any way, but it does change a fundamental part of what the atmosphere of that game has meant for me since the first time I cast a magic missile on my first goblin (and thought I was supposed to roll to hit). Goblins are an extremely critical part of the flavor of the Inner Sea, and whenever I think of Pathfinder, my thoughts always go back to that first description of goblins uttered by our GM followed by the words "roll for initiative".

I have a group that's spent a ton of time compiling everything into a single google doc if you'd be interested in joining us.

I'm looking for people interested in becoming an editor for the Pathfinder 2e Collected Information Google doc. You get paid a total of $0, but you get your name on the Google doc and you'd be helping the Pathfinder community. You must have a Discord account and experience using Google Docs. Message me (Variel#3770) on Discord if you're interested in becoming an editor. Here is a link to the editor's discord server for anyone who is interested in helping out.

Hi everybody! Some of you may remember that, back before Starfinder was released, I managed a google document compiling the various things that were announced about Starfinder. Well now I’m doing the same thing with Pathfinder. I will continue to update this document as quickly as my time allows in order to help everyone to know what to expect from this exciting new chapter in Pathfinder’s history. If you have any recommendations, comments, or thoughts about the document feel free so comment here or message me.

Archmage Variel’s Collected Information on Pathfinder 2e

Huh.

This class only has one trick that I can see, but it is one hell of a trick.

You can drop out of your Vampiric Focus as a free action, and reenter as a swift. You have as many uses per day as you have class levels. Vampiric Call gives you a number of temp hitpoints equal to your level. Every round, if you have run out of temporary hitpoints, merely drop out of your focus and enter again.

You have a number of temporary hitpoints per day equal to your level multiplied by your level. While at levels one and two it does not compare, for tanking purposes, to barbarian rage, the exponential nature of the ability may make the Vampire Hunter the best hit point sponge in Pathfinder.

This is a very good point and I've added it into Vampiric Call's description.

A full BAB character with no accuracy booster (or extra attacks) aside from possibly vampiric might. Interesting but not obviously a good choice outside 'The World of Vampire Hunter D'.

Disagreements:
Precise shot is essential to any purely ranged build (as opposed to a switch-hitter), not green/3-star. Similarly with weapon finesse for TWF builds.

Vital strike and its successors are orange at best IMO. They don't create especially powerful characters and without specialising in them they're not useful at all.

Exotic weapon proficiency as blue/4-star? What? The class doesn't have 'criticals are essential' written on it the way a swashbuckler or magus does, it doesn't get any bonus from/to crits at all. Other exotic weapons don't especially seem to relate to the class either.

Are you asking for other feat recommendations, or just comment on the ones you have?

Effects which are used in 1 minute increments are iffy for use with skills IMO. When the GM calls for a perception check you probably won't have vampiric cunning up, when you want to do something stealthy out of combat you probably won't want to use all of it (or near enough) on one check.

Vampiric momentum is not good until 16th level. Feather fall which you have to spend a swift action to be able to use, then an immediate action to actually use is mostly pointless. Being able to spider climb at 8th level is meh.

The saves for spell likes will be based on cha. Even with an enhancement bonus from the focus that isn't going to be easy for a vampire hunter to make into a good DC.

Nitpicks:
The medium is a 3/4 BAB 4-level caster at base, i.e. not all 4-level casters have full BAB.

Critical focus et al. add debuffs, not utility.

I meant to say like all 4th-level DIVINE caster. I'll fix that and consider everything else. Thanks so much for the recommendations.

I didn't even know this class existed!

Not terribly customizable, these vampire hunters . . .

Ya. I finished my shifter class, remembered this existed and didn't have a class guide and decided it'd be fairly easy to write out while binge watching Game of Thrones.

I've been working on a class guide for the Vampire Hunter (link below), and would love to hear people's thoughts on changes or additions I can make to it, as I have done with my previous guide. Let me know what you think!

Archmage Variel's Guide to the Vampire Hunter

In particular I'd currently really like to know how everyone thinks I did on rating the feats, before I finalize it and put descriptions for them all.

If anyone is looking for a shifter guide, I made this one here: Archmage Variel's Guide to the Shifter

Since the Oozemorph can now attune items, how does this change the list of magic items they want on them?

For one thing. It causes there to be a list of magic items that you want for them. XD

I made a corgi build. This was a worthwhile way to spend a study period.

They're apparently planning to change the hetero-normative wording of the class, but other than that this thing is hysterical.

But wouldn't you run out of room in the bucket for... you?

A Bucket of Holding is the only reasonable solution.

I figure the oozemorph is a Pathfinder take on something like the Dragon Quest Slime Knight - a monster from the JRPG series that looks like a knight in full plate riding on a slime monster, but it turns out is just an ambitious slime that has partially oozed up into the armor to animate it.

Really it's mostly a case of being poorly named. People expect "guy who changes into oozes" and we got "ooze who wants to be a real boy!" We need a shifter version of Cave Druid I think to get the version that seems to be most desired.

I'd be totally happy with "ooze who wants to be a real boy!" if it was less punishing to play.

I'm done analyzing the weretouched archetype. I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeee! XD

Chess Pwn wrote:

Quandary wrote:

Then there is issue of Aspect (Enhancement bonus) & Wildshape (Size bonus)...

IMHO Aspect SHOULD stack with Wildshape to avoid this, also making the forms stronger than Druid Wildshape.

So you are able to have a minor aspect on while you're wildshaped thus stacking the wildshape size and aspects enhancement bonuses. I'm not sure why you'd think they can't be used together.

OK, I can see that now, I guess I was thrown off by

WS: "The shifter can turn into the major form of only one of her aspects at a time. "
SA: "Shifting to a new aspect (or aspects...) ends all minor forms currently manifested."
Both Shifter Aspect and Wildshape abilities function around "assuming the form" / "changing into the form" of the same 'aspects',
and the SA wording didn't explicitly specify only applying when shifting into MINOR form of aspect (just 'aspect')
potentially applying to shifting to new aspect with Wildshaping by my reading, although if that's not intent, great.

Check out my shifter guide here if you think it might help.

I'm really loving this FAQ, and looking forward to seeing how Oozemorph is changed.

"Shifters can take feats and other abilities that require wild shape; for the purpose of qualifying for prerequisites, her effective druid level is equal to her shifter level."

Great... there's like 4 or 5 feats and other various abilities I have totally skipped over due to the fact they had druid as a requirement. I suppose it's better I know now though.

I've been working on this guide for a little while, and while it's not complete, I think it's reached a point that I'm willing to share it. This is my first attempt at a class guide, so I hope everyone likes it. Please feel free to leave comments on how it can be improved.

Archmage Variel's Guide to the Shifter

I'm just saying... skittermander plushies. Think about it. ;)

Any chance we could see starfinder themed avatars for the messageboards any time in the near future?

Human beings, see Rasmir.

Please tell me there is a larger sized image of this. This is the cutest thing ever (unless paizo releases a stuffed skittermander, that'd be cuter).

Reposting mine:

• A skittermander/vesk good cop bad cop duo. The skittermander is the bad cop.
  
• The damaya lashunta technomancer scholar with specialization in magitek forensics.
  
• The dwarvish icon soldier. They were on one episode of COPS: Absalom Station, when something embarrassing happened that they can't take back. Now they're a meme.
  
• Android Operative. They specialize in going undercover in the deepest parts of the station.

If someone has the chance to list the archetypes and character options at some point that'd be awesome. :)

I'm really hoping paizo makes skittermander and space goblin plushes. They need to be a thing.

By RAW, spells require concentration. I imagine caster cells, cuffs etc... are equipped with things that make concentration difficult or impossible. Maybe they are fitted with a helmet that assaults them with debilitating audio and video, or they are drugged with a neural agent. Also, the nauseated condition makes spell casting impossible.

The cell has speakers that play Nickelback on repeat. Casting is not possible. Insanity is assured.

This idea comes from my own personal build:

57. A human assassin (bounty hunter) born in the slums of Akiton. His skill with a sniper rifle earned him enough money to attend an academy of technomancy in Absalom Station. Now, he uses his skill with technomancy to augment his marksmanship, firing spells from long range to devastating effect.

Archmage Variel wrote:

Luna Protege wrote:

Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Anyways, closer on topic; anyone else hoping one of these magic hacks is basically access to a digital familiar? Like... Digimon?

Okay, maybe not that awesome, but still; the dualistic nature of the relationship between wizard and familiar has always fascinated me. It's like a reflection of the self given physical form. Carrying that over to digital space has always felt like a natural next step.

... That, and digital space entering meat space. The overlapping and fusion (in not just a metaphorical sense) of digital and material spaces feels like a natural outcome once you're able to bend space enough to create demi-planes and the like. Since at that point you can basically create a demi-plane that exists purely to act as a computer, with altered physics that replace needing it to be a mechanical computer, with it being a computer made entirely of reality hacks.

Or... Alternatively, one doesn't even need to go that far to pull it off. Digimon Tamers used an explanation that the transfer is more that the digital information is being re-synthesised into physical information using synthetic proteins created on site of transfer. Basically creating a pseudo "meat" body for them to use; except its closer to nanites I guess.

I'm sure someone is going to say they might have summoning, or remind me I've talked about how they might do summoning... But...

I would love a digital familiar! I hope this is somewhere in there.

I remember Owen K.Stephens said that was in the list of things he wants to get in. I think it was back in the mechanic preview.

It's not core, but it's literally at the top of my list of "things we need to do"

You know there is a little item known as personal energy shield so she can be wearing bikini and still have reasonable armor at same time

Also she could have the armor called "second skin", which for all I know could be literally a secondary skin like layer (that sounds kinda awesome actually).

Distant Scholar wrote:

Is there no plant race?

I would like a plant race.

You are Groot?

We are Groot.

Hey all, I tried to find info on the LaShunta in Starfinder but I can't. Found a thread where the devs said it will probably be different from the one in Pathfinder. Wondering if anyone has seen info or are we still waiting on the preview?

Haven't heard anyone call it a LaShunta before, but there was an overview of castrovel (the home planet of the lashunta) with some information on the lashunta as well. You can read it here.

Speaking of Jedi, have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?

Not much of it. All the information was lost when the empire destroyed the holocron containing everything Disney didn't want you to remember.

Owen KC Stephens said yesterday that it'll be the solarian blog either today or tomorrow. I just really want some new technomancer news.

Every year at PaizoCon I run two sessions of a persistent Emerald Spire game (PCs start at the beginning of the highest level no one has cleared yet, knowing whatever has been discovered about that level by previous efforts). I've done it the past 4 PaizoCons.

But this year, it was the Emerald Star Spire, a strange and dangerous ruin buried in an asteroid that is believed to have some ties to Pre=Gap Golarion.

I ran it in Starfinder, and converted monsters and traps on-the-fly.

It seemed to be a big hit. :)

Can you make this a Starfinder module? I need to play it!

IonutRO wrote:

Ventnor wrote:

17.) A mystic whose power comes from the ability to literally hack reality. Computers are for amateurs!

That's literally what a Technomancer does.

But they've got to use technology.

We don't know anything about them needing a technological conduit for their magic yet. That does sound cool though.

Well, it's the Starfinder version of that creature, but yes.

At least, to the best of Altronus's ability to determine.
It could have secretly been a reptoid...

The plot thickens...

I knew it was going to be the solarian, but I really wanted it to be the technomancer.

Verthani, Triaxians, the red skinned humans, those four armed giants and also the aquatic aliens... Sarcesians as well.

There are so many races that we already know but are yet to see what happened to them.

The Sarcesians are in first contact.

Is...Is this still a game about killing dragons.

Yes. But it's about killing dragons with LASERS!