I hope the new product is received well. It's nice to know people are still designing and sharing their work and creativity with the community.
Thank you! We enjoy putting out these products for everyone and we hope to continue doing so for a long time. Just for Pathfinder 1E alone, Orphaned Bookworm Productions has published over 30 products in the past 4 years, ranging from reimagination of classes from previous editions to content inspired by music, films, and video games, to brand new creations.
If you like our work, let us know with reviews, good or bad - constructive feedback is valuable for us in identifying where we can develop and improve.
I agree with the sentiment about the community. The more people that participate, the more possibilities we are shown that we did not think existed before, inspiring each and every one of us to explore further with our imagination! :)
After successfully completing our Kickstarter earlier this month, we are happy to announce that the PF1E version of our latest product, Breath of Life: The Chosen is now available on DriveThruRPG.
If you enjoy playing as a spontaneous divine spellcaster, this is right up your alley! :)
Cheers!
P.S., we are working on getting the PF2E and DnD 5E versions out too, if you prefer those editions instead! :)
From Orphaned Bookworm Productions, our latest Kickstarter, Breath of Life: The Chosen will be over in a few hours and it is fully funded! Thus, the Chosen, a reimagining and redesigning of a well-known 3.5 spontaneous divine caster, will be available soon in its PF1E version and join the list of 3PP full 1-20 levels classes.
Last minute reminder that our Kickstarter for Breath of Life: The Chosen ends today in 4 hours or so! It is already funded and we have the PF1E version all done and written, including layout with all of the beautiful new art! It is going through a final pass with our editor. The PF2E and 5E versions are being worked on as well before they can be looked over by our editor. :)
You can get a pdf copy for $15 or a print copy for $15 (ships to the US only)! In addition, there are multiple options for add-ons, including getting some of our previous divine-themed products and sponsoring art and game content into the book!
Last minute reminder that our Kickstarter for Breath of Life: The Chosen ends today in 4 hours or so! It is already funded and we have the PF1E version all done and written, including layout with all of the beautiful new art! It is going through a final pass with our editor. The PF2E and 5E versions are being worked on as well before they can be looked over by our editor. :)
You can get a pdf copy for $15 or a print copy for $15 (ships to the US only)! In addition, there are multiple options for add-ons, including getting some of our previous divine-themed products and sponsoring art and game content into the book!
Update: We have successfully made our initial goal, which was to cover the costs of the new art for Breath of Life: The Chosen.
We humbly thank everyone who has already pledged to support this project!
(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)
Although we do prefer for folks to ask questions and provide comments directly on the Kickstarter campaign to keep it all in a central location for everyone else to get the same amount of information, we understand that some may not want to ask questions there. In which case, please feel free to ask here and I'll do my best to have them answered here and share the information on the Kickstarter campaign.
Update: We have successfully made our initial goal, which was to cover the costs of the new art for Breath of Life: The Chosen.
We humbly thank everyone who has already pledged to support this project!
(´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)
Although we do prefer for folks to ask questions and provide comments directly on the Kickstarter campaign to keep it all in a central location for everyone else to get the same amount of information, we understand that some may not want to ask questions there. In which case, please feel free to ask here and I'll do my best to have them answered here and share the information on the Kickstarter campaign.
A 1-20 innately divine class for Pathfinder 1st and 2nd edition and 5e compatible TTRPGs.
If you have any questions or comments for us about this Kickstarter, please post them at the Kickstarter. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to check it out and many thanks to everyone who chose to support us! :)
A 1-20 innately divine class for Pathfinder 1st and 2nd edition and 5e compatible TTRPGs.
If you have any questions or comments for us about this Kickstarter, please post them at the Kickstarter. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to check it out and many thanks to everyone who chose to support us! :)
It looks like listing the hybrid classes (well, these ones are conceptually hybrid but are more like new base classes) are ok in here as well, so with that in mind, below are the links to the other classes I missed, including one that may tickle your Arthurian fancy!
Would the feat Secret Signs allow a spellcaster attempting to cast a spell with somatic components only (regardless of how or why the spell has only somatic components) to hide the fact that they are spellcasting, including hiding the magical manifestations/clues that would normal tell a non-trained observer that the spellcaster is casting a spell?
...
CB
a bit convoluted question but the feat description and FAQ(see above post) cover it. Hiding(aka Stealth|Bluff|SlgtHand) vs Perception, so "training" on the observer's part is bypassed (as perception is not "trained only"). It inserts a skill check before the assumed spellcasting manifrustrations cause a "AHA! she is casting!" moment.
That makes identifying a spell statistically harder (2 checks). Still, the guys with the highest perception are likely to yell, "ATTACK! She is CASTING a SPELL!". [ooc][/ooc]
Perception is a very useful skill so most PCs/NPCs/monsters pump it to near maximum skill ranks.
Commentary
All the methods take considerable investment on behalf of the caster to attempt this charade and honestly it can be done via spells and a good setup far easier and efficiently (using the skill ranks for other things). Secondly the caster causes skill checks (possibly multiple checks) and rule lookups so your GM needs to be prepared for this little timeout/game flow speedbump.
If you are in a Cloak-and-Dagger campaign with a multiclassed caster it can be a good thematic in-style option.
When I wrote "non-trained observer," I meant to distinguish between a person with no ranks in Spellcraft or other formal, academic understanding of magic (for example, a typical farmer) vs. someone who is trained in Spellcraft and thus have a chance of identifying the spell being cast (for example, another spellcaster). I did not mean the differences between a person who doesn't have ranks in Perception and someone who does have ranks in Perception. :)
Would the feat Secret Signs allow a spellcaster attempting to cast a spell with somatic components only (regardless of how or why the spell has only somatic components) to hide the fact that they are spellcasting, including hiding the magical manifestations/clues that would normal tell a non-trained observer that the spellcaster is casting a spell?
Secret Signs was written some considerable time (in 2011) before this Paizo FAQ (in 2015), so I am not 100% sure if it would hide the magical manifestations that comes with spellcasting in general or hide the act of attempting to cast a spell with only somatic components that would normally allow characters trained in Spellcraft to identify the spell?
(Under normal circumstances, an observer must be able to hear the verbal components or see the somatic components of a spell in order to be able to use Spellcraft to identity the spell.)
I liked the overall content of this book despite the occasional editing errors in it. I would have preferred though that the pdf contained bookmarks for the relevant sections.
I do have a question though regarding one of the mythic feats described within the pdf: Omnicomprensive Learning. I am confused by what precisely does it mean when the benefits state that "...you receive all the favored class bonuses you would have access to..." Does that mean you gain a +1 HP, +1 skill rank, and any one alternative favoured class bonus for that class OR does it mean that you gain a +1 HP, +1 skill rank, and all of the alternative favoured class bonuses for that class (assuming you could normally select them - so no alternative favoured class bonuses that are restricted to other races)?
If it is the first option, taking the general feats Eclectic and Fast Learner, along with Mythic Fast Learner would already achieve that result for you anyways, instead of taking the mythic feat Omnicompresensive Learning. It would also require less effort since the mythic feat Omnicompresensive Learning requires a specific general feat (from a list of four possible general feats) AND one other specific mythic feat (from a list of four possible mythic feats).
If it is the second option, it might get overwhelming with the alternative favoured class bonuses, especially when you consider that some of the Legendary Classes you have put out before (such as the Legendary Samurai, Legendary Ninja, and etc.) have multiple alternative favoured class bonuses available for any player character with that Legendary Class.
Granted, it shouldn't break the action economy balance (at least not that I am aware of), but I suppose there are other mythic feats that are better to take, depending on your preferences and gameplay of the campaign.
That being said, I am still curious as to which of the two options above is meant to be the case for Omnicomprensive Learning. :)
Question: just to clarify, when you enchant the masterwork handwraps (which are treated as weapons for the purposes of enchanting them), are they considered to occupy the "hands" slot (for the purpose of which magical item slot they occupy), as weapons you are "wielding," or "slotless" (which would affect also costs of enchanting them)?
My guess is that they are treated as magic weapons for both the purpose of enchanting costs and the purpose of magic item slot occupied - meaning, not "hands" nor "slotless."
My apologies to anyone who had previously requested my PF conversion notes for the Savage Tide AP. I have been away from the site for years.
If you are still seeking a copy of my conversion notes for Savage Tide (as far as I have completed them), send me a PM on here with an email address (so that I don't forget whom I accidently send the notes multiple times to the same person).
I might take a crack at converting the last adventure though (which I never did before) - might be fun doing so with the mass combat rules as well.
I recently returned to the site here and had outstanding requests for my Savage Tide PF conversions. Looking at my notes, I kept the HD for the Arcanaloths and the Stygian Linnorms the same as indicated - the HPs are different as the two have different CON scores.
I never did finish though updating Iggwilv back then (many years ago), but it was mostly finished. I had converted her to being a female venerable human Wizard 20/MR 10 (which put her at CR 25 theoretically). I did use the Legendary Games' PF rules for mythic villains though. She is one tough and vicious boss-level encounter.
I can share my Savage Tide PF notes if you like, just send me a PM with an email address to send the files.
Quick question about the Cross Specialization feat in this book.
(A) Does it allow a vigilante who had to replace their vigilante specialization due to an archetype (or other cause) to select one of the specializations (avenger or stalker) as the benefit of the feat and therefore become eligible to select vigilante talents based on the specialization selected?
OR....
(B) Is the feat only eligible for vigilantes who already have a vigilante specialization and thus can select the other vigilante specialization, thereby now being able to select vigilante talents that are restricted to either specialization?
IF (A) is the correct answer, can the vigilante retrain vigilante talents that they previously selected (when they had no access to any vigilante specialization) to select vigilante talents that are restricted to the vigilante specialization that they now have access to (thanks to the feat) for the purposes of which vigilante talents they can choose from?
I would be happy to hear a developer's take on this, but opinions from others are also welcome! :)
I decided (as a GM for my players) that the ki Caster class feature of the Wushen archetype (from Asian Archetypes - Magical) will replace the Legendary Wizard's Scribe Scroll bonus feat, Bonded Advancement, and Bonded Union class features.
What I had previously forgotten was that the Legendary Wizard's arcane school was better than the Core Wizard's arcane school (which alleviates my concern about Fetish Spells not be sufficient to warrant the replacement of Bonded Object.
I know it is a long, long shot here, but could the designers/developers of Legendary Wizards chime in with how they would adjust the Wushen archetype (from Asian Archetypes - Magical) to the Legendary Wizard class?
Notably, it is the ki Caster class feature of the Wushen archetype that is a bit harder to decide what it takes away from the Legendary Wizard class. The class feature replaces the Scribe Scroll and Bonus Feat from the Core Wizard. Problem is that the Legendary Wizard doesn't have the original Bonus Feat class feature but instead broke it up into two separate class features: Arcane Discovery and Educated Metamagic.
Although Bonded Object is still part of the Legendary Wizard's class features, Fetish Spells (which replaces the Core Wizard's Bonded Object) as described might not be sufficient to warrant the replacement of Bonded Object.
Any constructive ideas/feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Completely new that I don't think get covered anywhere else in the Ultimate line are:
Logistics rules expansion (1 page)
Mythic Kingdoms (8 pages)
The Troop Template (3 pages)
Sample Kingdoms & Organisations (32 pages, lots of flavour)
Sample troops (18 pages, including fantasy, sci-fi, modern, and pirate troops)
There might be a few extra bits that I've missed, but those are the things I know about.
The Mythic Character Codex though does have an entire chapter dedicated to Mythic Kingdoms (11 pages) and the Forest Kingdom Campaign Compendium has 16 pages of sample kingdoms and organisations. Might be some overlap there?
Ultimately (no pun intended), it seems like for me the Ultimate Kingdoms' biggest benefit will be the new content on Troops and possibly the flavour on the kingdoms and organisations (which will be of limited use).
I'm working on setting up a mass combat between the barbarian hordes of Armag and the PCs so I was kind of hoping this pdf would have sample armies and items useful for mass combat (for example, a cheap magical or non-magical item that allowed a commander to relay his orders to the army unit during a battle; signal horns is the only non-magical option that I could find).
Thank you both for letting me have a better grasp of the available content of this pdf, eh. :)
I already have Forest Kingdom Campaign Compendium, Mythic Creature Codex, Mythic Hero Handbook, Ultimate Battle, Ultimate Commander, Ultimate Factions, Ultimate Relationships, Ultimate Rulership, Ultimate Strongholds, and Ultimate War. Is there anything that Ultimate Kingdoms has that is not already available in the products I mentioned above?
Basically, I am trying to figure out how much value will I be getting if I pick up Ultimate Kingdoms. ;)
"For the purposes of spells and effects that have a duration of a round or longer or trigger at the beginning of the creature’s round or the start of its turn (such as saving throws against ongoing effects or taking bleed damage), only the monster’s first turn each round counts toward such durations."
Starts next round. Only counts first turns movement.
You are saying that if Combat Patrol is initiated on the first initiative turn of the round for the monster with Dual Initiative, then it should last until the start of the first initiative turn on the following round, and the only movement that would be allowed towards the Combat Patrol's effects would be a single move (as normal for Combat Patrol)?
This is what I figured at first, but I was a bit hesitant because this combo feels like it is too good.
I am curious if anyone else has a differing perspective.
I am curious as to how Dual Initiative interacts with Combat Patrol with regards to the following:
(1) If you start your first initiative turn in a round with Combat Patrol (a full-round action), does it end at the start of your second initiative turn in the same round or does it end at the start of your first initiative turn in the next round?
(2) If you start your first initiative turn in a round with Combat Patrol and IF it lasts until the start of your first initiative turn in the next round, how much movement you have for the Combat Patrol? Would it only only be up to your speed or up to twice your speed?
It is easier to figure out how the two works in conjunction with each other if you initiate Combat Patrol on your second initiative in the round.
I hope to get some opinions and thoughts on both the RAW and RAI of this particular combo. (I'm the GM for my gaming group so I can decide whatever I want on how this works but I do like getting the perspective of others to avoid the horse-blinders bias).
I just noticed something in regards to the list of rage powers that should be available to the Legendary Barbarian - was it intentional for all of the various elemental totem rage powers (such as lesser elemental totem and air totem) and all of the various blood rage powers (such as lesser abyssal blood or lesser elemental blood) to be absent?
I know they can still access elemental stance but that rage power is quite different from the lesser elemental totem rage power and lesser elemental blood blood rage power.
Just curious to know if it was intentionally left out for game balance or if it was just a matter of lack of space that prevented the inclusion of all of the rage powers available.
I think there is an error with the Dark Force Adept feat as it lists Dark Force Adept as a prerequisite. I suspect the prerequisite was supposed to be something like "must have at least one of the following class features: arcane pool, grit, ki pool, panache, or touch of corruption."
I am currently working on re-statting Armag to make him more dangerous for my players' characters (since they are all mythic) so once that is done, I will post here. Below is just a bit of background on the Armag in my campaign.
If you are one of my players, don't read!:
The pcs are 11th level and mythic tier 4 (also, some of them have played the computer game version). Originally, I was going to keep it simple with Armag as a mythic character with the Champion path, but I decided to change Armag from Barbarian 5/Fighter 9 to Legendary Barbarian 14 (from Legendary Games) with the Masquerade Reveler (from Rite Publishing).
Basically, the Black Sisters (who are not whom they claim to be, thanks to Nyrissa) had been guiding Armag since his youth to various fey ruins throughout the lands that they claimed were ancient dungeons designed to test the mettle of barbarians. As a result of the fey secrets he uncovered and being exposed to numerous fey magics, he slowly learned the path of the masquerade reveler. For him, becoming re-born as Armag the Twice-Born is simply the greatest mask he could get - that is his path to establishing a new kingdom with him as its eternal, immortal ruler, and Nyrissa as his Queen.
The goal is to have a worthy challenge that hints at more of Nyrissa's meddling and providing an opponent who is not a one-trick pony, but someone that realistically is capable of uniting the various barbarian tribes under his banner by his own efforts, not just due to his name as Armag the Twice-Born.
I do have a question though: has anyone ended up requiring to have a mass combat between the barbarian tribes led by Armag and the pcs' armies in this adventure?
I am really enjoying replacing the standard core barbarian class with the Legendary Barbarian instead. I think a lot of the usual barbarian archetypes can be achieved as well with the Legendary Barbarian for the most part. It is just the really unique and different barbarian archetypes that are more difficult.
Case in point, I am looking at the Masquerade Reveler archetype, and I'm currently going back and forth on whether or not the Legendary Barbarian should retain the Rage Form class feature (just the base rage form; they certainly would lose out on greater rage and mighty rage). I am leaning towards yes since they will never get greater rage or mighty rage, and the number of rounds of rage a Legendary Barbarian has is much lower so keeping Rage Form isn't unbalancing. That being said, I think I will adjust that the Masquerade Reveler (for the Legendary Barbarian) to lose a certain number of masks (perhaps not gain a mask at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level).
I just love finding and making memorable npcs villains thanks to well-designed and balanced classes and archetypes by 3rd party publishers. :)
I highly recommend the Legendary Barbarian for campaigns that include APs like Kingmaker or Giant Slayer.
Another thing I would like in Corefinder is the clarification on identifying magical potions: is it a Perception check DC 15 + potion's caster level (as described in the Perception skill's chart) or DC 15 + potion's spell level (as described in Potions section in the Magic Items chapter)?
It is one of those really small areas (and largely inconsequential due to use of detect magic and the like) of Pathfinder that got glossed over or skipped by Paizo for errata in the newer printing editions of the Core Rulebook. ;)
Sent to those who recently asked for a copy; if I have not sent a copy to you, just ping me on a private message here so that way I can keep track if I missed anyone.
Personally, I'd like to see some of the base classes done by third-party publishers adopted or their design philosophy included as part of the new base class because the result was a much more robust or meaningful core class to play all the way to 20th level.
For example, the unchained bard by Everyman Gaming, the Legendary Rogue or Legendary Cavalier by Legendary Games, and so forth. The 3rd party publisher's re-design of those core classes made them much more versatile as a whole so that you really did not need to branch out that often into prestige classes, archetypes, or even other classes to fulfill a particular theme/niche for your character.
For me, at least, so far I have adopted the following 3rd party publishers' redesigns for a core class after examining said class at great length:
Legendary Barbarian (with a few tweaks for some of the archetypes)
Unchained Bard Legendary Cavalier Legendary Fighter and Unchained Fighter (both are valid in my opinion, but I tend to use the Unchained Fighter more often for fighter builds meant for solo gameplay or for campaigns/party compositions where magical healing is not a common replenishable resource)
Legendary Rogue Legendary Samurai Legendary Swashbuckler
Although I would love to see the Legendary Commander added too, ;).
Wishful thinking aside, I wonder how Corefinder will tackle one of the most notorious feats since 3.0 Dungeons and Dragons: Leadership. Honestly, this feat causes a lot of...friction for many people (the various threads about Leadership is rife with myriad salvos fired from the different camps).
Just to clarify, the Legendary Cavalier does not gain any of the benefits of the various commander's auras (including the unique aura from their order, if any), only their allies and mount gain those benefits, correct? Likewise, only their allies and mount gain the benefits of the Banner class feature?
*nods* I limited the bonus skills from the soul to the host by using the HD cap but I also decided that the bonus skills are treated as virtual skill ranks (similar to wearing a headband of vast intelligence) since it is possible to actually lose the template's benefits.
I did a search on this discussion thread and I did not see any matches for the question I want to raise here so apologies if I missed it answered earlier in the thread.
The woodland sniper archetype of the slayer class has the Branchwalking ability at 11th level with an additional benefit at 13th level - it raises the DC of an Acrobatics or Climb check by 5 to allow the woodland sniper move between one tree to the next via connecting branches within the canopy. My question is...what is the DC normally?
I take it that it means you can't normally move between tree to tree via connecting branches. A Climb check allows you to move vertically on a tree but not horizontally. Acrobatics is used for balancing on a narrow surface that can support your weight. So what is the "base" DC are we looking at here for moving horizontally across trees?
Thanks for any help in clarifying this ability for me.
Honestly, I recommend taking a look at the Forest Kingdom Campaign Compendium by Legendary Games. They have fey bargains included in there, along with a bunch more fey-themed content.
I usually just extract the image from the pdf and save it as a jpeg or png file in Paint, then use Adobe Photoshop to increase the image size/resolution, remove any background that I don't want, crop where needed, and save it again as a jpeg or png. Afterwards I upload it to Roll20 and put it on the map layer. Then I adjust the dimensions of the map image to whatever size I need it at.
Most of the times, you won't get any of the labels on the map itself when you extract (copy) the image in the pdf file but the gridlines will be there.
Only way to avoid the gridlines in the image is if the map in question is from one of the interactive maps or an adventure path with the options to toggle grids on and off.
The watermarks shouldn't show up on the extracted image.
If you are having problems, just contact me and I can help you with a step-by-step process.
Not sure if I mentioned it before here, but I did redo a quickling duelist (who was a 9th level ninja) from another 3PP into a vigilante (mercurial duelist), with the obscurity social talent. The quickling's social identity was as one of the many fey servants in the castle of the fey queen, while his vigilante identity was as the elusive noble duelists that only makes public appearances during the duelist season. He otherwise worked as the fey queen's spymaster.
It was fun to see this little quickling just use Iaijutsu Slash on someone without them realising he attacked and the damage was delayed for several minutes before the victim finally let out a gush of blood (like some horror flick) and splashed the pcs and other npcs, which made for a fine murder mystery for the pcs to solve during a festival they were attending at the fey castle. :)
Isn't that an epic spell (10th level spell) from the 3.0 Epic Level Handbook?
CB
Its epic yes but i thought it was a joke given the DC/components didnt realize it was an actual spell.
Epic spells with really high Spellcraft DCs were possible if you have additional participants in the ritual of casting the spell. Depending on the level of the spell slot any given additional participant spends as part of the casting the spell, the Spellcraft DC is reduced (anywhere from -1 to -19).
That being said, the one you described above is not in the 3.0 Epic Level Handbook (or any other official product from Wizards of the Coast). You are right that it is a joke - it's from a 3.5 homebrew campaign. I mean, they even have an epic spell there that will make a deity your permanent slave, with a ridiculous Spellcraft DC of over 2,000. *rolls eyes*
EDIT: take the Deific Obedience and select Kurgess. You gain enlarge peson 3/day as a spell-like ability (CL equals your HD, I think). This is the easiest method for a warpriest that I can think of without level-dipping, playing a specific race, or using an archetype.
You need to go Exalted for 3 levels, losing 3 levels of class features. Deific Obedience is not enough. Evangelist would be better, since he would only lose 1 Warpriest level, but no Deities grant Enlarge Person as an Evangelist boon.
Dipping for 1 level into Goliath Druid with the Growth Subdomain is the best way to get both swift-Enlarge and regular Enlarge Person spell, with minimum Warpriest class progression loss. The only issue: you need to get a Stoneplate or Dragonskin armor if you are planning on wearing heavier armors.
Ah, I misread Deific Obedience. It does not require you to take any levels of the Exalted prestige class in order to get the exalted boons granted but you have to be at least 12 HD in order to gain the first exalted boon. Taking levels in the Exalted prestige class does allow you to get the exalted boons earlier (by 10th character level as opposed to 12th character level with just the Deific Obedience feat) but if the OP wants to focus on retaining and increasing the effectiveness of all Warpriest class features (not just spellcasting) for his character, then yes, the Deific Obedience is a wasteful path to get enlarge person.
You can get enlarge person as a 1st level domain spell through the Strength Domain.
Alternatively, you could play as a duergar; they get enlarge person as a racial spell-like ability.
There are a handful more options out there (like a druid with the Goliath archetype). A simple search on the Nethys Archive should help you with this build.
If you are willingly to do a level dip, I recommend sorcerer with the Empyreal bloodline - that way you still keep your spellcasting modifier tied to Wisdom for both classes.
Cheers!
CB
EDIT: take the Deific Obedience and select Kurgess. You gain enlarge peson 3/day as a spell-like ability (CL equals your HD, I think). This is the easiest method for a warpriest that I can think of without level-dipping, playing a specific race, or using an archetype.
Out of curiosity, for the Feel Footfall mythic feat, when the mythic monster spends an use of mythic power to treat creatures with total concealment within range of its tremorsense as if the mythic monster had effectively line of sight to them, what is the duration of this effect?
Personally, I think it should be equal to either 1 minute or something like 3 rounds per mythic rank/tier, as 1 round per mythic rank/tier would be too short for mythic monsters with only 1 to 3 mythic rank(s)/tier(s).
I don't know for the Official Pathfinder Sheet on Roll20, but I do know that the community-created Pathfinder Sheet allows for adding modifiers to just about most things you can think of for pcs.
If you look at the top of the community sheet, you should see near the very top a drop-down button called Set Buffs. If you click on that, it reveals options where you add a common buff (it has its own drop-down menu) or create your own (for whatever the common buffs doesn't cover). Once you added a common buff or created your own, you have to toggle them on to make them active. Sometimes you might have to press the Recalc to refresh the sheet.
If you want to add a modifier to a specific skill or exact attribute (for example, a bonus that adds to a class feature's effective caster level) that the drop-down menu named Bonus (not to be confused with Bonus Type) does not cover, the options labeled customa1 to customa12 can be used for a specific skill or exact attribute. You have to make sure that custom buff is toggled on AND you called the custom buff into the skill or attribute.
For example, if you created a buff with customa1 for a modifier from a disposable source (like a spell, magic item, etc., basically any modifier that could be taken away) that applies to your Bluff skill, you have to add @{buff_customa1-total} in the Misc Macro field. So when you have buff_customa1 toggled on, its value will apply to the calculations for the total skill modifier for Bluff. If you toggle buff_customa1 off, its value will be nonexistent for the calculation purposes.
I personally create a buff macro for every source that provides a bonus simply because it is easier to track of things that way and if something gets dispelled or taken away, all I have to do is toggle it off. The benefits of fighting defensively and total defense are good examples of this kind of circumstance.
For modifiers that come up often in combat and applies directly to attack rolls and the damage rolls, I use either the All Attack Macros fields or the Add-to-roll Macros within each individual attacks. It is going to depend on your preference and type of character. As an example of this, for my "fighter types" characters, I use Queries Macros and put them into the Add-to-roll Macros.
Trust me, read the Help Wiki at Roll20, check out the Pathfinder Macro Examples and the guide for the pathfinder community sheet. It goes into more depth than I possibly could here.
I can tell you with nearly absolute certain (99%) that Paizo will not provide an official answer because this is for Pathfinder First Edition. You might get a developer's opinion if you ask them in their "Ask [insert name of the developer]" threads but I would not bother as focusing on Second Edition is their priority (as they should). ;)
I would recommend discussing the circumstances with your group and go with the option that fits you best. Whatever you choose, just be consistent. :)
For my gaming group, when we log onto Roll20, we use Google Hangouts to do the video call (we generally switch the visual off and keep the mics on) since the audio for Roll20 can be problematic/lagging at times. I still use Roll20 for any music backgrounds/sound effects.
Roll20 has a learning curve and the more customization you want to add to the sheets (such as macros and token actions), the more time you have to spend into it. It also depends on if you are using the official PF sheet or the community-sheet; I use the latter because I have been using it for much longer than the official sheet and it has more options for customization.
One thing I try to remind my players to do before every gaming session is to enable the private mode (they just have to simply type in /talktomyself in the text chat box) and go over their sheet(s) to refresh what their pcs are capable of and equipment they have - with the private mode, they won't spam the group chat screen. To exit the private mode, they just have to type in /talktomyself again to disable it.
Setting up maps can be a pain if you are using older maps (especially ones that have grid lines already - many of the older maps' grid lines are actually not perfect and so they won't align properly with the enabled grid lines in Roll20). I recommend disabling the grid in Roll20 in such cases and uses the map as it. Otherwise, it may be very frustrating.
Another suggestion is that even if you have token actions set up for a character sheet, tell the players to keep their character sheets opened up as a separate browser window that can be minimized. There will be times when you need to reference something in the sheet that you did not create a token action for. Loading up a character sheet each time after you had closed it can be a bit time consuming, ESPECIALLY the character sheet is for a spell caster.
Speaking of which, for spellcasters, my recommendation for those who have a lot of spells is to avoid having each and every spell created into the sheet. Instead, either list all the ones the pc will likely use on a daily basis (but the more spells you have there, the slower the loading time for the character sheet) OR just create ONE spell per spell level, and on each description box of that spell, have a link to each spell the pc knows for that level. That way you drastically cut down the amount of data stored into the sheet.
Mind you, my recommendations above are for using the community-sheet version for PF.
There are other suggestions, but they are more specific for GMs and honestly, it depends on how much time/customization you want to have.
When I first started Roll20, I did the bare minimum, but as we spent more time with Roll20, the more customizing I did. There is a lot you can do with the PF sheets and the community forums on Roll20 are the perfect place to ask for additional assistance with specific things.
