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Hi all!

Is the Age of Ashes adventure path certified for Pathfinder Society (2nd edition)? If yes, are there downloadable certs somewhere?

Thanks!

A couple creatures in the 2e bestiary (e.g. Balor) have Dispelling Strike which allows them to target a creature with a Dispel Magic. However, that spell's description does not allow for a creature to be targeted.

Is this just a mistake or an overlooking some rule or errata?

The following rules confuse me:

"Moving into ... difficult terrain ... costs an extra 5 feet of movement. Moving into ... greater difficult terrain instead costs 10 additional feet. This additional cost is not increased when moving diagonally." (p. 476)

As written, moving diagonally in difficult would still cost just 10' and greater difficult would cost 15'.

*However*, the example side-bar on p. 475 says that Lini would need to pay 15' to move diagonally in difficult terrain (not 10').

Is the reference to not having to pay the diagonal penalty only intended for greater difficult terrain? (If so, that's not worded clearly.)

Are PFS2 characters allowed to choose one of the Backgrounds listed in the appendix of the Fall of Plaguestone adventure?

Are GM's supposed to have characters pay cost of living?

p. 554 "Bracers of armor give a +1 item bonus to AC with no Dex modifier cap..."

p. 607 "These stiff leather armguards grant you ... and a maximum Dexterity modifier of +5."

I checked the errata and I do not see any fix. I'd think the item description trumps the side bar text, but on the other hand, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that armguards would interfere with a highly agile character in any way.

Does anyone know if there is an official ruling on this oversight/typo?

If a creature is in the process of moving and becomes Stunned (e.g. from a readied action or stunning snare), is any remaining movement from the Stride action they were currently taking lost?

1. Snare Specialist: You get additional formulas based on your proficiency level. Is it a correct assumption that you still these additional formulas if you achieve these proficiency levels after taking the feat? (e.g. If you take the feat at level 4 and at level 11 become master, then you would add 3 additional formulas?)

2. Craft skill check: When you create a snare, do you need to make a successful skill check against a DC corresponding to the snare's level? So, for example, crafting a Bleeding Spines Snare (level 12) would require a DC 30 Craft check? If so, then getting the Assurance feat seems really important to me for deploying snares in the middle of combat.

So, Rangers at most get Expert in their weapons. But they have Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon specialization which grants extra damage if they have Legendary skill in weapons.

Is this just a copy/paste to keep the wording of "Weapon Specialization" consistent from class to class, or is there a way I don't see for a ranger to get Legendary skill in their weapons?

The wording in the Plaguestone documents confuses me.

Obviously GM's get XP, fame and treasure, but do they get unlocked items, keepsakes, and boons?

I'm trying to get my head around skill checks. Specifically, what the rules state around retrying a failed check.

I recognize that some skills (e.g. Track) upon a failed check has a delay time built in before you can try again. However, the majority of skills do not have this.

Let's take "Pick a Lock" as an example. There is no penalty on a failed check (other than a critical failure costing some coin). Thus one could simply keep retrying until they got a success (or critical success).

This sort of makes sense - it's the old "Take 20" rule where it's assumed one will eventually roll a "20" given enough time. However, I'm confused by the "Pick a Lock" text that says "locks of higher qualities might require multiple successes to unlock, since otherwise even an unskilled burglar could easily crack the lock by attempting the check until they rolled a natural 20".

How does increasing the # successes needed in any way address the problem of retries? Whether you need 1 or 5 successes doesn't stop the aforementioned burglar to just keep retrying. There's no mention of the progress being reset upon failure. If there were a "reset", then this would address the problem (i.e. need to get X successes before a single failure).

Mechanically, what's to stop a bad burglar (Thievery +1) from just retrying over and over until the get natural 20's. For example, he's trying to pick a good lock (DC 30, 5 successes). If he rolls a "1", he spends 3 SP. If he rolls a "20" (crit successes) he gets 2 successes towards the 5 needed. So, he can just keep retrying until he gets three "20's". Assuming he got three "1's", the attempt cost him 6 SP.

Also, without an official "take 20" rule, isn't it tedious to have everyone at the table wait to see how many tries it takes a player to roll 3 successes?

Am I missing something?

Im not sure what Recognize Spell feat is good for. Since you just used your reaction, you can't Counter Spell the feat being cast. Quick Recognition does not work with the Recognize Spell feat.

What good is it to be able to recognize a spell as it's being cast if you can't do anything about it anyway?

Just clarifying, that rules as currently written, since Spellcasting Services are specified as being uncommon in the core rules (p. 294), they are not available for purchase by characters.

Thus, to my knowledge, the only spells that characters can have NPC's cast are Raise Dead and Resurrect with the expenditure of 50/25 Fame. Is that correct?

I'm confused of what you get spending the points. As I understand the rules:

1 point = free consumable = character level
2 points = bonus lore skill and skill feat
3 points = 2 free consumables = character level + charcter level/2

The rules say the benefits are cumulative the the wording on the 1 and 3 point benefits creates confusion in my mind. If you spend 3 points in a school, is it intended that you will have 3 consumables? You would have the one from the 1 point level and also the two from the 3-point level?

I think this is rules as intended because otherwise a character would be much better off spending 2 points in one school and 1 point in another in order to get two consumables each equal to their character level.

It's a struggle to me to click on all the various links to find information on organized play. I find that the HTML format does not lend itself to conciseness or ease of reference.

Is there a downloadable document that contains all of the information that is needed to participate in PFe2 organized play?

Orichalcum - "...can have four magic property runes instead of three"

Weapon Potency +1[2,3] - "...weapon can be etched with one [two, three] property rune[s]."

So, how is orichalcum supposed to work since the wording says four instead of three.

Option A) Orichalcum adds +1 property runes to any level weapon potency (i.e. +1 can have 2 weapon properties, etc.)

Option B) Orichalcum only has a benefit when combined with Weapon Potency +3 allowing 4 instead of 3 weapon properties.

Rules as written would indicate option B (otherwise rules should simply say adds 1 weapon property to the number normally allowed with weapon potency), but option B makes the material much more restrictive and less interesting.

Thoughts?

I'm trying to conceptualize how the Coerce action would work in Exploration mode.

Cooerce requires spending at least 1 minute in conversation with a single target. At the end of that conversation, you make your check.

So, imagine that a party is walking around town and a character is using Coerce as an Exploration action. Is the character spending a minute bullying every person they come across? So, in a busy market they spend all afternoon just intimidating everyone present?

Mechanically, how would this work? As a GM, would you have the character make checks against notable NPC's only? Would you have him check each group of similar people?

I'm just not sure how this skill is intended to be used in Exploration Mode as it seems clunky. I have the same questions with Make an Impression.

I was curious as to whether spell-like and supernatural abilities are subject to concentration checks. For example, does a paladin trying to perform a Lay on Hands (su) while on a galloping ship or a bard trying to use his Suggesion (sp) on a violently rocking ship need to make concentration checks?

If they do need to make concentration checks, then how does one determine what the equivalent level of the spell is for purposes of calculating the concentration DC?

Thanks!
Jason

So I am confused as to how the designers intend traps to be found. Clearly, the Perception skill is used and the use of this skill is well referenced. But does a character automatically get a Perception check, or do they have to be actively searching.

The Perception skill states that "most Perception checks are reactive, made in response to observable stimulus." this would suggest that characters get an automatic check to detect a trap. However, the Find Traps spell suggests to me that one needs to actively search for traps since it states, "You receive a check to notice traps within 10 feet of you, even if you are not actively searching for them." Unfortunately, the section on traps does not clarify one way or the other.

Let's take an example. Suppose the party opens a door to a large room (say 150' by 50'). 80' away, there is a pit trap. Do all PC's automatically get a Perception check (with a +8 modifier to the DC since the trap is 80' away)? If they then move closer and thus the DC is reduced, should they get another Perception check? Alternately, do they have to "actively search" as the Find Traps spell suggests? If they have to actively search, and since there are no rules in the Perception skill stating proximity (i.e. can only find traps that are within 10'), then what's to stop the entire party to actively search at the doorway (6 Perception checks at +8 DC), move 10 feet and search again (6 Perception checks at +7 DC), etc. etc.

It seems to me that as written, the rules for finding traps is overly vague. It is my opinion that Paizo should clarify these rules and perhaps include an example of how it is supposed to work.

Can anyone help me resolve these discrepancies? Perhaps a Paizo designer could respond or anyone can cite a reference to an errata, etc.?

Thanks!
Jason