Dr. Frank Funkelstein's page

"PFS Note Characters from Kyonin have access to this option."
That would be everybody from Kyonin.
Your GM in your home campaign can decide otherwise, of course.

Buy a Faith Tattoo

Bless has a duration of 1 minute. If you use the Sustain action, you expand the radius. If you don't, it stays as it is. It does not influence the duration.

I had a GM that loved handing me critical fail results to my untrained skills.
I think it's funny to have that once in a while, but only if you fail with a skill that has the chance to succeed.
I want to tell my players stuff about the cool monsters, and getting them to actually use RK is hard enough, they don't need discouragement.

Hide and Recharge would be a really nice addition, something along the Gunslinger reload+x feats, maybe with choice, maybe one for each subclass...

I play a Starlit Span Magus in SoT, and it was quite mediocre before i got Imaginary Weapon online.
After that, i got quite some flashy hits, and even a few crits that were bonkers high - but compared to our melees (Animal Barbarian, Thaumaturge) it was probably more of a break even.

After re-building with Cleric/Fire Ray i don't think there will be a big difference, unless enemies are immune to fire - had to add Overwhelming Spellstrike and the damage is a little lower, but not by that much.

If i did not have focus spells to spellstrike, i would no longer play the character. Having the spells to to other things than strike, having utility options or preparing an AoE spell for larger groups of enemies gives me versatility that is lacking on the class chassis.
Before re-building i was planning to take my first class feat at lvl 16, starlit span has really bad feats...

My Storm Druid, in comparison, had the same three focus points and a similar power level with them - but could also use more powerful offensive spells if deemed necessary.

I enjoy my character a lot, even with the rather boring rotation of spellstrike+recharge, due to the extra utility spells and the flexibility of the focus spells.
I was close to abandoning Starlit Span a few times, but playing a melee vulnerable to Reactive Strike? I already had that with a Thaumaturge...
(Missing a feat to avoid that on both classes!)

I would probably enjoy the class more if there was something other than only Spellstrike to power it.

IMO, the feat seems to imply that you'd have to be able to transform into objects with broader mechanical implications. The form in the name can't be used if you take damage from heat/fire.

One of the stories about a Tanuki is one shapeshifting into a tea kettle, but being discovered because he is put onto the stove/fire, starts burning and cries out in pain.

I think one should keep it in this fun and lighthearted way, not find ways to exploit it. Some mechanical benefits are okay, but nothing over the top.

Investigator has the Person of Interest feat, it costs an action but allows Devise a Strategem as a free action which makes it basically cost neutral.
Once every 10min feels much more reasonable than 1/day like the slayer feat, and as the investigation is a lot broader and can apply to multiple creatures it should be a baseline feature for slayer, not a feat.

I realized if I really wanted to Trip I dont even need to be a Ruffian or have any STR. Couldn't I just take Slamdown at 12 as a Thief or Scoundrel and be good? Essentially could Trip with my free hand while wielding a Rapier or something?

Crashing Slam

I played an unarmed ruffian focused on grapple and trip, it was a lot of fun to control the battlefield, and the damage (stumbling stance) was comparable to our barbarian.

I would also love to play a full martial with the flexibility of animal and monster shapes.

I retrained my Psychic Magus to Cleric, using Fire Ray and Cry of Destruction (Lubaiko), the latter with Expansive Spellstrike.

I use this rule for some years already and think it's neat to keep recall knowledge interesting in their area of expertise.

Some of the more recent backgrounds have additional lore baked in.

Where do you draw the line exactly?

3% cash discount

Rounding the total price and ignoring the quite inconsequential cost of the base item is an easement, not a loophole.

I am thinking about the interaction between Expansive Spellstrike and Cry of Destruction.

Your voice booms, smashing what's in front of you. Each creature and unattended object in the area takes 1d8 sonic damage. If you already dealt damage to an enemy this turn with a Strike or spell, increase the damage dice from this spell to d12s.

You cast the spell and "imbue it into an attack" as part of spellstrike.

Would the damage from the strike (if it hits) trigger the condition for the spell and increase its damage dice from d8 to d12?

Wand of the pampered pet

In Foundry you can use a nice macro, that shows the GM all skills and lores of the character with the rolled result.
I would suggest to apply the roll to the skill with the best success chance.
And no, after a failure its not "continue with all other options" - you gave it your best shot.

And good luck hitting the DC 23 with your arcana trained fighter.

I have enjoyed having Chain Lightning on my Starlight Magus - dealing with crowds is not his forte.
Yes, the DC being 3 lower is hard, but it still works against goons.

Something to do if the stratagem against the main target fails is important to have.

For social media errata to work, there has to be a person who can just answer questions authoritatively without concern of later being over ruled and I don’t think PF2 has that.

Two lead designers answering questions on Twitter did not really work out that well for D&D5, especially when they contradicted each other or the rule books.

Still, a hint here or there what the developers plan to release would be really nice. Devs, please talk to Maya about it!

Remorseless lash is pretty good.
As a fighter, you can use intimidating strike to fear enemies without focusing on intimidation. Demoralize is a very good third (or rather first) action, but the two actions needed for intimidating strike have that baked in.

I don't think dirge of doom offers much to this build at lvl 12, its another action you have to take.

Your build seems to be a bit of a one-man party, as a fighter you should focus on fighting (or controlling with maneuvers).
I mean, it's a good build (except maybe for directed audience, why would you want that?), just a bit much.
And wis -1? Do you want to fight for the enemy team?

Barbarian is not a good archetype afaik, the rage is more of a debuff.
Marshal is great, if you have nobody with bless, courage etc the inspiring stance is fine, but for your build the dread stance is obviously matching.
Champion would offer another way to boost athletics with the might domain.

Gunslinger as an archetype has the big issue of reloading, the "good" reload feats are only available at lvl 10. Guns without reloading compression are just plain worse.
Combining this with an already action-starved class is just shooting yourself into the foot.

Spellshot/Beastgunner seems to be a way to achieve something similar.

I saw a lot more good than bad, not that worried.
The store was baffling though!

Champion is also great for squishy casters. Heavy armor for AC and a great reaction on classes that usually don't get a consistent reaction anyways. Many of them even come prepackaged with the CHA for it.

Heavy armor only if you are a medium armor caster (or invest an additional general feat) - it was changed with the remaster.

A fallen champion could select a new cause - you could handle that as retraining or just as the consequences of their actions. Maybe Obedience?

I think rogue is excellent for the squishy casters, armor proficency, stealth/thievery+1 skill, best feats in the game (like mobility), and skill training for all your midgame needs.

i would vote no, it's atonement time

I played it with the premaster wording, i.e. repeated saves.
Makes it a bit more dangerous if used as a single enemy, but feels more fair.

Magus with the nerfed imaginary weapon would be casterlevel * 2 * d6 in damage.
Fire ray offers the same, just with a worse damage type, but with a 1/2 level d6 afterburn effect.

With the stupid text of Psi Development (lvl 6 feat of psychic archetype) stating "If you don’t have one, you gain a focus pool of 1 Focus Point" you would not even get any focus point from the archetype.
You have two more focus spells, but no more focus points, directly contradicting the "Focus Points from Multiple Sources" rule...

Casting is "lose all air" though
(sustaining is just thinking hard)

oh, found a big change: psychic archetype loses the amp, you get the amp at lvl 6.
that kills the psychic dip (and the reason i bought the book for pfs...)

Mine also says updated 1/16/2026, and it is the pre-remaster (based on "flat-footed" and references to the Advanced Player's Guide). So sadly, no early leak. (Although I'm sure Paizo's IT is happy to have not accidentally released it early.)

mine references player core and divine mysteries.

I did not find a lot of changes, but can say that Imaginary Weapon was nerfed to d6

I bought the Dark Archive pdf as there is a sale ongoing and i still had a coupon.
I can already download the remastered pdf, looks like it was updated two days ago (last updated 1/16/2026)

Good question. It says "apply their runes", and with a +2 the sword could have two property runes.
The real question would be: Why did your spirit warrior not transfer the flaming rune to the handwraps?
As that is a mere technicality, i would allow it, unless it is exploited.

while fascinated is generally seen as a very useless condition, the added stipulations let it work here.
Incapacitation and especially the spell not discerning between enemies and allies (despite stating that in the sentence before) makes it useless - unless you replace "each creature" with "each enemy".

1) It would avoid the hazard, this is the default unless otherwise stated
2) It uses one action to move closer, it can use all other actions to do whatever, including moving away
3) fascinated does not limit the target except as stated in the condition. It could strike you, for example.

360ft would be the maximum distance for a ranged attack with 60ft.
Just limit it to an actual target and you should be fine.

Instead of investing into RK you could probably pilfer Whispers of Weakness from oracle archetype, giving a higher success chance against the PL+3 type enemies this seems to be about.

Rogue has excellent feats all over, and skill training is really nice to have, too.

I don't think doing low threat encounters one after another is a lot of fun, but dominating enemies without having to get out the biggest spells can be rewarding from time to time.

Combats that required all the tactics, ressources and tricks and still were very close tend to be remembered the longest, but they are also exhausting both in-character and as a player.

Being integrated into a/the story is a defintive plus, of course!

That is a large party.
A bard would power-charge the melees and would probably be the strongest option. I play one and enjoy boosting my group a lot, and add some damage with my short bow.

A sorcerer is also possible, of course, adding some blasting power, for example.

As soon as the new store is fixed ;)

"Official Game" would be "Pathfinder Society", which has its own forum at https://paizo.com/community/forums/organizedPlay/pfsrpg

Grafts:
"all Pathfinders can have grafts implanted during downtime between missions for no additional cost"

Source: Character Options - Howl of the Wild

Unless you played a game at level 2, characters can be freely changed.

To use a boon, you "buy" it for a character in the organized play section.

I think this is more of a meta discussion and cannot be solved by your character, only by you - by talking to them.

Wanting to play a ranged character is okay - but a ranged fighter is still very strong defensively. Try to convince them at least not to run away when enemies close but switch to a melee weapon.

The bard as a melee character should like nothing more than a flanking buddy, if none of the others want to do that maybe the ranger could get an animal companion (or one of the others take an appropriate archetype).

And in the end, its up to your GM to challenge your group appropriately.
The difference between highly optimized and okayish is not very big in pf2e, but not executing tactics at all is quite severe.
Talk to your GM and suggest that encounters be scaled down, just as a test, and see if you maybe have more fun this way.

Some people play the game as a tactical challenge, that is a valid way to play, but not the only one!

If i may add some feedback: Please add which AP has a corresponding Foundry premium module.

It makes a world of difference and it's make-or-break for several people surely, for me if an AP does not have a premium module i'm not going to run it

Not all, but most APs can be imported with the pdf2foundry module.

Earn income and its meagre results is the reason why adventurers go adventuring ;)

I play two different fighters and enjoy their versatility.

One is a two-handed glaive wielder, charge or sudden charge to an enemy, jump if needed, slam down and punish them for casting or standing up.
I added marshal into the mix to buff myself and the group, focusing on diplomacy, intimidation and athletics.
Playing him in PfS

One uses a bastard sword, can (combat) grab or trip, uses battle medicine and dual-handed assault to keep the damage up even when going one-handed.
He is a runescarred with free archetype and uses buff and utility spells as well as providing arcane knowledge.

In 3.x i played a dwarven battlerager, and even though pf2e does not support the spiked armor & grapple to death playstyle, it could be fun as a roleplaying base.

I did not try an agile or ranged fighter yet, can also be fun i guess - but i just love my maneuvers.

Immanence is a +1 status AC in 15ft, yes

There are plenty of nice buff and reaction spells to use, i would not recommend offensive spellcasting.

As a cantrip deck of 5 costs 5g, and one of 20 costs 20g, you could assume that a single one costs 1g, or 1/4 of a 1st level scroll