Ed Reppert's page

Gord the Rogue was a creation of Gary Gygax's. There were a couple of novels about him, as I recall. My question is "how would you create him in PF2E?" Probably pretty simple: He starts out as a Thief, and later adds Wizardry to his resumé (via Wizard dedication I would guess). I wonder though if there's anything special in Gord's CV, perhaps some special ability not covered by "Thief with Wizard dedication". I suppose you'd have to go back and read the books -- if you can find them. Hm. Wizard dedication. Which School?

There are twenty-five classes listed on Archives Of Nethys right now, the last two of which are the Animist and the Exemplar from War Of Immortals. The next two are the Commander and the Guardian, from Battlecry! I know that there are two after that, the Necromancer and the Runesmith, to be published in (I think) some book with Impossible in the title which has not been announced yet (GenCon 26?) That makes a total of twenty-nine. Will there be more?

Several of the class archetypes in WoI are clearly intended to be the 2E equivalent of 1E hybrid classes. Bloodrager, for example. Is Seneschal in that group, or is it something completely new?

So going through my downloads I found a folder called CommunityUsePackagePathfinderSocietyPregeneratedCharacters. This has four sub-folders: Advanced Class Guide, Core, Occult Adventures, Ultimate Combat. The classes from the Advanced Players Guide are missing. Where can I find them? (BTW, I can't find any files to download in the Community Use Section of the site. In fact, the Community Use link, which was there ten minutes ago, now seems to be gone. All I have is Blog, Forums, PaizoCon, and Guidelines. That last links to a message from Lisa Stevens and a bunch of FAQs. Not what I'm looking for.

Zadim is the iconic Slayer (hybrid Rogue/Ranger) in PF1E. In PF2E, with the advent of War Of Immortals, he's an Avenger (Rogue with the Avenger Dedication, which doesn't seem to give him any Ranger abilities.

Here he is at level four:

Zadim 4
Male human rogue (avenger) 4 (Lost Omens Firebrands, War of Immortals)
Medium, Human, Humanoid
Heritage versatile human
Background martial disciple
Perception +8
Languages Common, Empyrean, Kelish
Skills Acrobatics +11, Athletics +12, Deception +6, Diplomacy +6, Intimidation +6, Medicine +8, Religion +6, Stealth +8, Survival +6, Warfare Lore +7
Str +4, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +0
Items chain shirt, +1 kukri, +1 kukri, composite longbow (20 arrows), lesser alchemist's fire, backpack, bedroll, chalk (10), doubling rings, flint and steel, invisibility potion, minor healing potion, rations (1 week) (2), rope (foot) (50), soap, torch (5), waterskin, purse (9 cp)
--------------------
AC 21; Fort +7; Ref +11; Will +8
HP 48
--------------------
Speed 30 feet
Melee [1] [i]+1 kukri[/i] +11 (agile, finesse, trip, magical), Damage 1d6+4 S
Melee [1] [i]+1 kukri[/i] +11 (agile, finesse, trip, magical), Damage 1d6+4 S
Ranged [1] lesser alchemist's fire +9 (thrown 20 ft., alchemical, bomb, consumable, fire, splash), Damage 1d8 F +1 pers F +1 F splash
Ranged [1] composite longbow +9 (propulsive, volley 30, deadly d10, range increment 100 feet, reload 0), Damage 1d8+2 P
Ancestry Feats Haughty Obstinacy
Class Feats Avenger Dedication[WI], Nimble Dodge, Twin Feint
General Feats Fleet, Toughness
Skill Feats Battle Medicine, Eyes Of The City, Quick Jump, Rapid Mantel, Student Of The Canon
Other Abilities hunt prey, rogue's racket, sneak attack

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You can download a character sheet for Zadim in Paizo's Community Use Package for PF1E Iconics, if you can find it. Oh, here it is.

I was digging through my Herolab Online characters, and found this one. Apparently Tieldlara is an NPC from back in PF1E, an Aldori Swordlord. I don't know why I built this, or why I chose to go dual class, but here's her build at level 4. What do people think?

Tieldlara 04
Female elf bard/swashbuckler 4 (Advanced Player's Guide 83, Lost Omens Firebrands, Lost Omens World Guide, Secrets of Magic)
Medium, Elf, Humanoid
Hair Blonde Eyes Blue Skin Fair
Age 132 Height 5'6" Weight 115 lbs
Heritage whisper elf
Background martial disciple
Perception +8; low-light vision
Languages Common, Elven, Varisian
Skills Acrobatics +10, Athletics +8, Deception +10, Diplomacy +10, Dueling Lore +7, Intimidation +10, Occultism +7, Performance +12, Society +7, Stealth +10, Warfare Lore +7
Str +2, Dex +4, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +4
Items +1 striking aldori dueling sword[LOWG], purse (38 gp)
--------------------
AC 20; Fort +10; Ref +12; Will +8
HP 54
Opportune Riposte [R] (bravado, swashbuckler) Trigger An enemy within your reach critically fails on a Strike against you. Effect You take advantage of an opening from your enemy’s fumbled attack. You either make a melee Strike against the triggering enemy or attempt to Disarm it of the weapon it used for the Strike.
--------------------
Speed 40 feet
Melee [1] [i]+1 striking aldori dueling sword[/i] +11 (magical, versatile P, finesse), Damage 2d8+2 S
Occult Bard Spells DC 20; 2nd (3 slots) blur, blur, darkvision* 1st (3 slots) bless, fear, mage armor*, magic weapon Cantrips (2nd) dancing lights, haunting hymn, mage hand, read the air[SoM], shield
*Spells marked with an asterisk are signature spells; these spells may be heightened freely
Focus Spells 2 Focus Points, DC 20; 2nd Counter Performance, Courageous Anthem, Hymn of Healing
Confident Finisher [1] (finisher, swashbuckler) You make an incredibly graceful attack, piercing your foe’s defenses. Make a Strike with with the following failure effect.
Failure You deal half your precise strike damage to the target. This damage type is that of the weapon or unarmed attack you used for the Strike.
Ancestry Feats Nimble Elf
Class Feats Aldori Duelist Dedication[LOWG], Aldori Parry[LOWG], Duelist's Edge[LOWG], Focused Fascination, Hymn Of Healing, Martial Performance, Nimble Dodge[APG], Tumble Behind
General Feats Weapon Proficiency
Skill Feats Cat Fall, Distracting Performance, Fascinating Performance, Rolling Landing, Steady Balance
Other Abilities component substitution, composition spells, muse, warrior
--------------------
Tieldlara is an elven master of both the elven nemesis fighting style and the prestigious methods of the Aldori swordlords. Her personal school is Restov's most rapidly growing school of duelists, where Tieldlara's methods discard the order's traditional focus on discipline and honor in favor of in-fighting. She is rivals with Aldori Academy blademaster Garen Aldori, whom she is slowly goading into an eventual duel; that fight is expected to be spectacular, and Garen's advanced age and Tieldlara's lack of discipline grant neither of them a clear advantage.

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In the Playtest Errata is this note: Page 44: Change the text of the ysoki Sharp Teeth ancestry feature to read: “Your prominent incisors offer an alternative to the fists other humanoids bring to a fight. You have a jaws unarmed attack that deals 1d4 piercing damage, is in the brawling group, and has the agile and finesse traits.”

I can't find any mention of a "Sharp Teeth" ancestry feature on page 44 or anywhere else in the Ysoki section of the book.

Playing around with building a 2E character sheet for the iconic Arcanist Enora. Would help if I had a 1E sheet for her. Anyone know where I might find one?

Currently:
Timothy Ellis, The Hunter Legacy (series, I'm on book 10, Hero At The Gates)
Ludwig von Mises, Liberalism
Trevor Matthews, Card Reading
Dr. James Marsh Sternberg, Simple Squeezes Made Simple

On deck, in no particular order:
Timothy Ellis -- whatever the next series is in the ongoing Jonathan Hunter saga
Blake Banner, An Ace And A Pair
J.B. Turner, Hard Vengeance
H.R. McMaster, Battlegrounds
Ludwig von Mises, Socialism
Robert P. Murphy, Choice

So this afternoon I was reading, and this idea came to me. Not the usual class for Tarzan, but I think it sorta fits. What do you think?

Tarzan
Male human druid 1 (Rage of Elements, Secrets of Magic)
Medium, Human, Humanoid
Heritage versatile human
Background animal whisperer
Perception +7
Languages Common, Mwangi, Wildsong
Skills Athletics +4, Intimidation +4, Jungle Lore +3, Medicine +7, Nature +7, Survival +7
Str +1, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +4, Cha +1
Items dagger, loincloth, animal companion, purse (14 gp, 8 sp)
--------------------
AC 15; Fort +4; Ref +5; Will +9
HP 18
--------------------
Speed 25 feet
Melee [1] dagger +5 (versatile S, thrown 10 ft., agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+1 P
Ranged [1] dagger +5 (versatile S, thrown 10 ft., agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+1 P
Primal Druid Spells DC 17; 1st animal allies[SoM], heal Cantrips (1st) deep breath[RE], prestidigitation, protect companion[SoM], read aura, stabilize
Focus Spells 1 Focus Point, DC 17; 1st Heal Animal
Ancestry Feats Haughty Obstinacy
Class Feats Animal Companion, Animal Empathy
General Feats Shield Block, Toughness
Skill Feats Train Animal
Other Abilities animal, animal companion, druid spellcasting, druidic order, shield block, wildsong

Jad-Bal-Ja
Male cat
Small, Animal, Minion
low-light vision, scent (imprecise) 30 feet
Skills Acrobatics +6, Athletics +5, Stealth +6
Str +2, Dex +3, Con +1, Int -4, Wis +2, Cha +0
--------------------
AC 16; Fort +4; Ref +6; Will +5
HP 11
--------------------
Speed 35 feet
Melee [1] claw +6 (agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+2 S
Melee [1] jaws +6 (finesse), Damage 1d6+2 P
Other Abilities cat strike
--------------------
Jad-Bal-Ja means "Golden Lion".

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In choosing/setting up your new forum software, please ensure that when you reply to a comment that's in a long thread, once your reply is posted, the software takes you back to where you were in the thread when you posted it. I'm getting tired of having to hunt "now where was I?" :-(

In the "my downloads" section of "my account", you have headers like "Paizo Inc.: Adventure Path Outlaws of Alkenstar (#178-180) (6)". Problem is this gives no clue whether this AP is for pathfinder 1E, pathfinder 2E, or Starfinder 1E (or, soon to come, 2E). My recommendation is to add that info in the header, so "Paizo Inc.: PF2E Adventure Path Outlaws of Alkenstar (#178-180) (6). Same is true, and even more important IMO for PFS and SFS scenarios: they're headed by "season of" or "year of" but... indicate which edition/game they're for, please.

Also, is there a way to activate the triangles in the listing (to hide whatever's under that header) all at once (like cmd-click or shft-click on one and they all close) without causing the server to have a fit (which happens at some point(s) now when I'm clicking on them all one at a time in succession)?

Also, group things that go together all together, perhaps under new higher level headers. For example, all PF1E APs in one place under one header, All PF1E PFS scenarios in one place, all PF2E stuff in one place that's different to the PF1E stuff, etc. If you do that, the request in my first paragraph may be redundant.

BTW, how's the "looking for new forum/store software" quest coming? :-)

So far, I count five pocket editions in the SF RPG line:

Core Rulebook
Alien Archive
Alien Archive 2
Armory
Pact Worlds

With SF2E coming what, next year (after 1 year playtest), that would seem to bode ill for pockets for the other dozen books in the line. Anyone have a clue they can pass on?

I haven't really delved into Starfinder much, so this question occurs: in Pathfinder, a "basic party" consists of a Fighter, a Rogue, a Cleric, and a Wizard. What's the Starfinder equivalent?

What does the above error message mean? I got it when trying to follow a link on your main page to one of the "sketch cover" Remaster books. After I got it I couldn't get away from it. I had to close the tab in my browser, try again, fail, close the tab again and retry.

Pre-Remaster, what's the difference between Drow and Cavern Elves? Both have existed since the beginning of PF2E, both are some kind of elf, but one is a monster and the other is a heritage. That's not what I mean by "what's the difference" though. Trying to answer my own question I come up with maybe Cavern Elves are very similar to Drow in that they retreated underground after Earthfall, but perhaps didn't go as deep or at least didn't run into whatever corrupted the elves who became Drow.

Post Remaster, as I understand it, there are no Drow. The extensive empire they supposedly built in the Darklands never existed. Neither did they. They're strictly legendary. So how did the legends arise?

It seems to me there are basically two ways to build a world. In both you start with a history (and perhaps a prehistory) that goes back several thousand years. In one you then provide a "snapshot" called "now" where "now" then moves forward in time along with your publishing schedule. This is, I think, the way most world-builders, including Paizo, do it. The other way is to provide a snapshot of "now" at a particular date - and never move "now" from that in-world date. Any future publications cover parts of the world that haven't been covered yet, or provide additional information about the history of places that have already been covered that doesn't conflict with what's already published. To the best of my knowledge only one setting -- Harnworld -- works this way. Which gives rise to my question: are there other "frozen in time" settings besides Harnworld out there?

Someone posted on Facebook that he was trying to convert a PF1E character concept to PF2E and wanted to know how best to do it. The original concept was a scaled fist monk/draconic sorcerer. A couple of ideas were thrown about. Here's my quick and dirty shot at it:

test monk 08
Human monk 8 (Advanced Player's Guide, Rage of Elements)
Medium, Human, Humanoid
Heritage versatile human
Background martial disciple
Perception +12
Languages Common, Draconic, Vudrani
Skills Acrobatics +12, Arcana +11, Athletics +18, Deception +13, Diplomacy +13, Intimidation +13, Medicine +12, Society +11, Warfare Lore +11
Str +4, Dex +2, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +3
Items +1 resilient gi[TV], dart (10), +1 striking handwraps of mighty blows, backpack, bedroll, chalk (10), climbing kit, flint and steel, grappling hook, rations (1 week) (2), rope (foot) (50), soap, torch (5), waterskin, purse (494 gp, 5 sp)
--------------------
AC 25; Fort +17 (Treat success as critical success); Ref +15; Will +13
HP 112; Resistances fire 4
--------------------
Speed 45 feet
Melee [1] striking fist +17 (magical, nonlethal, agile, finesse), Damage 2d6+6 B
Ranged [1] dart +14 (thrown 20 ft., agile), Damage 1d4+6 P
Arcane Sorcerer Spellcasting DC 23, attack +13; 3rd (1 slots) haste 2nd (1 slots) blazing bolt 1st (1 slots) breathe fire* Cantrips (4th) eat fire, shield
*Spells marked with an asterisk are signature spells; these spells may be heightened freely
Focus Spells 1 Focus Point, DC 23; 4th Dragon Claws
Ancestry Feats Natural Ambition, Sense Allies[APG]
Class Feats Basic Bloodline Spell, Basic Sorcerer Spellcasting, Dragon Disciple Dedication[APG], Dragon Stance, Gorilla Stance[APG], Sorcerer Dedication
General Feats Fleet, Toughness
Skill Feats Battle Medicine, Powerful Leap, Quick Climb, Quick Jump, Rapid Mantel, Wall Jump
Other Abilities component substitution, draconic, expert strikes, incredible movement, mystic strikes, path to perfection, powerful fist, signature spells, weapon specialization

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There's a discussion of this somewhere, but I can't find it, so...

The aforementioned discussion, as I recall it, said something about the rules around this being more draconian than most GMs have treated them. Here's my take after reading PC1 and GM Core:

Generally speaking you will start an encounter with neither the dying nor the wounded condition. If during the encounter your hit points are reduced to 0, you fall unconscious and are Dying 1. If you take non-critical damage in this state, your Dying condition increases by 1 (to Dying 2). If you take critical damage, your Dying condition increases by 2 (to Dying 3).

At the beginning of your turn each round, you make a recovery check. If you succeed you go to Dying 0 and are no longer dying, but you gain Wounded 1 and are (still) unconscious. If you fail, your dying condition increases by 1 or 2 (for a critical failure) plus whatever your wounded condition is (currently 0 in this scenario).

Now let's say you get some healing while at Dying 1, but not full healing. You lose the Dying condition and gain the Wounded 1 condition, and you are no longer unconscious. If while you have Wounded 1, you get taken down to 0 hit points again, you are now Dying 2 (Dying 1+1 from your Wounded condition). Now you get healed a bit again. If this is from Treat Wounds (or you are healed to full) you lose the Wounded condition. But say it's from a spell that doesn't heal you fully. You don't lose the Wounded condition, but since you just got healed a bit you lose the Dying 2 condition, and your Wounded condition goes to 3.

If you repeat this scenario again, you go to Dying 4 and you're dead.

The moral of the story seems to be "use Treat Wounds on the dying or ensure they are healed to full". Have I got this right? Is there a more draconian interpretation that I'm missing? Is there a way to gain the Wounded condition other than by recovering from Dying?

So Ezren at level one decides he wants to craft some scrolls, so he gets trained in crafting at that level. But oops, he doesn't have expert crafting or magical crafting yet. Okay, wait 'til level 2, get those. No problem. So he decides to craft "scroll of first rank spell" (doesn't matter which one as long as it's in his spell book). Scrolls are consumables so they can be created in batches of four. Cool. But... Normally it takes a minimum of two days to craft something, but that can be reduced to one day if you have the item's formula. You do -- it's the spell itself. But you need four casts of the spell, and you only have three per day, so it's going to take you at least two days anyway. I think. Am I missing something?

Added: if he wants to get these four scrolls for just the 8 gold of his initial expense, he's got to keep working on them for another 16 days (8 gold / 0.5 gold per day (from the earned income table) = 16), right?

On the Pathfinder product pages, there's a place for links to the last previous and next upcoming products in between the "See Also" section and the "Discussion" "Reviews" "Downloads" line. Appearance of these breadcrumbs is inconsistent. Sometimes they're there, sometimes they're not. Will this be fixed on the new website we're getting soon™? Can it be fixed *now*? I realize you may not have time for it, but it's real annoying when they aren't there.

Here's a character I came up with just this morning:

Peter Pillbug, Poisoner Extraordinaire
Human alchemist 1 (Advanced Player's Guide)
LN, Medium, Human, Humanoid
Heritage versatile human
Background merabite prodigy
Perception +4
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Mwangi, Osiriani
Skills Acrobatics +4, Alchemical Lore +7, Crafting +7 (+8 when crafting poisons.), Deception +3, Diplomacy +3, Medicine +4, Society +7, Stealth +4, Survival +4, Thievery +4
Str 10 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 14 (+2), Int 18 (+4), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 10 (+0)
Items studded leather, blowgun (10 blowgun darts), dagger, sling (20 sling bullets), alchemist's tools, backpack, basic crafter's book, batches of infused reagent, bedroll, caltrops (2), chalk (10), flint and steel, healer's tools, rations (1 week) (2), repair kit, rope (foot) (50), soap, The Fundamentals of Alchemy, thieves' tools, torch (5), waterskin, familiar, money, purse (2 gp, 4 sp, 3 cp)
--------------------
AC 17; Fort +7; Ref +7; Will +4
HP 18
--------------------
Speed 25 feet
Melee [1] dagger +5 (versatile S, thrown 10 ft., agile, finesse), Damage 1d4 P
Ranged [1] blowgun +5 (nonlethal, agile, range increment 20 feet, reload 1), Damage 1 P
Ranged [1] dagger +5 (versatile S, thrown 10 ft., agile, finesse), Damage 1d4 P
Ranged [1] sling +5 (propulsive, range increment 50 feet, reload 1), Damage 1d6 B
Ancestry Feats Natural Ambition
Class Feats Alchemical Familiar, Subtle Delivery[APG]
Skill Feats Alchemical Crafting, Battle Medicine, Specialty Crafting
Other Abilities advanced alchemy, extra reagents, familiar, formula book, infused reagents, quick alchemy, research field, signature items, toxicologist
--------------------
Peter graduated summa cum laude from Merab University with a dual major in Alchemy and Medicine. He is currently pursuing graduate studies, refining his knowledge of poisons.
Peter's parents fell afoul of a powerful merchant in Merab, and Peter believes this merchant hired an assassin to kill them. He longs for revenge.

Tiny
Homunculus
LN, Tiny, Construct, Minion
low-light vision
--------------------
AC 17; Fort +7; Ref +7; Will +4
HP 5
--------------------
Speed 25 feet, fly 25 feet
Other Abilities flier, land speed

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How does an alchemist make a homunculus familiar? RAW, as far as I can see, with the exception of the poppet, the aeon wyrd, and the druid's leshy familiar, almost all familiars are animals, and "homunculus" isn't on the list. The homunculus is a construct. There's an entry for it in the Bestiary which starts by saying "A homunculus is a tiny servitor construct created by a crafter to serve as a spy, scout, messenger, or assistant. When a crafter first begins to study the art of creating constructs, she often crafts a homunculus first, since the creation process is simple and inexpensive due to a magical shortcut: the use of the creator’s own blood. This forges a link between the homunculus and its master, causing the homunculus to gain a spark of the creator’s intellect, as well as the same moral values and some of the creator’s basic personality traits. Homunculi left to their own devices never stray far from their masters." Yet there's no "Crafting" entry.

The Alchemical Familiar feat says "You have used alchemy to create life, a simple creature formed from alchemical materials, reagents, and a bit of your own blood. This alchemical familiar appears to be a small creature of flesh and blood, though it might have some unusual or distinguishing aspects depending on your creative process. Like other familiars, your alchemical familiar assists you in your laboratory and on adventures. The familiar uses your Intelligence modifier to determine its Perception, Acrobatics, and Stealth modifiers (see Familiars for more information)." Looking at the Familiars entry doesn't help. Also, Herolab doesn't seem to have a possibility for a homunculus familiar. :-(

Not much really.

1. A biography for each iconic, including a physical description and a picture.
2. A "signature" saying.
3. A first level build for each iconic (including the ones Paizo is at present reluctant to make).
4. An explanation of why the choices made for the above build were made.
5. Higher level builds (at least 5th and 10th).
6. A Pathbuilder build for each iconic (up to 20th level if possible).
7. An explanation of the choices in the above Pathbuilder build that weren't covered in item 4.

Not gonna happen, I'm sure, but it'd be nice.

The Medicine skill has the following associated activities:

Untrained Administer First Aid

Trained Treat Disease, Treat Poison, Treat Wounds.

The Natural Medicine Feat says "You can apply natural cures to heal your allies. You can use Nature instead of Medicine to Treat Wounds. If you’re in the wilderness, you might have easier access to fresh ingredients, allowing you to gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your check to Treat Wounds using Nature, subject to the GM’s determination."

Is Natural Medicine only applicable to Treat Wounds, or can it be applied the other activities under "medicine"?

Oddly, the Healing Trait says "A healing effect restores a creature's body, typically by restoring Hit Points, but sometimes by removing diseases or other debilitating effects" but only Treat Wounds among Medicine's activities has the Healing Trait. Seems to me they should all have it.

So my first level wizard found a vendor who will sell him a scroll of a first rank arcane spell that he does not have in his spell book. That will cost him 4 gp. As I read the rules, he can learn this spell from the scroll, basically transcribing it to his spell book.

Questions:

1. Is the scroll destroyed by doing this?
2. Will he have to pay the 2 gp price from table 4-3 to learn the spell? This would be in addition to the 4 gp purchase price for the scroll, which seems to make learning from a scroll a bit steep.

Once he has the spell in his spell book, he can craft his own scrolls. But...

1. "Like other consumables, scrolls can be crafted in batches of four. All scrolls of one batch must contain the same spell at the same level, and you must provide one casting for each scroll crafted." Presumably, since the base time to craft anything is four days, this means he has to devote one spell slot each day (and he must do daily preps each day) to this spell. Or he can devote two slots, and thus the casting he must do in crafting this batch of scrolls can be done over two days. Do I have this right?

2. The cost of a rank 1 scroll is 4 gp, so the "raw materials" cost is 2 gp, and he would need to have 8 gp to cover the cost of crafting one batch of four scrolls. Right?

Have I missed anything?

Maybe this: if I want to spend only the 8 gp base cost, and considering … uh, oh, I forgot something. If I'm gonna make these things, I need to be trained (at least) in crafting, and have the "magical crafting" feat, which is second level. So I can't do it at first level, but I can at second. My daily craft checks, assuming they're all successful (but not critically successful) would let me deduct 3 sp from the remaining 40 sp each day. So it would take me 40/3 rounded up, or 14 more days to finish the project. 18 days of downtime to give me 4 1st level scrolls. Hm.

Given that there are six elements, and that a composite impulse contains the traits of at least two elements, the total possible number of composite impulses is C(6,N) where N varies from 2 to 6 and C is the Combination function C(M,N)=M!/(N!*(M-N)!), where M! designates "M factorial", the product of the integers from 1 to M.

We already have 15 Composite Impulses for two elements: C(6,2)=6!/(2!*(6-2)!)=6!/(2!*4!)=(6*5)/2=15.

For 3 elements: C(6,3)=6!/(3!*3!)=20. For 4 elements: C(6,4)=15. For 5 elements: C(6,5)=6. For 6 elements, there's only one.

Total is 15+20+15+6+1=57. Of which we have 15, so there are 42 more to discover. Any ideas?

Could a Kineticist take Magus Dedication (or a Magus take Kineticist Dedication) and find a useful synergy between the two class's powers? Perhaps by using Elemental Blast in a Spellstrike?

This table shows the wealth gained at each level for a given party. For example, a party of first level characters should gain about 175 GP over the course of getting to second level. This works out to 43.75 GP per person. Does this include the 15 GP a beginning character gets at character creation? If so, he will have 58.75 GP (roughly) when he reaches 2nd level.

I note that Table 10-9 gives very roughly about twice the wealth as Table 10-10, which shows starting wealth for a character starting at a given level. For example, a new level 10 character begins, per Table 10-10, with 2300 GP, while his fellow party members who have been adventuring since level 1 have accumulated roughly 4458.75 GP worth of wealth (including gear, weapons, magical items, and of course cash).

The primary question in this thread is bolded. Comment on the rest as you like (you will anyway :-)).

These have the "Propulsive" trait, so you add half your strength modifier to the damage. As I read it, this means (because you round down) that you need a strength modifier of at least +2 to make the extra cost of a composite bow (over the corresponding not composite bow) worthwhile. Have I got this right?

The assassin archetype has access to "sneak attacker" as an archetype feat at sixth level, while the rogue multiclass archetype gains it at fourth level. The feat lists "rogue dedication" as a prerequisite. Shouldn't this be "rogue or assassin dedication"? I suppose the confusion arises because the feat was originally in the CRB while the assassin archetype is in the APG. Still, it would seem ripe for an erratum or two, but I can't find one.

I'm re-reading Steven Brust's excellent Vlad Taltos series and I got to wondering how hard it would be to build him in PF2E. He's a crime lord, a witch (which may or may not be the same thing as being a witch in PF2), an expert swordsman (rapier), carries a number of concealed weapons, including daggers and shuriken, knows a little bit about sorcery. He claims to hate Dragearans (the dominant species or sub-species in his world -- he's human) but he has many Dragearan friends. He has some small skill in thievery, though he doesn't consider himself a thief. Oh, he's an accomplished assassin who made his first kill at 17. He can't teleport (that's a sorcery thing) but he knows a lot of people (Dragearans) who can. I'm thinking Rogue for starters, Mastermind (he's a planner) or Ruffian maybe. What do y'all think?

In another thread, bugleyman commented about WAR's artwork being a bit over the top. This is at least partly in response to that.

I agree a lot of his artwork is a bit over the top. I still like it. It does bring up a question I've had in mind for awhile: Amiri got her sword from a Frost Giant she killed. I've seen it described, in her iconic character sheet for example, as a "Large Bastard Sword". Sure, it's a bastard sword for her but it looks to me, from Reynolds' art, like a short sword from the viewpoint of the Frost Giant who originally wielded it. What do y'all say?

There are currently 22 character classes in Pathfinder Second Edition, with a 23rd on the way later this year or next. If we say the "standard" party is four, there are 7315 possible party compositions now (not allowing duplicate classes) and 8855 with 23 classes. If you allow duplication (Ron the Rules Lawyer put together a party of four Thaumaturges, for example) you get 12650 parties with 22 classes and 14950 with 23 classes.

Whew! That's a *lot* of possible parties! But how many of them are actually viable? Four Thaumaturges seemed to work. I doubt four Sorcerers, or four Wizards, or four Monks would work.

Someone recently posted that the "standard" party composition is (combatant, skill monkey, blaster, healer). If we use this model, the question is which classes fit into which of the four categories?

Combatant: Barbarian, Champion, Cleric(?), Druid, Fighter, Gunslinger, Magus(?), Monk, Ranger, Rogue, Summoner, Swashbuckler, Thaumaturge
Skill Monkey: Investigator, Rogue, Thaumaturge(?)
Blaster: Kineticist, Psychic, Sorcerer, Thaumaturge(?)
Healer: Bard, Champion, Cleric, Druid, Thaumaturge

The question marks are because I'm not sure that class really fits in the category.

Unassigned at this point are Alchemist, Inventor, Oracle, Witch, and Wizard. Where should we put these?

The "traditional" party, I suppose, is Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, Cleric. Wizard's not that great as a blaster, though, is it?

Using the composition model above, btw, reduces the number of possible parties to 780.

Anyway, how many viable compositions do you think there are, and what are your favorites? Any other comments would be appreciated too.

I note that if you add a fifth party member, with 22 classes and no duplication you get 26344 possibilities, nearly four times as many as with four members. Mind boggling! :-)

Taking a shot at a dual class character:

Magus One
Male human fighter/magus 1 (Secrets of Magic 35)
CG, Medium, Human, Humanoid
Heritage skilled heritage
Background bounty hunter
Perception +5
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Halfling
Skills Acrobatics +6, Arcana +5, Athletics +6, Intimidation +3, Legal Lore +5, Medicine +3, Society +5, Stealth +6, Survival +3, Thievery +6
Str 16 (+3), Dex 16 (+3), Con 14 (+2), Int 14 (+2), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
Items hide armor, dagger, greatsword (owlbear claw), backpack, bedroll, chalk (10), flint and steel, grappling hook, minor healing potion, rations (1 week) (2), rope (foot) (50), soap, Spellbook, torch (5), waterskin, purse (2 gp, 2 sp)
--------------------
AC 18; Fort +7; Ref +8; Will +5
HP 20
Attack of Opportunity [R] Trigger A creature within your reach uses a manipulate action or a move action, makes a ranged attack, or leaves a square during a move action it’s using. Effect You lash out at a foe that leaves an opening. Make a melee Strike against the triggering creature. If your attack is a critical hit and the trigger was a manipulate action, you disrupt that action. This Strike doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty, and your multiple attack penalty doesn’t apply to this Strike.
--------------------
Speed 25 feet
Melee [1] dagger +8 (versatile S, thrown 10 ft., agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+3 P
Melee [1] greatsword +8 (versatile P), Damage 1d12+3 S
Ranged [1] dagger +8 (versatile S, thrown 10 ft., agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+3 P
Arcane Magus Spellcasting DC 15, attack +5; 1st shocking grasp Cantrips (1st) acid splash, light, produce flame, shield, telekinetic projectile
Focus Spells 1 Focus Point, DC 15; 1st Thunderous Strike
Ancestry Feats Natural Ambition
Class Feats Arcane Fists[SoM], Exacting Strike
General Feats Shield Block
Skill Feats Experienced Tracker
Other Abilities arcane spellcasting, conflux spells, hybrid study, shield block, spellbook

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Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc., and are used under license.

Comments? Recommendations? How would you progress him through the levels?

I just noticed (after what, nine years here) that the product pages have Paizo's "serial number" for each product (at least the rulebook line and the lost omens line). In the rulebook line, though, there seems to be one missing:

PZO2101 Core Rulebook
PZO2102 Bestiary
PZO2103 Gamemastery Guide
PZO2104 Bestiary 2
PZO2105 Advanced Player's Guide
PZO2106
PZO2107 Bestiary 3
PZO2108 Secrets Of Magic
PZO2109 Guns And Gears
PZO2110 Book of the Dead
PZO2111 Dark Archive
PZO2112 Treasure Vault
2113 Rage Of Elements

So what happened to 2106?

Suppose your character has both hands free and wants to throw some darts or knives. Does it matter which hand he throws with? It looks to me like RAW it doesn't -- which effectively means all player characters are ambidextrous. Am I wrong?

Extra credit question: can he throw two darts (one from each hand) on the same attack?

On a scale of 1 to 5, worst to best, how would you rate the Thaumaturge and the Psychic in these five areas: offense, defense, support, utility, and difficulty to play? If a subclass or subclasses would change your rating, please comment on that.

"Tieldlara is an elven master of both the elven nemesis fighting style and the prestigious methods of the Aldori swordlords." -- Adventurer's Guide, page 19.

Tieldlara is, in first edition terms, Bard 7/Swashbuckler 5/Aldori Swordlord 2. How would you stat her in second edition? Would you dual class her (Bard/Swashbuckler) with Aldori Duelist as a free archetype? Start her as a Bard, pick up Swashbuckler Dedication (perhaps via Ancient Elf) and then Duelist once you get two feats in the Swashbuckler Dedication? Something else?

Extra credit question: what the heck is "elven nemesis fighting style"? ;-)

If something makes a PC stupefied, but does not specify a duration, how long does it last? Alternatively, how does the PC get rid of the condition?

This condition has a value. If whatever made the PC stupefied doesn't specify how to reduce the value, how does the PC reduce it?

There are five grades of locks listed in the CRB, ranging from Poor (level 0) to Superior (level 17). Picking a lock requires multiple attempts, 2 for a poor lock increasing to 6 for a superior lock.

I've been watching some YouTube playthroughs of various PF2E adventures, and I don't think I've ever seen the GM require more than one thievery check to pick a lock. Is this a common "house rule"?

The description of this dedication on page 48 of The Dark Archive shows "Master Psychic Spellcasting" as a Level 12 feat, same as Expert Spellcasting. The wording of "expert <whatever> spellcasting" in the CRB leaves open the possibility that Master Spellcasting might be available at some other level than 18, but near as I can tell, if this was intentional with the Psychic archetype it's the first time Paizo has done it. AoN lists it as level 18. I'm perfectly happy to believe this was a misprint and to treat it as a level 18 feat, but has there been official errata on it?

Interesting side effect: if the "level 12" for master were valid, and if you were using the "Free Archetype" variant, as I read it you could jump directly from "Basic Spellcasting" to "Master Spellcasting" at level 12 in the Psychic Dedication by taking say Expert as a class feat and Master as a free archetype feat, both at 12th level. IOW I see nothing in the rules that says feats dependent on an archetype can't be taken as class feats even if you took the dedication feat as a free archetype feat. Which is another reason I think "12" was a misprint.

Scenarios I get, I think. Every year (at GenCon, I think) starts a new season, and there are roughly two scenarios a month. All PFS sanctioned. But...

There are Quests. Looking at the store, there were 13 Quests associated with the Year of The Open Road, the first season under PF2E. There's a few more quests in the same store location, but they look like they're all for PF1E. Didn't find any quests post season one.

Bounties are found under "Standalone Adventures" which would lead me to believe they're not primarily for Organized Play, though I think they're all (or mostly?) sanctioned for Organized Play. There's twenty in there now and another one coming in December. Some of them already have Foundry VTT modules (yay!).

I have a vague memory of a forum post somewhere, or perhaps a blog, that announced that Paizo aren't doing Quests any more, Bounties are now the thing. And Bounties do seem to be ongoing.

Can anyone confirm my understanding, or tell me where I have it wrong?

Weapons can deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. Aside from a target's immunities, weaknesses, or resistances, does the type of damage ever make any difference? Seems to me if you do X points of damage the target loses X points of health, and whether X is bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing doesn't matter.

You have a party of four. One has darkvision, two have low-light vision, one has normal vision. You are wandering around far below ground. There may be some light here and there, but for the most part there is no light at all.

Does it make sense to put a light spell on the shield of the person who has darkvision and put her In front of the party? I'm trying to come up with a reasonable marching order for exploration, and to me this doesn't seem to be it.

Darkvision is a duskwalker fighter, normal vision is a human bard. The other two are an elf druid and a ysoki rogue. Usually, the rogue trails the party, avoiding notice, the druid and bard are in the middle, the former searching, the latter detecting magic. Fighter is defending.

How would you set it up?

Oh, the druid has a leshy familiar who has darkvision. And flight.

Been playing around with this new Wizard character. What do you think?

Roger Bacon 01
Male elf abjurer 1 (Advanced Player's Guide, Lost Omens Character Guide)
NG, Medium, Elf, Humanoid
Heritage ancient elf
Background field medic
Perception +5; low-light vision
Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Elven, Kelish, Orcish
Skills Acrobatics +5, Arcana +7, Crafting +7, Deception +4, Diplomacy +4, Intimidation +4, Medicine +5, Society +7, Stealth +5, Warfare Lore +7
Str 10 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 10 (+0), Int 18 (+4), Wis 14 (+2), Cha 12 (+1)
Items explorer’s clothing, crossbow (20 bolts), staff, alchemist's tools, backpack, basic crafter's book, batches of infused reagent, bedroll, chalks (10), Defensive Spellcasting, flint and steel, healer's tools, material component pouch, rations (1 week)s (2), rope (foot)s (50), soap, torchs (5), waterskin, writing set, familiar, money, purse (6 sp)
--------------------
AC 15; Fort +3; Ref +5; Will +7
HP 12
--------------------
Speed 35 feet
Melee [1] staff +3 (two-hand (1d8)), Damage 1d4 B
Ranged [1] crossbow +5 (range increment 120 feet, reload 1), Damage 1d8 P
Arcane Wizard Spells DC 17, attack +7; 1st feather fall, mage armor, magic weapon Cantrips (1st) daze, detect magic, electric arc, protect companion[SoM], tanglefoot, warp step
Focus Spells 1 Focus Point, DC 17; 1st Protective Ward
Ancestry Feats Elven Verve[LOCG], Nimble Elf
Class Feats Familiar
Skill Feats Alchemical Crafting, Battle Medicine
Other Abilities abjuration, advanced alchemy, arcane bond, arcane schools, arcane spellcasting, arcane thesis, extra reagents, familiar, improved familiar attunement, infused reagents, spellbook

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Pathfinder and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Inc., and are used under license.

Note: These builds use the Free Archetype and Gradual Ability Boosts options.

Is there a way for a wizard to add more theses to his résumé? I've got a character who is just begging me for both Improved Familiar Attunement and Staff Nexus. :-)

You can't damage a ghost with purely physical attacks, even if they're magical, so your +1 striking weapon won't help of its own self. You'd need ghost oil, or a ghost touch rune, or holy (or unholy?) water or healing (harming?) potions, or perhaps some other way of doing damage. (Talisman? Fulu? Something else?)

Even if you can damage it, and eventually get it to zero hit points, it'll just come back in, what is it? 1d4 days? In order to get rid of it you'd have to figure out why it's hanging around in the first place. What kind of skill checks are good for that?

Can a Wizard or Magus write into his spellbook a spell he does not yet know? Maybe he picked up a scroll or something somewhere, he hasn't had time to learn the spell, but he wants to copy it into his spell book planning to learn it later. Or must all the spells in his spellbook be spells he has learned (either through advancing through the levels or by going through the "learn a spell" routine in game)?

So, the leshy familiar enters a room wherein resides a vampiric mist. When the VM senses blood, it goes after whatever creature has the blood. Would the mist react at all to a leshy?