Gazragar's page

So I had an interesting conflict come up in a game I played last night, in which the Cavalier had the Impressive Mount dedication feat (https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=53), making his mount mature and unlocking "During an encounter, even if you don't use the Command an Animal action, your animal companion can still use 1 action on your turn to Stride or Strike."

The issue came up when someone else at the table pointed out the Mounted Combat rules (https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=463) - TL;DR, if you don't command a mount, your mount can't act.
"You must use the Command an Animal action to get your mount to spend its actions. If you don’t, the animal wastes its actions. If you have the Ride general feat, you succeed automatically when you Command an Animal that’s your mount.
For example, if you are mounted on a horse and you make three attacks, your horse would remain stationary since you didn’t command it. If you instead spent your first action to Command an Animal and succeeded, you could get your mount to Stride. You could spend your next action to attack or to command the horse to attack, but not both."

So there's the question - which rule overrides which, given the context? It seems rather odd that such a Feat would get a portion of it hampered just by virtue of being in the saddle rather than next to the animal, but it could also be argued that you still get the intrinsic benefit of having a hardier steed.

I've been trying to find a group with which to do the Fall of Plaguestone as a Ranger, and was initially going to go with the Teamster background, but something occurred to me - I have no idea what benefit, if any, there is to gain from the Train Animal skill feat, as:
A) You can't have an Animal Companion AND a bonded animal
B) The animal companions don't require a Nature check to command
C) As near as I can tell, animal companions also know all "tricks" possible.

So is there any reason to take this skill feat in Society play beyond flavor options? Or is the usefulness only downgraded for those with existing animal companions?

I just completed both my Instructor and the Scoured Stars Invasion last night at Crittercon.

As a result, I now am wondering if I can apply BOTH boons to a new character, or whether one precludes the other. The wording on each is:

Given what was discussed in "Definition of a new character" (link here), it seems like it SHOULD work, as long as I apply Instructor first.

Edit: Also, it's still thematically appropriate since the benefits of Instructor don't actually apply until level 5.

I managed to get the Nuar boon for society play from a generous GM, and have yet to actually build the character fully.

So, as the title suggests - what suggestions would you all give for a good melee build?

My primary options are either a Blitz soldier or an Exocortex Mechanic - I'm open to further suggestions, and would appreciate some solid arguments for them. While "because it'd be cool!" is acceptable, it's also not a very substantial argument :P

Edit: Also, any buzz around maze cores suddenly becoming acceptable for Organized Play? That was part of my draw to the race to begin with, I'll admit

So in the base handbook, Quick Alchemy states "You must have alchemist’s tools (see page 184), the formula of the alchemical item you’re creating, and a free hand."

Now, the Free Hand bit has been discussed before (e.g. the Alch Tools require 2 hands to use, so how do you have a free hand, etc.), but the reason I bring this up now is because I just downloaded the Pregenerated characters, and the Level 1 Alchemist simply doesn't have them. At all.

Was this an oversight on the pre-gen, are players using that sheet not expected to rely on Quick Alchemy at all, or are the Alchemist Tools requirement something that Paizo has re-thought? I ask partially because the tools are listed as "Stowed" on the Level 5 pre-gen character sheet, which would negate its usefulness for Quick Alchemy purposes.

Also, I will say it's nice to see that the Advanced Alchemy CAN be used multiple times at the start of the day, and that (somehow) doesn't require the use of Alchemist's Tools, so maybe it is deliberate? Either way, some clarification would be greatly appreciated.

Reading through the Empower Bombs section and cross-referencing with the actual bombs, it struck me as weird that the Thunderstone is stuck as a DC 15 Fortitude Save. Was this purposeful or just an oversight, as the other bombs with lasting effects are either the flat DC 20 check to resist, or can't be resisted at all (e.g. Liquid Ice and Bottled Lightning)?
Because that secondary effect would be nigh-useless by the time you hit level 10.