A long time ago now, I put a bunch of pathfinder pins in my cart to buy them.
Ever since, I cannot get into my cart unless carefully jump through a bunch of different hoops. I get this error every time:
Quote:
You’ve reached this page due to an error on paizo.com. The web team has been notified and are working to fix the issue.
Click here to return to paizo.com
I've tried different browsers, cleared my cookies (as this forum has recommended) and even tried completely different computers, but as soon as I log into my account, the cart fills and I cannot gain access.
Edit: Nor can I 'purchase' my cart without the same error.
A long time ago now, I put a bunch of pathfinder pins in my cart to buy them.
Ever since, I cannot get into my cart unless carefully jump through a bunch of different hoops. I get this error every time:
Quote:
You’ve reached this page due to an error on paizo.com. The web team has been notified and are working to fix the issue.
Click here to return to paizo.com
I've tried different browsers, cleared my cookies (as this forum has recommended) and even tried completely different computers, but as soon as I log into my account, the cart fills and I cannot gain access.
Edit: Nor can I 'purchase' my cart without the same error.
I have had the cart issue that others have reported before,
I've had this issue on now five different browsers (Firefox x 2, Chrome x 2, Edge), on three different devices (two computers, an ipad, and an android phone), from four separate networks.
Clearing the cache has not helped.
I managed to get it once by putting one item in my cart when I was not logged in, and then managed to successfully check out when I logged in as part of the check-out process.
I'm looking to build a Vanguard for the first time for a PbP table.
So far it looks like the table is leaning heavy on the ranged options, with maybe two characters being able to opt into melee range if they feel the need.
The character is starting at level 3, and all Paizo published material is legal.
My only real preference is that I don't want to play one of the Core or Legacy races. I have a ton of characters with those already. Also I think most of the AP races aren't really appropriate either, due to the nature of the adventure.
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My real issue is that I don't have a handle on the Vanguard's usual turn-to-turn actions.
Are they primarily Entropic Strike users?
Due they wield one-handed operative weapons almost exclusively?
Do they wield big-two handed weapons and then nuke occasionally with Entropic Strike?
I recently got a cert copy of the Neutriad Pistol and I am thinking about tricking it all the way out. This, however, has generated a number of questions:
1. The cert stats the pistol out, can I modify it by adding a manufacturer or special material to its construction?
2. The Neutriad Pistol does physical damage, can it benefit from special materials?
3. And finally, how would you trick out such a weapon? Currently I am going to put Sights on it, and a nanofiber grip.
Neutriad pistol:
Neutriad Pistol wrote:
A Neutriad pistol is a 5th level small-arm ranged weapon that does 1d6 bludgeoning damage and has the pulse (1d6) critical effect. It has a range of 60 feet and a capacity of 20 charges (1 usage). It has the force special property and light bulk, and costs 3,200 credits.
From the Starfinder Armory
Pulse Critical wrote:
The weapon’s output explodes in a pulse of energy. All creatures adjacent to the original target take the amount of damage listed in the pulse entry, of the same type dealt by the weapon’s initial attack.
Force Property wrote:
A force weapon is treated as having the force descriptor (Core Rulebook 269), which can cause it to interact differently with some targets (as defined by the targets’ special rules). Force weapons deal kinetic damage but still target EAC.
My argument with the special materials is that while targeting EAC, the Neutriad Pistol still does physical damage, which means it doesn't get exempted from special materials for doing energy damage. (As laid out by Starfinder Armory.)
Specifically, I'm looking at Noqual.
Noqual Abriged wrote:
Objects fashioned from noqual gain a +4 bonus to saving throws against magical effects.
Weapons and ammunition made of noqual sap magic from the target, dealing additional damage to creatures largely derived from magical effects. Noqual weapons and ammunition gain a +1 enhancement bonus to damage rolls against magical constructs, magically created undead, and creatures summoned by magic.
While melee weapons gain an increasing bonus, Noqual calls out melee weapons specifically here, so I am assuming I don't get this.
I recently got a cert copy of the Neutriad Pistol and I am thinking about tricking it all the way out. This, however, has generated a number of questions:
1. The cert stats the pistol out, can I modify it by adding a manufacturer or special material to its construction?
2. The Neutriad Pistol does physical damage, can it benefit from special materials?
And finally, how would you trick out such a weapon?
I have a quick question about Apocalypse Crystals, which appear on page 81 of Alien Archive 2.
These crystals say this in their description: "An apocalypse crystal causes the damage dealt by your solarian weapon to function as a force effect."
What exactly does this do?
My table talked about it and came up with two major possibilities, which seem REALLY powerful, and one that seems like a given. I was wondering which of the following this does.
1. As a force effect, your solar weapon now ignores DR and all non-Force Energy Resistances. This is because force effects are not Bludgeoning, Slashing, or Piercing.
2. As a force effect, your solar weapon now targets EAC. Again this is because a fore effect is not Bludgeoning, Slashing, or Piercing.
3. As a force effect, your solar weapon now does full damage to incorporeal targets. (This one we're pretty sure was the intention, so at the least we think it does this.)
I know it's not an offical resource yet, but I want to go on and ask this question anyway.
Is it okay to retrain a feat that is a prerequisite for other feats the same character has -- if the new feat also meets the prerequisite requirements for all the feats the old feat supported?
More specifically, can a character who has Improved Trip retrain out of Combat Expertise and into Dirty Fighting instead?
Dirty Fighting's special reads:
Spoiler:
Special: This feat counts as having Dex 13, Int 13, Combat
Expertise, and Improved Unarmed Strike for the purposes
of meeting the prerequisites of the various improved
combat maneuver feats, as well as feats that require those
improved combat maneuver feats as prerequisites.
Essentially all the requirements of Improved Trip would remained checked if you swapped Combat Expertise for Dirty Fighting.
My Staff Magus doesn't really have the personality for Dirty Fighting, but it fits in with what he is trying to accomplish and he never uses Combat Expertise. The flanking bonus would be far more useful and might make be enough to make his Improved Trip worth using again. (If the answer is 'no' I'll just have to train out of both feats, and pick something more useful to the way the character has evolved.)
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Actually, while I am at this. In PFS can you retrain a class feature?
More specifically, could a level 8 Magus train out a magus arcana that they don't use for another magus arcana?
Furthermore if a Magus can retrain an arcana, could the same level 8 magus retrain the arcana they received at level 3 for an arcana you have to be level 6 to take?
(Honestly, I want to train out Empowered Magic for Wand Wielder, but I wanted to ask the second question just to clarify things.)
I have a character concept for a barbarian I would like to play in Pathfinder Society. Thing is while I have his character down, I don't have his stats and I've never built a Pathfinder barbarian before.
One important note, this barbarian is going to be aiming for Uflen Guard because it fits his character concept.
Bold things I am not planning on changing unless I get a compelling reason. Italics mean that this is something that I am probably going to dump/change before finishing the character.
Please excuse spelling mistakes.
Race: Human
Ethnicity: Uflan
Faction: Taldor
Class: "Fighter" (Barbarian, but he's not going to say that.)
Alignement: True Neutral or Neutral Good
Griss Thorhalson is the child of two Uflen Guard members that never left Taldor. He's spent his entire life amongst the Taldor people, and in many ways is more Taldor than Uflan. I am considering the Urban Barbarian archtype. I am also considering Invulnerable Rager, possibly even stacking them.
He even has his eye on a local girl, a beautiful third-daughter of one of the local nobles. She's receptive to his pursuit, but her father is not as . . . enthusiastic. The lord can't really afford to offend Griss's bloodline, but he has been making things as difficult as he can.
Finally Griss has put it all on the table and asked for the daughter's hand. The lord's counter offer is simple: if Griss can complete some impossible quest involving a long lost and forgotten artifact. If Griss is successful, the lord will allow his daughter to marry the barbarian.
Griss is not a stereotypical stupid barbarian, but he is aware that he isn't brilliant or well suited to research. He is aware that there are people that specialize in such; many of which work for the Pathfinder Society.
Griss has joined the Society and is working his way up the ranks to become a Venture Captian. At this point Griss assumes that he will have enough pull in the organization to get them to do the research in his quest. He assumes the information he needs is in restricted archives a normal member does not have access to. He will then retrieve the artifact himself. In the meantime, he supports Taldot's cause within the Society, hoping that he might find another way to earn the Lord's approval.
Three character facts:
1. Griss does not consider himself a Barbarian; in his mind he is a Fighter. Under duress he will admit he has a problem with his temper.
2. While he's fairly certain the object of his quest doesn't exist, if Griss can get a good enough description of it he isn't against get a fake made.
3. Though his connections Griss has some idea on what Princess Eutropia is up to. He whole-heartily agrees with her ambitions, but won't violate his oath as Guard to support her when the time comes. On the other hand, everyone has an off day....
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So as you can see I have a character concept, but I do not have a real idea of what I want to build him as, especially since he is aiming for a Prestige Class.
The prestige class seems to lend itself to a more defensive build, so I have been considering maybe a two-handed reach weapon. Especially since the bonuses only really work when adjacent to another character.
I'm interested in building an Arcanist. My current plan is to make a Tengu Arcanist, though I am not totally set on the race.
The thing is that I have not played a full caster in Society before.
It seems like the Arcanist makes a pretty good support caster or summoner, simply because they don't have enough spells-per-day to be a blaster, and I have played a Eidolon-buffing Summoner before.
Basically I am looking for advice and possible builds for a caster designed for flexibility.
Edit: now that I have fixed my spelling mistake, this question should be a bit easier to answer.
I have a Dwarven Gunslinger(Musket Master) at level 8. My weapon is a simple +1 Musket, but thanks to a number of high-reward scenarios back-to-back I essentially have enough gold to make the musket a +3.
The problem is I don't know what to add to it.
I'm not planning on switching to a Double Musket, I just want to upgrade the musket I have.
I have only needed to increase my range a grand total of three times in my career, so I am not looking at Distant. I also haven't had any real issues with misfires, so Reliable is also out. And finally I really don't want to just put a base elemental effect on it (Fiery, Frost, etc.)
I have four Grit points, and my feats are Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Deadly Aim, Rapid Shot, and Cluster Shot.
Things I've been looking at include Holy, Lucky, Seeking, or just making it a +3 so I can ignore Silver and Cold Iron.
--
I also am getting a bonus feat at level 8. It must be a combat feat, but I am not really sure what to take. My current plan is Weapon Focus so maybe I could take Snap Shot next level, but I've only been threatened in melee a few times with this character. To be honest though, I've been thinking about Steel Soul for level 9, so I am more than willing to think about alternate combat feats.
I'm making a new Pathfinder Society character to be played for the first time later today. This is technically my ninth Society character (though I've only really played three of them).
I've decided on my class, I'm making a Gunslinger (Musket Master). I've decided on my first feat (Pointblank Shot).
My problem is that I haven't pinned down a race or technically even a stat build yet.
Race: I know I don't want a human or a gnome (all my other characters are one or the other). I was looking strongest at Dwarf or Tiefling, maybe a Tengu. Any advice on what would make an interesting, but still playable race for a Gunslinger?
Stats: With a strength of 10 a chainshirt and musket put a medium-sized character into medium encumbrance by themselves. With ammo and other basic gear, things get even worse. I really don't want to dump INT, so what kind of build should I be looking at to max my DEX and WIS, with maybe a touch of STR so I can carry my gear.
Traits: I know traits at least partly depend on race and faction, but what other traits go well with the Gunslinger?
Assume a medium character is charging with a lance and lands a critical hit. How many damage dice is the player going to roll and how many times does is he going to multiply his flat damage?
Later he will take Spirited Charge, what will the damage be then?
I know advanced firearms load more quickly than their early counterparts, my question is does this already account for the fact that they are using alchemical cartridges? (ie metal cartridges)
What I really need is a chart of load times:
Early one-handed firearm:
Early one-handed firearm with alchemical cartridge:
Early one-handed firearm with rapid reload:
Early one-handed firearm with alchemical cartridge and rapid reload:
Early two-handed firearm:
Early two-handed firearm with alchemical cartridge:
Early two-handed firearm with rapid reload:
Early two-handed firearm with alchemical cartridge and rapid reload:
Advanced one-handed firearm:
Advanced one-handed firearm with alchemical cartridge:
Advanced one-handed firearm with rapid reload:
Advanced one-handed firearm with alchemical cartridge and rapid reload:
Advanced two-handed firearm:
Advanced two-handed firearm with alchemical cartridge:
Advanced two-handed firearm with rapid reload:
Advanced two-handed firearm with alchemical cartridge and rapid reload:
I have a Staff Magus, and that has resulted in a number of questions for me.
My understanding is that the Society rules say I treat a double weapon as two single weapons for the sake of upgrades.
1. If I masterwork both ends of a quarterstaff, do I require the fame levels for two 300 gp weapon ends, or the total 600 gp?
1a. On a similar note, when enchanting I know +1/+1 would be always available, but when I upgrade to say +1 Flaming/+1 do I need the fame for the total, or just the +1 Flaming? (Assuming that it was previously +1/+1).
1b. Is there any point to enchanting the other end of the quarterstaff if I am going to one-hand it through Quarterstaff mastery anyway?
2. Do I need to apply the costs of materials to both ends separately, or just once for the entire weapon?
2a. Assuming I have to pay for material separately, can I create a quarterstaff with two different materials, one on each end?
2b. Like the masterwork, do I have to have the fame for two separate ends of special materials, or the grand total.
2c. I am assuming I can't upgrade the materials of the quarterstaff independently, and that if I am going to create a staff with special materials I have to create it with its materials in place.
3. Speaking of special materials, what materials work well for quarterstaves?
I recently got the chance to attend a con and managed to pick up a Tengu cert. The thing is I don't have any CLUE what to do with it.
A rouge seems like the obvious choice, and there aren't many at my usual location, but honestly I don't know much about rouges. Let alone a Pathfinder Society rouge.
I could do a gunslinger just as easily, but then I feel like I'm not getting the full worth from that sword proficiency.
In short, what would YOU do with a Tengu character?
I have a level 5 fighter who has some money burning a hole in her pocket. I just recently upgraded my weapon and picked up a strength booster, now my AC is seriously lagging amongst other players in my tier.
So . . . I want to buy some armor, but I'm not sure if simply grabbing the best available is the right call.
The nitty gritty
1. I have a budget of 6,000 gp, but my purchase limit is 8,000gp.
2. My fighter is a two-handed weapon swinger, so no shields.
3. This is a Society character, and does not have access to special materials that are not always available.
4. Since my current armor (kikko) isn't even master work you can suggest any armor type . . . .
5. BUT my character theme means she will only wear eastern-style armor.
6. I don't especially need agility or speed, so the type of armor is not important.
A friend of mine suggested admintine medium armor, which sadly I cannot afford quite yet. Should I wait another cert or two to pick up my armor?
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I have some Eidolon/Summoner questions. If it makes any difference they are all for a Society-legal Summoner.
1. What happens to an Eidolon that is hit by the Maze spell? My group decided that it would be stuck in the Maze as a normal character unless dismissed by the summoner. BUT the other opinion was that the Eidolon was no longer technically on the same plain as the summoner it is auto-dispelled as per the Life Link rules.
2. Does the Improved Damage evolution apply only to ONE set of natural attacks, or every set of the same name. IE if my Eidolon has two claw evolutions do they both benefit from Improve Damage: Claws?
3. Do Improve Damage evolution and the Improve Natural Attack feat stack? Also is the INAttack feat Society legal to begin with?
3a. And at the same time, would the INAttack feat improve all natural attacks of the same type or just one set like question 2?
4. What happens to the equipment an Eidolon was carrying if/when it is dismissed/banished/killed? My group is basically treating it as having gone with the Eidolon, but I wanted to know if there was an official ruling.
5. My Eidolon is wearing an enormously expensive Holy Amulet of Mighty Fists. I know its attacks count as good for DR purposes, but do they count as magic as well?
6. Can a quadruped with three Limb: Legs evolutions take two Claw evolutions or does it need to take Limb: Arms to be able to take multiple Claw evolutions?
The gnomish racial substitution Gift of Tongues says that in addition to a +1 to diplomacy/bluff, the gnomes will also learn one additional language every time they put a point into linguistics.
Now linguistics itself gives you a language every time you put a point into it. Does this mean a gnome with the Gift of Tongues feature gets two languages for each point of linguistics?
(Yes I know it should seem obvious, but my group has had a couple of arguments over it. My DM set-up a language based puzzle that fell apart because the gnome knew more languages than he expect him to.)
I have a character who was level 3 and had 8 exp. Two weeks ago I was running a mod with tiers 1-2 and 4-5 tiers. I assigned the DM credit to this character raising her to level 4.
Does the character get the items and gold of the 4-5 tier she is now or the the 1-2 she would have played if she had actually played the mod?
To start of with, this is a Society character and plays with all the restrictions.
I'm looking into what I should pick up for my just-hit level 8 summoner's eidolon.
It is a quadrupedal (Bite, Claw, Claw, Gore) with the acid elemental attack as it's most defining feature. Though gore is out for more claws as soon as I can add another set.
My eidolon already has a belt of giant's strength +2 and the cracked ion-stone that gives an attack bonus. My summoner is consuming the cloak and head slots himself, but otherwise has no slot-using equipment.
What should I be buying/saving for to equip my eidolon. I know amulet of mighty fists is considered a good idea, but what ability should I get with that? Or should I skip more gear for the eidolon and get something for my summoner?
My quest for my third Society character continues. Now I am looking at the humble Oracle.
Of course I’ve haven’t played an Oracle either and the last time I played a cleric was a 3.0 home campaign where I was literally a walking Band-Aid. (And that’s the way the other players treated me.)
Now in-battle healing isn’t as important in Society, at least in my experience, and once the fight is over the CLW wands start flying reducing the need for healing spells even more. This means I don’t have to specialize in healing, but that leaves me a little lost for a build.
1. What are some interesting Oracle builds? (Single class only please.)
2. What curse is the most fun?
I don’t need a combat monster (though I will accept such builds) I’m looking for something interesting instead. And remember this is a Society character, all the usual limits apply.
I was also looking at races and while being human is fairly standard I noticed something interesting with the gnomes. As a favored class bonus they can gain 1/2 a level as far as their curse is concerned. This doesn’t seem like much, but take it for ten levels and you gain access to the level 15 bonus, which is otherwise unattainable in society as far as I am aware.
3. Is this a worth while trade? Is it worthwhile for only specific curses or all of them?
4. Is there another way to get access to higher tiers of your curse’s benefits?
I play Pathfinder Society at my local gaming store. A bunch of people play there and there are a ton of different characters around. Now I’m getting close to retiring my first character and my second character is about to level out of the low-tier games. To still be able to play low-tiers I am considering what to play next.
Since I really don’t want to duplicate something that is getting played regularly I am strongly considering setting down a monk. (Or an oracle, but there are a couple of multi-class oracles already.)
Now I’ve never played a Monk before, and am not sure how to go about making a good one with the point-buy system. I was looking at the class variants, most particularly the Monk variant that gets Elemental Fist and the Martial Artist, but I since I haven’t played a monk I’m not sure the trade-offs are worth it. (A friend of mine raves about the ki-draining monk. I’ve also seen a lot of feats that look like they are for a grapple monk, how does that work?)
So in short what I am really interested in is early build help for a Pathfinder Society legal Monk advice, mostly for the first couple of levels. What should my stats be, what gear should I get first, what my starting feats should be, and what, if any, variant classes are fun/capable?
I have a question about the kind of gear that is good for a Summoner.
Details of my character::
Full Pathfinder Society restrictions
Gnomish Level 6 Basic Summoner
Primary Weapon: Light Crossbow, almost never used.
Secondary Weapon: Mace, never used.
Feats: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Extra Evolution
Is a quadruped strength-based mutli-attacker. I'm trying to max my attacks and then max the damage those attacks do.
Gear I have::
I'm only going to bring up the items I think are significant, masterwork, or potions.
+1 Cloak of Resistance
+2 Headband of Alluring Charisma
+2 belt of Giant's Strength (on Eidolon)
Ion Torch
Metamagic Rod, Extend, Lesser
Wayfinder, standard
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (2/3 expended)
Antiplague x 3
Antivenom x 3
+1 Frost Bolts x 3 (an impulse buy)
Artisan Tools, Masterwork - for my day-job
Masterwork Backpack
My weapons and armor are 100% mundane and non-masterwork
I have a lot of mundane gear, and several changes of clothes, that my eidolon caries for me with the add of a pack saddle.
I recently acquired 3,000 or so gp, and am thinking about buying a +1 Mithral Chain Shirt. In all honesty, however, my character has only been targeted by physical attacks a few times in his career to-date
I'm basically looking for advice into what piece, or pieces of equipment/potions I need to look into getting next.
I have a level 4 Eidolon of the quadruped type. To my understanding I can only have four natural attacks.
As a quadruped he already has a free bite and I bought claws once. Can I buy him another set of claws? If not, can I 'give up' the free bite could I do it then?
Or does the double claw attack count as one attack because they are purchased together?
I addition, you don't need to purchase the 'free' evolutions that come with each base form, correct?
The traditions are canonically an artificial construct to begin with. They're how the people of Golarion have categorized magic. But the lines aren't really there, and especially skilled casters are perfectly capable of casting "occult" magic as a primal caster or vice versa (it's even one of the paths of study at the Magaambya, on account of Old Mage Jatembe's teachings)
Yeah, the issue here is that if the power balance is so tilted to runes for damage that striking is unappealing, then it's hard to call this a martial class.
I'd still want to see some numbers at other levels due to breakpoints on strike damage etc, but I don't expect the conclusion to change much that it's not worth using Engraving Strike.
Engraving Strike is strictly better than Strike, essentially. But if you can't ever make it worth using Engraving Strike over runes for damage (outside of high saves/low AC cases)... that does seem to be an issue. At least if this is supposed to be a martial class (and it does seem to be at least using that chassis).
Although part of the issue is probably that Runesmith doesn't really have any class feature to boost their strike damage output the way almost all other martials do (Fighter/Gunslinger being "bonus accuracy" is still a damage booster, but Champion is more optional in getting a boost in exchange for their incredible defenses). Whetstone or Impact runes are a boost, but a minor one comparatively... and go on allies just as well (or better, considering accuracy etc). The difference from Champion though... is that they're getting access to the very damaging rune invocations instead. But with the failure chance of a strike, the math isn't working out for Engraving Strike, and you definitely have little reason to Strike if the upgraded version isn't useful.
We really need a pass on abilities that try to reference property runes as a way to buff weapons. Champion's Blade Ally is the most common one people will run into there, but the most egregious is probably Kineticist's Kindle Inner Flames impulse. It heightens from +2 damage per strike to "add Flaming to each strike", which for anyone with maxed property runes on their weapons is a straight downgrade without a rules interpretation that it can over the normal cap. (There's also Conductive Sphere at the same level that tries to add Shock runes, there's the Conductive Weapon spell...)
Drained can be a very handy condition to inflict especially at higher levels, but Life tap is very awkward for a low level necromancer's main combat trick. I like having a srained inflicting focus spell on the necromancer, but I think it needs to be higher level so it has a bit more power budget for other things, while the Spirit Monger needs a bit more immediate damage or healing for what might be their only non-cantrip attack at level 1.
Yeah, a higher level spell might pull this off, but as an initial effect it just feels like it doesn't offer enough in any direction to warrant using it - you rarely care about all three effects (debuffing and healing especially tend to be opposed, as debuffs want to go out early while heals hopefully don't). Right now, I'm looking at this as something I'll never really want to cast at early levels over a dedicated damage cantrip or heal spell... and then I'll grab Necrotic Bomb at 2 for offense instead.
Necromancer should start with 2 focus points I believe, because the FP rules don't make a distinction for focus cantrips. It's a mistake in the playtest document to say that they start with 1.
The Mastery of Life and Death class feature means you deal Vitality damage to your thralls with effects that do Void damage, with no option not to do so, doesn't it?
Yeah, it's seriously lacking for actual options to use in the playtest. I'm sure the final book will have more runes to work with, but this feels like an oversight.
Necromancer does seem to have a couple feats to support weapon use. The conjure bone weapon, explode thralls to add void damage to attacks, etc.
The spirit type having a level 12 feat to gain ghost resists when you detonate thralls is interesting for that too. Resisting most damage is very nice.
Life Tap seems a little weak. Thematically, it's cool. But for an equal level enemy... well, creatures tend to have 15-20 HP per level, so on a failure you're dealing 10-15% of their health in damage and healing an ally by about 10%. It doesn't do a lot of healing or damage, so I worry that it's not going to feel very impactful a lot of the time. I'd straight up just double the healing on it probably? (I figure as is, a level 2 target is worth 4 HP healed... if they fail the save. Lay on Hands gives back 6 for a third of the actions spent, plus a significant AC bonus. The comparison is of course worse at odd levels due to the way the two scale, but it caps at 40 HP versus 60 HP at 20.) Double healing makes it give 4-12 HP in the same situation (I suppose this might actually be a bit too much? Maybe it should heal a constant amount as long as the enemy took damage, similar to the Paradox of Opposites witch, since it's easier to adjust that way)
Pretty sure the runesmith is an idea one of the devs mentioned awhile back in the forums, i would look to find who it was but i need to go to bed like right now.
But whoever it was, I remember!! I have been waiting for this idea to come to fruition since that forum post! So excited!!
Also i am so happy we are getting a full necromancer, my best friend loves necromancer and this seems to be exactly what he wants, so excited!!!
I don’t know about any devs mentioning that, but I know that I was theorizing about eventually getting a Necromancer class back in July, 2023 and even speculated on getting Necromancer and a Runecaster/Runethane/Rune”X” -class and/or options back when Secrets of Magic was coming out. So, I am very happy this is finally happening.
I find myself hoping that we can maybe get a Remastered Magus and Summoner in this “Impossible” book, too. I also wonder if the book will be called something like “Tome of Impossible Arts”, “Grimoire Impossible”, or “Secrets of the Impossible Kingdoms”…
If you play a character which is good at level 1-4, okish at level 5-6 and bad at level 7-10, the only thing you'll remember is that it was a big pile of crap. Having your character getting worse and worse at what it does every level it takes is not a good feeling.
Easl wrote:
Both may be better overall choices, but nobody wanting a divine gish is going to take Magus, and nobody wanting to spam 4+ aura spells per game day is going to get that from Summoner until at least level 6.
What makes a "divine gish"? If the only difference is the tradition of your 4 slots then that's not much of a difference (especially when you see people stating that the Battle Harbinger should grab Arcane spells like True Strike or Haste). Just play a Staff Magus, grab Fervor Witch Dedication and a Staff with Bless/Bane (level 6 for a Staff of Providence, but your GM may be nice and allow you to use a variation on the Entertainer's Lute or Bagpipes of Turmoil that would be an actual Staff).
As for the Summoner, it casts lots of auras much earlier than level 6. At level 4 you already have 4 slots, and that's without buying any Wand. You should play like a Battle Harbinger much earlier.
In a level 1-10 game, a Summoner or a Magus will be more effective than a Battle Harbinger at being a Battle Harbinger. The Battle Harbinger is only a valid choice if you never make it to level 7 (the moment where it really crumbles to pieces compared to actual classes).
Wait if they wanted surestrike and haste wouldn't they pick a deity that adds it to thier spell list?
Like Ragathiel. Actually not a bad option. Surestrike and haste are added to your divine list and you get a d12 weapon as favored.
Ragathiel also allows Harm on your Font. A Warpriest of Ragathiel is going to do an excellent impression of a Magus without needing any multiclassing at all starting at level 6.
A Magus that traded Arcane for Divine and then I dunno, got the aura spell font in place of Studious Spells? Yeah, they'd be significantly better than Battle Harbinger.
As you said - there's very little reason to not just run Warpriest instead. Yes, Warpriest is behind martials on accuracy at many levels... but they outclass Harbinger by miles in how many support spells they can bring (heck, Warpriest is basically equal to Cloistered at the support role). They win out in damage output too because they have a lot more slots to prepare Harm in for Smites too (especially if they get Harm in their font). With the right god (or some Human feats) they can start loading their low level slots with Sure Strike too, and oops you've made a Magus.
I have absolutely had encounters where I just started firing off spells while prone on the player side, as long as they're not attack rolls prone doesn't impact it at all.
Titan Breaker helps against hardness, but it's only really going to apply to very low rolls or very high hardness, at most. Since only the spirit damage goes through hardness, it effectively means you deal a minimum of 2/die when hitting something with hardness.
But compare that to other ikons where you still deal bonus damage... and then probably get the same final result anyways once hardness comes off (if you deal 6 bludgeoning and 3 spirit against 5 hardness, you get 4 final damage either way)
Which isn't to say the extra damage die isn't going to help break through things, it's just that I dunno if it's significantly better than other classes.
The troublesome out of combat ikon is Victor's Wreath, with the "make new saves every round until the condition goes away". Being able to make it worse is a downside, but a lot of (most?) conditions are safe to keep crit fishing against. Compare that to Paragon Chalice... which is a level 17 ability for Thaumaturge and can only attempt one check per condition per day. (Although it can't make things worse and comes with significant HP recovery, it's still the difference between a powerful capstone ability and something you can take at level 2 on a dedication)
As far as out of combat healing, the gam expects you to be near full hit points when you go into your next fight so the Scar isn't actually that bad. On the other side what the Wreath doesn't tell you if depending on the initial effect if your allies crit fail or fail a disease or poison check it get's accelerated.
It's out of line with most other out of combat healing, which occurs in 10 minute chunks, costs resources, or has cooldowns. It's a heightened 1-action heal on yourself every round (transcend it and it's forced somewhere else, shift immanence to put it back, repeat again next round). Healing at this speed typically costs focus points or spell slots, but just... doesn't for the exemplar.
There are situations in APs where you only have a single 10 minute increment (if that) between waves of enemies, and an exemplar would be able to get themselves back to full without spending any resources from any HP value. I can't think of anyone else that can do that.
It feels like too many of these abilities were created without thinking about someone using them out of combat, really. Like, think about how barrow's edge transcendence interacts with someone striking the floor, by RAW, or with the dreaded bag of rats. It's bad.
There's so many trivial ways to heal up out of combat as is. Forensic Investigators, Kineticists, basically no resource cost ways to turbo-heal the party in 10m. Unless the next fight is happening sooner than 10m, a well-prepared party is going into it at full HP. (And a fight that's happening almost immediately favors the burst healing of Kineticist or focus spells anyways)
I didn't want to enter long description on that...
Roughly, blasting asks for a 2-action spell. Then you have one action left for... either Earth's Bile or Channeler's Stance. You won't be able to use them simultaneously. So it's no "combo", it's just not working.
Stances only need the action once though, not every turn?
He's not wrong in regards to grapple being only a chance to make spells fail. In 2e, I feel like a lot of the value is in the Off-Guard and Immobilized conditions it inflicts. Once someone grabs the caster, they can't get out of melee range and have their (probably lower) AC reduced, making it easy for the party to gang up on them and clobber them.
Having a spell whiff is gravy, the value's in having the important target rendered vulnerable. And yeah, hitting a critical success (which, I should note, can end up being much better than 5% when you invest in Athletics maneuvers on targets with poor fortitude saves. And casters are usually bad at those!)
Another use case for grapple unique to Monk is that one of their higher level stances at 8 has the Reach and Grapple traits, and gives +2 to grab enemies. Grappling an enemy from 10' away can render them entirely unable to attack if they don't have reach. (Well, strictly speaking, you're allowed to attack whatever's holding you still - but limiting them to attacking the monk with their higher AC is pretty good still)
but Earth's Bile should probably be reworked to be Heightened+1 somehow. Focus spells for damage should never be Heightened+2.
It’s +2 because of the single action sustain and moveable AOE on top of wanting two damage types/dies.
The amped Daze laughs at this assertion.
Well, no - it's pretty much just the two damage types. If it was pure fire damage it would have definitely been +1.
But it makes the spell's power fluctuate a lot based on your level - it's much better at levels 5-6 than 7-8 because it's not keeping up with enemy HP the way it would if it was +1. And because focus spells are locked in a way normal spells aren't you can't just swap to a different blasting spell for the off levels the way you can for something like Force Barrage.
Regular old monks can punch so hard it hits everyone in a 60' cone. A demigod's punches hitting hard enough the person next to the target is bruised a bit is nothing.
I have to assume the original 15m is a typo and intended to be the same 25m as later in the text, because otherwise stopping to stabilize them makes it impossible to have enough time to disrupt the ritual via skill checks. I choose to resolve the contradiction in the way that makes it not incredibly punishing to the PCs for acting to save someone.
Even then, stabilize should normally be a 2-action Administer First Aid activity, not Treat Wounds. Making it take 10m means that it increases the DCs to disrupt the ritual to Very Hard, and you'll only have time for one check per PC as well.
Of course, strictly speaking, since the fight takes a nonzero amount of time, it's impossible to get in two rounds of checks to disrupt the ritual anyways, even if the PCs rush right to it (as the victim dies at the 20m mark unless stabilized). At least, without splitting the party (or having a Summoner, I think the victim is close enough to the ritual that their double exploration activities can manage it), so even though the check to stabilize the victim adds 5m to the clock... you spent 10m to do it and didn't actually buy any extra time. Given that, I strongly thing it should just be Administer First Aid there, and I'd definitely allow the Stabilize cantrip or other healing magic to work.
As written, the best possible interpretation I can give is that it is always a bad idea for the party to try and save the collapsed victim via Medicine instead of rushing to the ritual. Succeeding makes ultimately saving them harder outside of those edge cases I mentioned above, and risks killing them immediately.
I just realized that the shield spell can now Shield Block damage from magical effects and spells, not just physical damage and force barrage. This subtle change makes it far more reliabke and valuable than its pre-remaster counterpart.
I will definitely be using it a lot more.
Oh that's significant, yeah. Glass Shield also has that text, but since it's hardness is rather lacking...
Yeah, critical specs can do some fun things for e.g. Fighter, who crits a lot.
But for Champion? If you tell me this doesn't add on top of the normal rune limits, I'm just going to take the Swiftness blessing instead and buy an Astral rune at 8 since it works on 90% of enemies without issue as is.
But as has been noted, this is a broader issue with using "gains a rune" as a shorthand to add effects to weapons. There's multiple kineticist impulses that run up against this for example, including one where it goes from flat damage that stacks with anything to "add a rune" on heightening, and obviously you shouldn't be losing damage there but...
like Draconic Barrage and Ephemeral Hazards that highly? Aren't they both stellar?
I think I addressed those adequately. I rated Ephemeral Hazards "Green" which means it is a good choice for anyone.
"Draconic Barrage" is decent damage at very low levels in exchange for one action plus a MAP penalty. It doesn't scale particularly well. I could honestly see it shading into Green, but pure damage spells aren't as good as spells that do damage plus something else.
The important thing about Draconic Barrage is that while the first attack from it costs 2 actions... every attack after that is a single action, and the number of attacks scales with rank. It ends up being basically a stronger Spiritual Armament at higher ranks (because it scales much faster at 1d6 per rank instead of 1d8 per two ranks).
"Another" doesn't necessarily mean different (it can mean both the same thing or a different thing depending on context), and even if it means different, does it mean besides Illimitable, or besides the other finisher you chose as part of it? There's a lot of ambiguity there, though I agree that it probably isn't intended to chain indefinitely. It just needs to be made clear one way or the other since level 20 feats are allowed to be kind of ridiculous, but...
Flash of Grandeur does mean they have a miss chance for any attacks they take afterwards due to Dazzled, plus the upgrade inflicts Off-Guard automatically.
My main concern with champion is that it's yet another case of just trying to add runes to weapons as an enhancement without regard for the rune cap. Blessed Armament grants critical specialization... and saves you a trivial amount of gold on property runes with the remaster, instead of the old version that (arguably) added an additional effect to your chosen weapon. Once you hit level 8, even that gold savings is lost unless you spend more class feats to expand its selection (or you give up on the damage increase of the runes at that level).
Comparing it to the alternatives, it seems clear that it should have more benefit than that? Swiftness is universally useful and grants constant protection against reactions to allies, shields scales with level without further investment and applies to any shield you wield rather than a single one, and the weapon upgrade... just doesn't do much of anything at higher levels.
Honestly, I think there just needs to be a universal rule that effects that add a rune to a weapon can go over the normal cap based on potency runes, because this keeps coming up (there's numerous other examples of it - such as Conductive Sphere on Kineticist trying to add Shock runes on a level 8 impulse). Or should we just be interpreting them as overriding the normal rune limit if they don't say otherwise? (That is, since it says it adds the rune, it gets to do so, even though that's normally not allowed)
Half damage on a simple miss of an attack spell is something I have been expecting for quite some time. Great to finally have it.
Strictly speaking, Horizon Thunder Sphere already had it. 3-action HTS was a useful spell pre-remaster. (I think Thunderstrike beats it now for most use cases, but)
Also, the remaster added the Astral Rune, which is a Ghost Touch rune except upgraded to also deal 1d6 spirit damage. And since spirit damage works on basically anything that isn't a construct and the rune is also cheaper than the other damage runes...
Of course, you're looking for alternatives to runes - I just though it worth mentioning as it basically entirely removes the main drawback of a ghost touch rune.
Is anyone else thinking that this scales quite poorly? 1d4 every 2 spell levels bounds up to practically nothing at most stages of the game...
For people to more reliably pick this i feel like changing the spirit damage to 1d6 base dice would be in order seeing as it is generally difficult to even keep the party within those 15 feet that the focus spell requires.
Cantrip damage thorns on one ally that is reactionary and unavoidable that is folded up into the ally gaining an AC PLUS you raising a shield ALL FOR ONE ACTION is some crazy value. It's essentially three actions of focus spell smooshed into one.
If I'm reading that right, it's all allies in the aura. That's incredible value.
Precision ranger is one of the better ways to try and build a switch hitter too I think. Get Gravity Weapon on them to double down on that first big hit, get an animal companion to double up on your precision damage... Lots of options for where to go with them.
Agreed that they're basically middle of the pack. It's a well balanced class, it's flexible in how you build it, and a well-built fighter is always going to outshine you in raw killing things potential.
They do have some cool situational tricks. They've got some solid party support options (sharing precision edge with an ally, the monster hunter feat chain eventually gives easy buffs to everyone, etc), but they're not the best at anything in particular.
Summoner gives you a party with a lot of HP and everyone's packing respectable martial damage BUT everyone also has wave casting so you can fire off some buffs or control on harder fights, you've got burst healing in the tank, etc. Everyone's a spellcaster so you can bring scrolls/wands/staves as needed.
Druid's a solid choice too for sure. You'll need at least someone to build a dedicated frontliner, but with how many good buffs and heals the Primal list offers you probably have no issue staying alive, and the list has excellent blasting as well. A storm order druid is also mandatory of course, especially with the remaster's changes to focus points.
Kineticist would also do well I think. Possibly the absolute tankiest choice here (it's either them or Champions, I think), between heavy armor and Timber Sentinel. But they can't grab silver bullets from spell lists as easily and the class has a weakness in skill training, so outside of combat it's more of a mixed bag.
Also, when we actually get a Secrets of Magic errata, can something be done about Eidolon's Wrath? A 20' emanation is really hard to not explode your friends with.
It does feel odd to see combination weapons get all that love, and Inventor's Dual-Form Weapon feat continues to be incredibly bad by comparison. (Also, as written it arguably says you can't benefit from runes on the second form at all, since the two forms are a single item). Chiefly, two actions to change between forms is just crippling.
For what it's worth, Pathfinder is a setting in which time travel is a thing that exists, so it's not really worth worrying about the FTL violates causality consequences of relativity.
A guardian with an 18 STR, a shield, and ferocious vengeance, has a D8+6 attack to make against anyone that ignores you to attack your allies. That is not far off the bonus to damage from a fury barbarian. With your Shield raised your AC is the same as it was before you taunted and you have an effective damage mitigator with the shield block reaction. If they ignore you, you can certainly make them pay for it. There will be a couple of levels where your attack bonus slips behind (although the devs love playtesting those alternatives and then 'giving the players what they want' with proficiency scaling boost, so I don't know if that will last) but you also have level 1 feats to either do damage with an Athetics skill action or to take an attack that makes an enemy off guard to you as well, so I don't think the offensive weaknesses of the class are as bad as say a Dex-based Liberator Champion or many other martials in the game.
If you're taunting and raising a shield every round then you only have one action left, so the enemy can ignore you by just not ending their turn next to you, can't they?
I find it very hard to justify taking a mount via the Commander feats as opposed to Beastmaster. You spend level 2, 4, and 8 feats instead of 1, 6, and 10 - which means you come out ahead on feats used I feel, you get the power bumps earlier... and you can get specialized for high level (I have to assume it's an oversight that they didn't copy/paste Champion's version of it like the rest, but still)
Honestly, this is still a thing even for Ranger. The existence of Beastmaster/Cavalier as an archetype means that all classes with animal companions really should be using its progression as the baseline standard imo. (Also... I have now learned while double checking Cavalier's progression that they have the ultimate kiting attack option... I kind of want to work out a horse archer build now)
Yeah - unless they have reason to believe the entirely mundane banner specifically is necessary to your party's suddenly inexplicable endurance... it makes more sense to go for the guy yelling at everyone to stand strong, etc. Clearly, he must be doing something to keep everyone standing so he's a threat to jump.
