Gisher's page

I don't know of a page with a comprehensive list, but of the rulebooks Player Core, Treasure Vault, Dark Archive, and Guns and Gears are now all 2nd printings.

This text flags at 100% on pangram btw, not that it isn’t painfully obvious without it.

Yes, it was immediately obvious so I've just been ignoring their posts.

Or a torch, a not uncommon item to hold in one's buckler hand

True. And consider how the Shifting rune would now work.

You'd be able to turn a sword into things like a torch, mug, trowel, tree branch, and a vast list of other items because they would all be simple weapons that require one hand. :)

On a side note, I'll say that I don't really have skin in the game here. There is actually very little reason to put Runes on an improvised weapon as the Archetype to use them well involves breaking breaking them [and 'normal' weapons have traits and usually better damage]. I'm arguing from a purely 'this is how I read the rules' point of view.

I'm not committed to either interpretation either, but it did occur to me that there might be some odd consequences under your interpretation.

For example, consider the rules for bucklers.

You can Raise a Shield with your buckler as long as you have that hand free or are holding a light object that’s not a weapon in that hand.

Now consider just the introductory list of suggestions for Improvised Weapons given in the Weapon Improvisor archetype: broken stalagmite, large mushroom, old bones, barrel, crate, hook, branch, needles, or thorns, box, fruit, scale, sign, gavel, goblet, quill, lectern, bottle, mug, serving tray, or stool.

That list is just for inspiration, but it still covers a huge number of items many of which are light.

Under your interpretation, if an object could potentially be used as an improvised weapon then it is always a simple weapon even if the character is not using it as such and has no plans to use it as such.

So now holding a common light item like a goblet, quill, or an apple would automatically prevent a character from raising a buckler on that arm.

Given the range of items that could potentially be used as improvised weapons, the ability to hold non-weapons while raising a buckler becomes pretty much useless.

If someone really wants to put a rune on a frying pan, what's the harm?

Frying pans are actual weapons. In fact, they are the favored weapons of two deities. :)

We mainly wanted to see if there were any explicit and official rulings.

We are not foreign to house-ruling, given we made a house rule where PCs gain Hero Points on non-modified Critical Successes (aka any crit that isn't a result from a class feature altering your degree of success) so we'd remember to use them.

In our own discussion, we've more or less agreed that when I GM, I'd allow it and when he GMs he wouldn't. We can respect each other's rulings cause we're friends first and foremost.

In my opinion these rules were left in a grey zone so they could be interpreted either way, giving the GM flexibility.

But to directly address your question? There is no harm in allowing runes to be etched, and there is no harm in disallowing it.

For my own GMing, I'll introduce a house rule called "persistent improvised weaponry" where it allows a player to upgrade an improvised weapon as one would a normal weapon.

Just in case you haven't run across it, I thought I'd mention the Improvised Pummel feat from the Weapon Improviser archetype. It gives you the choice of applying your Handwraps runes to your improvised weapons or applying what is basically a version of automatic bonus progression to your improvised weapons.

There are three lists of abilities to consider: Pet Abilities (PC page 213), Familiar Abilities, and Master Abilities.

The Alchemical Familiar gets the Construct Familiar Ability for free and then you get to select a total of two other abilities from any of those three lists.

There are a variety of ways to increase the number of abilities that you can choose each day. The most powerful are Witch Multiclass and Familiar Master.

Well that's good, any errata beyond the errata page, or just bringing it up to date with what we already have?

I haven't noticed anything new yet, but it's a big book. :D

Wait, I thought the second printing was like a year or so ago, do you mean the third printing?

I only have one previous printing downloaded and the FAQ page only lists errata to the 1st printing of Player Core so I'm pretty sure this is the 2nd printing.

I downloaded my copy from the Store, and so far all of the errata that I've looked for made it in.

Player Core 2, page 103:

The Rogue's Sneak Attack feature previously got updated to include ranged unarmed attacks, but the parallel Devise a Stratagem feature for Investigators has not yet been updated to include ranged unarmed attacks.

Also the text for Devise a Stratagem still gives the sap its own listing even though it is already included in the category of agile melee weapons.

For comparison,

Sneak Attack wrote:

...an agile or finesse melee weapon, an agile or finesse unarmed attack, a ranged weapon attack, or a ranged unarmed attack, you deal an extra 1d6 precision damage. For a ranged attack with a thrown melee weapon, that weapon must also be agile or finesse.

Devise a Stratagem wrote:

...an agile or finesse melee weapon, an agile or finesse unarmed attack, a ranged weapon (which must be agile or finesse if it’s a melee weapon with the thrown trait), or a sap.

I would suggest that this simplest way to make both changes would be for the DaS text to say

Revised Devise a Stratagem wrote:

...an agile or finesse melee weapon, an agile or finesse unarmed attack, a ranged weapon (which must be agile or finesse if it’s a melee weapon with the thrown trait), or a ranged unarmed attack.

Somehow I missed this change from the Spring 2026 Errata.

Page 103: Devise a Stratagem had some changes. Remove the fortune trait from the traits line. Under Attack Stratagem, change the first sentence to “If you Strike the chosen creature before the start of your next turn, your Strike gains the fortune trait and you must use the result of the d20 roll for your Strike’s attack roll instead of rolling.” Replace the final sentence with the following two sentences. “When you make this substitution, you can add your Intelligence modifier to your attack roll instead of your Strength or Dexterity modifier. If you Strike with a melee weapon, melee unarmed attack, or thrown weapon, it must have the agile or finesse trait to benefit from the substitution.” The new wording applies to the same weapons as before, but also works on ranged unarmed attacks like the leshy’s seedpod. The original mention of a sap was redundant.

I'm super happy about the seedpods now being an option, and my OCD is finally assuaged by the removal of the extraneous mention of the sap. :)

However, the new wording now refers to a "thrown weapon" rather than a "thrown melee weapon" requiring the agile or finesse traits.

That wording now excludes an alchemical bomb, bola, boomerang, chakram, chakri (the Treasure Vault version but not the Impossible Lands version), harpoon, and javelin from working with Devise a Stratagem.

All of these previously worked with Devise a Stratagem and the errata says "The new wording applies to the same weapons as before..." so I'm wondering if this was intentional or just a mistake in the wording.

It's ok. We can just recreate them as new characters up to level 7.

That's clever!

JiCi wrote:

I think the reason why people ask for drows is due to the "other" abilities, such as poison use, arachnid affinity, agile/finesse weapon proficiencies and magical talents, not just for "living in caves"...

For me it's the look. I like obsidian to some shade of purple/lavender type elves with white/silvery hair and red or silver eyes. It's the aesthetic. The culture is cool too, but I just like how the Drow look like.

Then have you considered making an Elf/Duskwalker?

Physically, duskwalkers tend toward the monochromatic, as their skin, hair, and eyes trend towards white, gray, black, or desaturated blue shades. Some duskwalkers have more unusual features, such as patches of scales or feathers, based on the their previous incarnation’s nature and actions.

...

Duskwalker elves are often difficult to distinguish from mundane elves, although silver-gray hair is common. Some duskwalker elves are born with a faint spiderweb pattern on their skin, and spiders are unduly fond of them.

Silver hair, silver eyes, and obsidian skin tone (possibly with that spiderweb pattern) all make sense for a Duskwalker and also fit the Drow aesthetic. And the Duskwalker Heritage even grants you the darkvision you would get from the Cavern Elf Heritage.

exequiel759 wrote:

JiCi wrote:

Is it me or does the Runesmith currently lack Occult and Divine Runes :O ?

The Annihilating Compound Invocation requires 4 runes: 1 for each magic tradition, except that there aren't many Divine or Occult rune to pick...

What,s weirder is how some runes DON'T have magic traits to them.

You mean Germantria, Rune of Partnership couldn't get a Divine Rune or something?

You choose the tradition trait of the runes that don't have traits.

Paizo wrote:

Runes are magical effects. Some runes have a specific tradition trait; for instance, the elemental ranshu, rune of thunder is a primal rune. If a rune has the magical trait, you can choose to replace the magical trait with a specific tradition trait, provided you're trained in the skill matching that tradition. For instance, you could create an arcane pluuna, rune of illumination if you were trained in Arcana.

Thanks for the clarificaiton, but it doesn't excuse the fact that the earliest you can get a Rune with the Divine trait is... Level 9, with Yudici, Rune of Remonstrance.

Yeah, there's no Divine Rune 1... which is weird considering that Spirit damage would be a given.

If the class proves popular (I just LOVE IT!), then I would expect more runes in future publications.

Product description just dropped, and looks like meat's back on the menu, boys! Belkzen got rolled into the Saga Lands! Bit of a loss for the eventual Lost Omens: Eye of Dread, especially given the long history between Belkzen and the Whispering Tyrant, but I can see the argument that it fits better thematically among the Sword & Sorcery metaregion than in the Gothic Horror & Dark Fantasy metaregion.

Also, "Guys, for the love of Gods look behind you! There's a f***ing Linnorm!"

I would have expected two linnorms in that case.

Gisher wrote:

QuidEst wrote:

Gisher wrote:

On the topic of Rune traditions, does anyone else find it strange that Thullax, Rune of Corrosion is Arcane rather than Primal?

The other offensive damaging runes may be primal, but they also have elemental connections, unlike acid. Seems like a fair enough distinction to put it under arcane instead.

I thought acid was associated with Earth just like cold is associated with Water and electricity is associated with Air.

In PF1, yeah. Not in PF2.

Thanks! I hadn't noticed that change.

Gisher wrote:

On the topic of Rune traditions, does anyone else find it strange that Thullax, Rune of Corrosion is Arcane rather than Primal?

The other offensive damaging runes may be primal, but they also have elemental connections, unlike acid. Seems like a fair enough distinction to put it under arcane instead.

I thought acid was associated with Earth just like cold is associated with Water and electricity is associated with Air.

On the topic of Rune traditions, does anyone else find it strange that Thullax, Rune of Corrosion is Arcane rather than Primal?

*I know Ronald the Rules Lawyer popularized "Every +1 matters," but that meme points out how small modifiers can have an outsized effect due to the four degrees of success. It was never intended to mean "If thou art one point below the theoretical maximum thou art worthless!**" which it certainly feels like some of the community seems to think.

** I am being slightly hyperbolic for comedic effect.***

*** I read a lot of novels that use excessive footnotes for comedic effect, and sometimes that comes out in my writing.

**** A møøse once bit my sister...

I don't know about others, but over the last couple of days I was only able to see the message boards for a brief window yesterday.

I'm pretty happy with the ancestry selection that we have now, but I wouldn't mind a remaster of a few older options like Beastkin and Geniekin.

Gisher wrote:

You are correct that thrown weapons are not ammunition.

I think shuriken are flagged as ammunition.

Shuriken were treated as ammunition for some purposes back in PF1, but those rules don't show up in PF2.

The closest I can find to a weapon/ammunition in PF2 is a dart which can be used as a thrown weapon or as ammunition for an atlatl or dart shield.

But even for darts they are either a thrown weapon or ammunition rather than both simultaneously.

So to my knowledge there isn't a way to use a thrown weapon with Remote Detonation.

But since thrown weapons generally have range increments of 30' or less, just invoking normally is typically a better option than Remote Detonation using a thrown weapon.

Remote Detonation becomes nice if you are using Pattern Flight to Trace runes farther away than your normal Invocation range with something like a bow. (Although they both have the flourish trait so you'd have to use Remote Detonation on the turn after you used Pattern Flight.)

Gisher wrote:

BobTheArchmage wrote:

I'll admit I wasn't really super excited about Saga Lands when I first read about it. Years of being disappointed in how most fantasy works tends to boil down my culture to "Warriors obsessed with strength who raid, burn, pillage, and plunder" when there is so much more to the Norse cultural heritage. Our chief deity was a g%& d@%n trickster god for crying out loud!

But after reading through Lost Omens: Mwangi and Lost Omens: Tian Xia World Guide I can't help but be a little excited and hopeful that Paizo will turn the Lands of the Linnorm King into something more than just a caricature of Norse culture. I also hope that Irrisen can get a similar facelift and not just be "Fantasy Russia", but we'll see.

I couldn't agree with this more!

I get that a lot of areas of Golarion were originally thrown together pretty quickly, but the updates that we've been getting in the Lost Omens line have been wonderful expansions and revisions which blend elements of Earthly cultures and mythology with entirely new concepts.

So I'm hopeful that the Land of the Linnorn Kings will get that sort of richness and depth added. (Although I'm a generation or two away from being able to call it 'my' culture.)

At least you have a Golarion country clearly identified with your RL culture. Think about us poor Celts who did not even get this.

I wished there would have been a Fantasy Ireland somewhere so that I too could then put expectations on better representation of the various Celtic people and cultures.

My Irish grandfather and Norwegian grandmother both immigrated to America as children so I'm glad to have a Golarion Scandavia but also wish there was a Golarion Ireland.

I'll admit I wasn't really super excited about Saga Lands when I first read about it. Years of being disappointed in how most fantasy works tends to boil down my culture to "Warriors obsessed with strength who raid, burn, pillage, and plunder" when there is so much more to the Norse cultural heritage. Our chief deity was a g%& d@%n trickster god for crying out loud!

But after reading through Lost Omens: Mwangi and Lost Omens: Tian Xia World Guide I can't help but be a little excited and hopeful that Paizo will turn the Lands of the Linnorm King into something more than just a caricature of Norse culture. I also hope that Irrisen can get a similar facelift and not just be "Fantasy Russia", but we'll see.

I couldn't agree with this more!

I get that a lot of areas of Golarion were originally thrown together pretty quickly, but the updates that we've been getting in the Lost Omens line have been wonderful expansions and revisions which blend elements of Earthly cultures and mythology with entirely new concepts.

So I'm hopeful that the Land of the Linnorn Kings will get that sort of richness and depth added. (Although I'm a generation or two away from being able to call it 'my' culture.)

Hm. Been a while since anyone posted here. No matter. I've been looking at the Class DC Proficiency Bonuses table. You have all the classes starting at Trained except for Magus, Summoner, Psychic, and the Summoner's Eidolon. With the publication of Dark Archive (Remastered) and Impossible Magic the Magus, Summoner, and Psychic, at least, start (and remain through level 20) at Trained, like the other casters. Not sure about the Eidolon. Does he have a separate Class DC, or does he use the Summoner's, or does he not have one at all? In my reading on the class, I couldn't find an answer.

Yes, I need to update a lot of them. I've been distracted by a lot of real life stuff, but I hope to adjust some soon. :)

Between the Scales lets Kobolds add backstabber in some circumstances.

One suggestion I saw is have it give critical specialization with those weapons at 5th.

That does seem like a well-balanced way to combine mechanics with thematics.

Alex Speidel wrote:

I'm definitely not three skittermanders in a trenchcoat. That's an absurd and slanderous accusation.

TWO skittermanders in a trenchcoat?

Maybe four?

Thanks so much to the Paizo staff for addressing the Runesmith free hand issue so quickly. :)

Thanks for sharing that here; that's an excellent update! Not only is there flexibility on hands, but we also get to avoid needing two bulk of kit during combat. Smithing Weapons works out to "save two bulk and deal a little extra damage".

Smithing weapons letting you save the bulk and the cost of artisans tools by replacing it with, say, a dagger is nice, especially at first level.

And if you already liked the idea of using a "smithy" weapon, then the occasional extra point of fire damage isn't a bad thing.

But there are a lot of really good low level feats that Smithing Weapons is competing with.

I like to imagine using the ranged trace option is using my weapon or a finger to quickly draw the rune in midair the same way Rohan Kishibe draws Heaven's Door in the air to affect someone with his stand. It's fine, it just works.

I like the description in The Search for Nex where Pallemi draws the rune in the air and then punches it towards his target.

Sweet! Runesmith just got even better!

LandSwordBear wrote:

Maybe he traces it with his nose.

Maybe I'm Gen Con tired, but this his hilarious.

Maybe it's a Smithing Weapons loophole. You can pick your nose after all. ;)

And I suspect that by now you are actually Gen Con exhausted. Be well. :)

Pallemi wrote:

The creature’s ink was blood red when underwater, and the fact that it lost most of its coloration when exposed to air didn’t mean that the ink was suddenly black. “A squid’s ink” would be more apt, and he didn’t understand why the incorrect saying persisted.

Pallemi is right and he is so brave for speaking the truth.

Now that I've got the book, I'm very confused by Pallemi performing Swiping Trace even though that feat (along with Engraving Trace) can't be used with a glaive.

Both feats involve the subordinate actions of Striking and then Tracing.

Strikes with a glaive require that it be held in two hands while Tracing requires that you have a free hand.

So Pallemi would have to remove one hand from his glaive midway through the activity, but he can't do that because you aren't allowed to insert actions into the middle of an activity.

So unless some well-established rules have been changed, I don't see how this is possible.

Gisher wrote:

Did the pdfs ever get updated to include this errata?

I just downloaded the Player Core and GM Core from the Store library, and they don't include any of the changes. But I'm still trying to get a handle on the new Store so maybe I'm just doing something wrong.

If you mean Spring 2026 errata, then pdfs are still updated only after new printings.

That's what I was wondering about. The Blog made it seem as if a second printing was imminent back in March so I thought I might have missed an update.

Gisher, I hadn’t even realized there was a day one errata. Thanks!

You're welcome! :)

The day one errata addresses that.

Page 90: The runesmith archetype needed runesmith class DC and a way to increase it. Change the first line of Runesmith Dedication to say “You become trained in runesmith class DC and Crafting.”

Add the following feat to the runesmith archetype:
Runic Expertise
Feat 12
Archetype
Prerequisites Runesmith Dedication
You become an expert in runesmith class DC.

You are correct that thrown weapons are not ammunition.

(Just a quick mention that the Impossible Magic day-one errata is up!) You'll need to scroll down to the rulebook section.

Sadly, no clarification on whether the pre-remaster ruling on free hands and toolkits still holds or if Joshua Birdsong's reading of Trace Rune indicates that those requirements have been eliminated.

That is definitely something that we need errata on since it fundamentally affects how Runesmiths can be built.

Did the pdfs ever get updated to include this errata?

I just downloaded the Player Core and GM Core from the Store library, and they don't include any of the changes. But I'm still trying to get a handle on the new Store so maybe I'm just doing something wrong.

The Sparkling Targe Magus feat Emergency Targe now triggers on ranged Strikes and Spell Attacks in addition to melee ones.

I just found out that the wonderful folks at Archives of Nethys have Impossible Magic up already!

As a heads up for those who may not have seen the GenCon Keynote yet, the Tome of Dungeons book will include some new ancestries with Awakened Oozes and Gargoyles confirmed!

Timestamp here!

Figured I'd share since I know I've seen both of these on peoples' wishlist (personally very excited for both!)

Fixed the link.

I see that Oljinex, Rune of Cowards' Bane now increases your shield's hardness against ranged attacks rather than increasing your AC against ranged attacks.

Jokes aside it can be rather hard to find the PDF version of a product sometimes. They don't tend to show up on any of the New Releases or Coming Soon pages; I've generally had to go poking through the specific category of book line I'm looking for and then go to Digital Editions to find them, which feels out of the way.

What I've been doing is just adding 'pdf' to the search string after the product name.

So searching for impossible magic pdf in the Store worked.

I like that the quicksilver cloak will work with ranged unarmed strikes. Being able to get precious materials benefits on things like seedpods is rare.

...My question is, if that's the case, doesn't the first clause of Smithing Weapons become redundant? I guess it saves you from having to buy a toolkit at character creation -- they, like, count as tools enough that you don't need an actual tattoo machine or whatever in your pocket to channel into your weapon -- but the phrasing does make it feel like tracing with your weapon is something you can't normally do at all.

The Applying Runes section says "Etching or tracing runes requires an artisan's toolkit," and Smithing Weapons only lets you Trace with your weapons without needing a toolkit.

So you'd still need to have a set of artisan's tools with you to Etch, you just wouldn't need to wear them since you likely wouldn't be Etching in combat.

But yeah, if you can already Trace when your hands are full then the ability to Trace with a knife, pick, or hammer in your hand isn't meaningful.

So it looks like the only thing Smithing Weapons actually grants you is a way to keep your artisan's toolkit in your pack instead of wearing it.

I suppose that's a little bit useful in that the 2 bulk artisan's toolkit takes up your entire standard worn carrying capacity, but it isn't the central feat that I thought it was.

At this point I'd probably only take it if multiclassing placed a serious premium on worn toolkits.

For example an Investigator with MC Runesmith needing to wear an alchemist's toolkit for alchemical sciences and a healer's toolkit for Battle Medicine could really benefit from being able to keep their artisan's toolkit packed away once they can Trace runes.

Gisher wrote:

Josh Birdsong has now stated that Runesmiths no longer require a free hand to Trace runes (at about 22:20 into the video), but I'm finding this to be very confusing from a rules point of view.

The rules in the Applying Runes section say "Etching or tracing runes requires an artisan's toolkit," the Trace Rune action requires that "You're holding or wearing an artisan's toolkit," and the Player Core rules for an artisan's toolkit tell us that "You can use a toolkit with 1 hand if you’re wearing it or 2 if you’re holding it."

Was he maybe talking about the feat chain that lets you sing runes on to people? I read a friend's PDF, since I'm waiting for the physical book at my FLGS, but I did circle the Rune Singer chain of feats in my quest to try to identify "builds that can work for an Anadi character who mostly hangs out in Spider-Form." It's once per 10 minutes until you get the 10th level feat to make it 1/turn, but a lot of campaigns start at 11th level.

I don't think so. Rune-Singer was already in the playtest, and he definitely seemed to be speaking more generally in terms of removing "the hand tax" that was in the playtest.

And in Luis Loza's recent blog post his description of the iconic Runesmith using Swiping Trace also didn't require removing his hand from his glaive.

But I just can't reconcile those interpretations with the actual rules text unless something has changed from the way toolkit rules worked in Player Core.

Josh Birdsong has now stated that Runesmiths no longer require a free hand to Trace runes (at about 22:20 into the video), but I'm finding this to be very confusing from a rules point of view.

The rules in the Applying Runes section say "Etching or tracing runes requires an artisan's toolkit," the Trace Rune action requires that "You're holding or wearing an artisan's toolkit," and the Player Core rules for an artisan's toolkit tell us that "You can use a toolkit with 1 hand if you’re wearing it or 2 if you’re holding it."

So even if you are wearing the artisan's toolkit you still need one free hand to use it and thus you should need a free hand to perform the Trace Rune action.

It's the same line of reasoning that tells us Treat Wounds and Battle Medicine require a free hand because they have the requirement that "You're wearing or holding a healer's toolkit."

If the iconic Runesmith can use Trace Rune while holding a glaive two-handed then Treat Wounds and Battle Medicine should also no longer require a free hand.

So was there a rules change somewhere in this book regarding toolkits?

Hooray!

Joshua Birdsong has confirmed that your interpretation is the correct one, Squark! (Starts at about 22:20.)

Runesmiths no longer need a free hand to Trace!

I'm loving this for Runesmith builds, but still completely baffled as to how this works given the stated rules.

I guess we can now also perform Treat Wounds and Battle Medicine without needing a free hand?