Jeroen Haan's page

I would like to cancel my following subscriptions:

Starfinder Roleplaying Game
Starfinder Accessories

Reason: Already got a bunch of SF books and content, and no longer a group.

My feedback. :)

INVESTIGATOR

Balance & Feedback

Not so serious: Babbo mace

Or better yet... Here's my PHOTOSHOP SKILLS! I present:

My serious Gnomish Flinkmace.

I would like to share my sheet I use for a lot of CotCT conversion. :)

Bestiary Stats By Level

I'm probably pretty basic as far as Ki goes. I just picked Ki Strike as my main ki power and everything else as utility. That way I get to use Ki Strike (fingers crossed) 3 times every fight, or something like that.

Not sure if you're making this mistake.. But it's happening often: Without special feats, you only get back a max of 1 focus point per 10 minute rest. You can't gain back 3 points by resting 30 minutes.

See p.300, and look at the requirements of the Refocus ability.

And especially ki blast. I may be mismathing but I think it deals about as much as a fireball of the same spell level, or perhaps slightly less, while having the advantage of being wider and also being force.

Ki Blast is 4d6 for three actions, fireball is 6d6 for two actions. Both gain +2d6 per spell level.

I believe the major point that Paizo needs to improve is:

> More or better Game Design review rounds
> Better proofreading

Easily acceptable if this slows down release rate a bit.

The good thing is that as far as I can tell, you don't need to make a melee touch attack any longer. (unless the spell description tells you to)

For most touch spells, you auto hit and your target only need to make a Saving Throw.

We know resonance is out, completely. Therefore in our P2 campaign, we have dropped it. No item limits. Magic items powered by resonance handled on a case by case basis reflecting typically how things worked in P1.

Yea I know. Considered doing that as well, but don't like to adhoc rule things during the game, so this is a nice (in my opinion) patchjob, that also includes a better way then the Medicin healing (which was broken as well). Of course, this is all very coloured because I think the Starfinder Resolve is a good way to handle nonmagical healing resources, spread over the day.

Great, sensible changes/house rules Varun! I think the only thing that stands out as missing is a widespread look into non-damaging spells. Are you considering anything on that front?

My magic users (Wizard and a Rogue with Cleric-multiclass) are happy with the Resonance Boost action to use if they have a spare action in the round.

I'm very much on board with your changes to out-of-combat healing. Have you considered changing the amount of healing to a flat 1/2 of their max HP rather than making people roll?

Two things though:

• Half HP is kind of a lot. Out of my head this way is around 30%.
• People love rolling their dice.

Character background: There wasn't a question about it on the survey but I think it is very important to new players. I've seen many new players find roleplaying inspiration from their character's history.

I would like a format that includes this description of the character (not the class). Even Alain's level 1 write up inspired role playing.

Cavalier Level 1 wrote:

All Alain cares about is his reputation and his horse, Donahan.

This! Is very important for new players. :)

Also something that someone else mentioned before: List all skills.

Some small things: Ability modifiers are more important then the actual stats. Wands should have [ ] boxes as well.

The action system, again sort of. The full three-action system doesn't really fit, but I have gotten rid of full attacks and changed up the two-weapon fighting rules, which has resulted in something closer to the more mobile combat of 2e.

Read up on the Unchained Action Economy rules. :)

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/unchained-rules/unchaine d-action-economy/

Seeing as how easy it is to convert PF1 adventures to the playtest, I can't imagine it being that hard to convert an adventure written with playtest rules to PF2 rules. If *I* can manage the former, I'm sure the much more talented folks at Paizo can do the latter.

Where are those easy conversion rules? I missed them. :)

So some remarks that I'm not sure about.. Maybe it's already been said or I'm misreading something.. :D

Can you tell us in the next blog what rules you're considering to rework in the final PF2 version, but not via Playtest Updates?

I think that would lessen a lot of certain people's concerns. :)

I get that, but the biggest issue for us wasn't that it wasn't a finished product, but that the core chassis of PF2 wasn't what we wanted. The lack of fun came more fro that than anything else. Based on the level of changes coming through the updates, it's clear that Paizo isn't going to be changing that, and thus the lack of fun comes from this not being a game we want to play, based on the trajectory it's on. Even though the playtest isn't designed primarily to be fun, the game it's play testing IS designed to be fun. I've been in plenty of playtests where every minute played was a blast, because the game was great - even though it went through updates and revisions as part of the playtest.

I'm just curious, but can you specify what mechanics made the PT unfun for you? And did you play with 1.0 rules?

I love making monsters in the new system. I've made around 30 and am not slowing down!

How do you make monsters in the new system? Did I miss the monster creation rules somewhere? :D

As a player, I love the idea of this modular system.

When I take a step back however.. I'm pretty worried that the Multiclass Dedication feats are way more powerful then the actual class feats that players would normally select.

Just got confirmation of my shipped subscription. And I just wanted to give the CS and shipping teams a well deserved thank you! With Gen Con and now also the Playtest coming up, things are very hectic in July.

<3

@Mark (or someone else), can we still use a level 3 spell slot to cast a level 2 spell? (without heightening it)

I really like Spontaneous Heightening. I don't really understand why the rest of you don't. :)

I really wish all these X/day abilities work on Spell Points though, just like all other classes. (Ki, channels, etc)

Finally, Primal Evolution lets you cast summon nature's ally as an innate spell once per day at the highest spell level you can cast.

Why not use Spell Points for this? Please remove the countless X per day. :)

I would honestly like to see resonance in reverse, like you can have up your level plus cha mod, start with zero then don your magic armor gain 1 resonance, drink a potion, gain 1 resonance, this way it feels more like your are saturating yourself with magics and you can only handle so much before its like grounded in the surroundings or dispersed , I think this would go over a lot better

Agreed! Exactly my proposal on page 2 or so. :) It makes so much more sense from a flavor perspective. (no matter which way Resonance rules will go!)

Now that I'm thinking a bit more about Resonance.. What about switching it from a resource that you spend to a capacity that you build up?

[[M]] Magical Resonance
Your body can only handle a certain capacity of magic resonating with your spirit. Your maximum resonance is your level + your Charisma modifier on each day. Any action or investment that costs a [[M]] counts up to this maximum capacity.
If your body tries to resonate with more magic, there is a chance your body will reject the magic.

Varun Creed wrote:

What about?

• Wands are not consumables any longer, but can cast their spell for a 1RP cost of the receiver.
  
• Staffs are like wands, but have additional bonuses (such as enabling their spell(s) to be used spontaneously costing a spell slot instead of a RP).
  
• No item has charges, but instead use RP to use. Staffs don't have charges that need to be recharged.
  
• All characters have CHA + 1/2 lvl resonance points in their reservoir. No flat rolls for overspending, but simply: If you overspend, you gain/increase the Sick condition after 1 minute, which can only be recovered by sleeping for 8 hours.
  
• A character can synchronize their spirit each day with worn items, for a maximum of their total resonance points. This does not use up a resonance point.
  
• Potions cost a RP to create, nothing to use.
  

This counteracts the CLW wand spam as well, as any wand now costs resolve points. "Then what about high level parties buying up 100's of potions?" > I answer: what store will have 100's of potions anyhow?? It's more normal that a store has 1d4 or 1d6 of healing potions.

Yeah. I honestly think that these are a far better way to go. I especially like the thought of people getting Sick after overusing Resonance. Though there might be categories of Sick in that case - each extra Resonance you use ends up costing you more and more until you are barely able to function and are not any good in a fight.

You might also include a condition where eight hours of sleep Sleep only removes three categories of Sick, so if someone overspent their Resonance by four, they'd wake up the next morning and still feel sick - this is actually something you see in fantasy stories where a spellcaster overuses their magic and feels ill the next day.

Exactly the reason why I wrote the increase Sick condition. So with overspending two resonance, you'll be Sick 2 untill you sleep 8 hours (instead of Retching giving a new save).

I also really like the touch that the sickness only starts after 1 minute ("cinematically drained after a boost"). I like your idea of having it cured over multiple days if you REALLY overspend. :)

What about?

• Wands are not consumables any longer, but can cast their spell for a 1RP cost of the receiver.
  
• Staffs are like wands, but have additional bonuses (such as enabling their spell(s) to be used spontaneously costing a spell slot instead of a RP).
  
• No item has charges, but instead use RP to use. Staffs don't have charges that need to be recharged.
  
• All characters have CHA + 1/2 lvl resonance points in their reservoir. No flat rolls for overspending, but simply: If you overspend, you gain/increase the Sick condition after 1 minute, which can only be recovered by sleeping for 8 hours.
  
• A character can synchronize their spirit each day with worn items, for a maximum of their total resonance points. This does not use up a resonance point.
  
• Potions cost a RP to create, nothing to use.
  

This counteracts the CLW wand spam as well, as any wand now costs resolve points. "Then what about high level parties buying up 100's of potions?" > I answer: what store will have 100's of potions anyhow?? It's more normal that a store has 1d4 or 1d6 of healing potions.

Now that I'm thinking a bit more about Resonance.. What about switching it from a resource that you spend to a capacity that you build up?

[[M]] Magical Resonance
Your body can only handle a certain capacity of magic resonating with your spirit. Your maximum resonance is your level + your Charisma modifier on each day. Any action or investment that costs a [[M]] counts up to this maximum capacity.
If your body tries to resonate with more magic, there is a chance your body will reject the magic. If you're at maximum resonance, you can attempt to activate or invest an item anyway. You need to attempt a flat check (a d20 roll with no modifiers) against a DC equal to 10 + the number of points you go over your maximum resonance capacity. So the first item has a 50% chance of working, and it gets more risky from there.

Idea: Why don't we have Potions work like Poisons. Drink too much and you get sick and your body rejects it.

This way, we still reach the design goal that high level players should use high level potions.

Edit: I guess you can argue this is Resonance as well.. (the magic reservoir your body can handle) Maybe this flavor should be explained within the rulebook?

Overall nice!

Immediate feedback though:

• Orichalcium has two different rules, better to use one, and use a different metal for the selfhealing effect.
  
• INVISIBILITY armor property has nothing in it's description saying that you need to spend 1 RP per cast. Your blogtext seem to say that..?

I really like trinkets. :) I'm all for the addition of a limited resource like Resonance (limited resources means the need to make strategic choices).

However, some unclear/unexplained things:

- Investing costs a Resolve Point as well? I thought that it would be limited by your RP, but it wouldn't cost a daily RP. :(
- Cloak of Elvenkind, I really don't get it. Maybe the description is just unclear. What is the difference between the Focus and Operate interactions? And why in the text, there's also a mention of an Interact action? And obviously I can keep activating the one-minute use the whole day..??
- If I choose to spontaneously cast a Staff spell from my own spellslots.. It still costs a RP?

Idea:

Change Ki Strike to be a Verbal Action.
Change effect to: Cost 1 Spell Point. You infuse your next strike with Ki. On your next strike, target Touch AC instead of AC.

Reasoning:

• Verbal single actions are similar to normal spells, instead of being a 'free' action
  
• More truthful to "ki strike" fantasy, and also more FUN then a flat bonus (which we agreed in old blogs aren't fun)
  
• Feels more impactful for the cost of a spell point
  

Calling it..

Ki Powers give me a strong feeling on how we'll see Kineticist Wild Talents implemented. *_*

And Blasts will be like powerful Cantrips.
Wild Talents are like Ki Powers.

I do hope they'll keep the Con/HP burn mechanic.

If you wouldn't want a 'Legendary' style game, your campaigns wouldn't go above level 15 anyhow in Pathfinder 1.

Domain Powers and Beyond

Pathfinder has always had domain powers, school powers, bloodline powers, and other special class-based spell-like abilities that you can use a certain number of times per day rather than using your daily spell slots on them. In the playtest, we've expanded this idea, allowing even more classes to gain these kinds of powers and standardizing the way we talk about the powers and their daily uses. The powers are now treated as a special kind of spell, and they are all cast using Spell Points. There is power in naming something; while you don't really count them differently than if you had a pool of uses per day, this allowed us to create new and interesting abilities that cost multiple Spell Points or that you could add extra features to at the cost of more Spell Points, in a way that works across classes more smoothly.

The concept for this is great! My thoughts on this however, is that it's problematic that these are called Spell Points. As shown in the All About Actions blog, I thought a new design principle is that abilities should have a more flowing naming sense. Step, Stride, Strike!

So with that, what is your thought on naming this daily usage pool? Your only limitation is that it should be class agnostic, so it should make sense for both arcane, divine, bardic, nature, psychic, etc..

• Spell Power
  
• Power Reserve
  
• ??
  

I may have my first thing I really dislike hearing on the play test rules: the change of base speed for most races to 25 feet. It feels REALLY unintuitive, and is going to be very annoying to keep track of after almost 20 years of humans getting 6 squares of movement. Plus, a base of 6 squares (or 30 feet) is easier to divide because it’s not a prime number like 5 is. You can easily halve or even third the 30 feet speed, but you can do neither to a base 25 speed without rounding down. I would rather they have kept base speed for humanoids at 30 feet, and make elves 35 speed if they wanted to give them a boost.

I'm quite fine with it to be honest. You can walk up to 75ft(!) a turn.

The minimum I want out of 2nd ed. is that the APs are easy to convert back into 1st, at least easier than Starfinder, where converting is a big pain as it is. I might enjoy the new setting specific books, after all it is still Golarion, but I really hope I can enjoy playing the Adventures you will writer after August 2019 too.

Don't just screw us over, who came in the 3.5 diaspora to you. Let us keep the system we chose 18 years or so ago and make it easy for us to still enjoy your wonderfully crafted APs even though we won't follow you to your new, sexy streamlined rules.

That's my only wish for 2nd ed. Don't make converting it back too hard

Wait.. You've already used up all of Paizo's great quality AP and Module content? O_O

I disagree strongly. A lawful good Paladin is too iconic for example.

Some classes might be loosened though.
And there should be better GM guidelines to handle crossing the alignment lines.

1. Paladins should be LG paragons with lawful and good energy coursing through them.

However, they need better guidelines of their Code of Conduct. Especially to stop misunderstandings between GM's and Players about what is a rule for a paladin, and what makes them fall.

The best RPGs are intrinsically linked to their settings. Can you imagine

Traveller without the Imperium?

Runequest without Glorantha?

Call of Cthulhu with the 1920s?

WOD without the WOD?

D&D without Greyhawk?

Please keep Golarion as core to the game.

I agree! :)

But to keep everyone happy, I'm sure that the Golarion background information can be kept to seperate chapters?

So as the Shifter's Wild Shape DID allow for the polymorphic bonuses, just not the Beast shape II abilities... The new FAQ is a change on the following:

• Bat Form: base speed boosted from 20ft to 30ft
  
• Bear Form: claws boosted to have grab
  
• Deinonychus Form: claws damage boosted from 1d4/1d6 from level 4~10 to 1d8 damage
  
• Falcon Form: base speed boosted from 10ft to 30ft
  
• Frog Form: no changes (Note: Normally, the Tongue attack of a Giant Frog is a touch AC attack, but this is not specified in the Frog's Major Form.)
  
• Monkey Form: claws damage boosted from 1d4 from level 4~6 to 1d6 damage
  
• Mouse Form: base speed nerfed from 40ft to 30ft
  
• Owl Form: base speed boosted from 10ft to 30ft. Gain a fly speed 60ft (avarage)
  
• Note: for clarity since it's obvious they wanted to add these to the profiles, maybe the natural reach should be added as well, together with a note if a natural attack is a secondary.
  

What conclusion happen in the report and sheets if they make a deal with Abacorp, but Talbot died? I assume the deal goes through still, since the scenario earlier said Aba don't care if they get the corpse?

Inspiring Boost is at least green. As an Envoy I "heal" a lot more then a Mystic, since Stamina is the hit-pool going down the first in heavy combat. Plus, you don't want your party members to use a Resolve to heal up Stamina if you can prevent it.. As it is also necessary to not die.

(Improved) Hurry, I would rate blue myself. In the action economy of Starfinder this ability can mean the difference between a full attack or not. Or a different critical ability for your friend to use - or not. (If it would still be the Pathfinder action economy, I'd agree on it being green.)

Tip: for the Improvisation chart, maybe it's also nice to show here what improvs get a free "upgrade" at a certain level?

The rest of their Kickstartes and any issues associated with them are on them and while they have always had the best of intentions, it is obvious that the lack of communication has caused loads of problems. I commend them for being as open and honest as they were in their video update and I really hope that the audience gives them the chance to make good. They know...

Best tip for any KS project: Good honest communication.

kaid wrote:

it does talk in the rules about what happens if you are wearing armor over other armor

Can you help me find this bit. I've been looking and can't find it.

That's only Light Armor + Powered Armor. (p 203)

Not multiple kinds of Light Armor, or Light+Heavy armor. There are no rules that say it's allowed to wear Second Skin together with any other armor but Powered Armor..

As Tali Wah pointed out, the 'whichever is worse' only applies if a spell specifically targets a construct or humanoid.

Mystic Cure : Target - One living creature. So this works on androids.

Mending : Target - One object. Doesn't work on an Android.

Rapid Repair : Target - One construct or weapon. Does *not* work on Android (since being classified as humanoid is worse).

Charm Person : Target - One humanoid. Works on Android (since being classified as humanoid is worse).

Exactly how I read the rules RAW as well. :)

The issue is muddied somewhat because there are a number of spells that target "A construct of the technological subtype".

Under the Android description, we have "Medium Humanoids with the Android Subtype" and "For effects targeting creatures by type, androids count as both humanoids and constructs (whichever effect is worse)."

Whether Androids count as "A construct of the technological subtype" is unclear. I would presume the answer would be 'Yes' because of their flavor text "Complex technological creations", but that's just me presuming...

This one is clear RAW as well. (p42) Androids are Humanoids with the Android subtype. (Humanoid[android])

The Constructed feature says nothing of the subtype [technological]. DRONES however specifically say that they're Constructs with the technological subtype. (p74)

This should be in the Guide, as it seems the Core Rulebook lets the GM decide this, but it's not in the SFS FAQ yet. :(

A full action uses all your actions in a round. You cannot do a swift action in addition to it. Also, you can trade out a standard action for anything "lesser" (including a swift action), and the same with a move action. (Source p. 244)

Yup! And I can also take 3 swift actions if I want to. (By converting my normal and move actions to swift.)

Also a new one: You can't die from damage, unless it's Massive Damage (i.e. an attack that does equal or greater then your Max HP). You don't count -X HP anymore. Zero (0) is the lowest. After that you start losing 1 Resolve Point a turn, making it yet an even more valuable resource!

Everything about this you can find on p250.

Colette Brunel wrote:

They also have terribly low crew sizes of 125-500, which means that living in such a ship is tantamount to being in a steel desert.

I took a closer look at the rules on this (see page 293). The Minimum and Maximum Crew numbers are "the minimum and maximum number of characters who can take actions on that vessel during starship combat."

Those numbers don't represent the total number of people on that kind of ship. The total crew size is listed in the Complement statistic, which isn't used in any of the ship statblocks.

I thought that at first as well, but in most example ships the Complement number is the exact amount of officers+crew in the CREW section.

If you're really pushed for more class skills, remember themes give a class skill each, and Themeless gives any chosen skill as a class skill!

Also Skill Synergy gives two class skills, and given the number of feats the solider gains, currently I wouldn't have an issue with grabbing it.

Exactly. The bonus feats ARE a Soldier class feature. A very dynamic one as well. :)

Looks like two zeroes need to be added to both tonnage and crew sizes for the high-end of ships.

If you mean by Crew size, i'd say it's just the minimum required and that the max is x10?

Swashbuckler has truly awful action economy where every single class features drains your swift actions, making them unusable together, and not a single redeeming feature compensating for it.
Moreover, instead of ever buffing or trying to fix Swashbuckler to give actual reasons to play as one, Paizo is just constantly nerfing similar options that completely invalidate it, such as the Daring Champion Cavalier.

I disagree, because I believe that giving players choices in what exactly to do each round, (instead of "I hit with my sword") is actually good game design. And giving a basic ability to a different class doesn't invalidate the base class, it just gives another build option with a totally different flavor.

I believe we have different opinions on game design, and that is A-OK. :)

To people who say Soldiers don't have social class features: I don't understand.

Half of the Soldier class is Feats every 2nd level. Imagine having a chapter full of class talents available.. ;-) Yes, I understand that everyone can take feats, but for you it's a class defining feature. So the answer is: just take a social feat or two. :)