JiCi's page

ObligatoryHuman wrote:

Sagiam wrote:

This plus Paizo breaking its pledge to not use AI by using AI art in its marketing for its Titan Forge minis has convinced me that Paizo is going in very bad direction as a company.

This one is news to me.

It was inevitable. AI isn't going to go away, and even if Paizo stands by its policies, there are surely people among their ranks who are willing to ignore the anti-AI policies to make their lives easier, particularly if they think they can get away with it.

I guarantee you they're in every company now, whether the powers that be like it or not.

It's clear that AI will be used after laying off a truckton of people...

I would love to know why Paizo hasn't done anything to get refunded since Diamond's closure, like the other publishers. Even if they did in the coming months, they wouldn't backtrack on their decision...

What's next? PDF files will be sold at the exact same price as physical books, just like digital games are being sold as expensive as their disc or cartridge counterparts?

JiCi wrote:

Brew Bird wrote:

JiCi wrote:

Ghenshau Last Cleric wrote:

But, who knows, maybe its just that I fail to see what Paizo was losing from it in the first place.

Something something being scammed by Diamond something something...

If Paizo and the other companies were refunded and compensated from Diamond's closure, AoN wouldn't have been cut off.

But is AoN actually costing them any money?

To run the site? No... AoN is completely independant.

To likely lose book sales due to "having access to everything online for free"? Probably... especially after losing money and having laid off staff...

They aren't shutting the site down though, they are jus losing early access, so those who weren't going to get the book still won't I imagine.

I can only hope that the site can remain open... although like I said, I don't think it was ever backed by Paizo. It is solely running on Patreon funds.

I can live with a delayed release of rules and new stuff on the Archives. That's how it was at first.

JiCi wrote:

Ghenshau Last Cleric wrote:

But, who knows, maybe its just that I fail to see what Paizo was losing from it in the first place.

Something something being scammed by Diamond something something...

If Paizo and the other companies were refunded and compensated from Diamond's closure, AoN wouldn't have been cut off.

But is AoN actually costing them any money?

To run the site? No... AoN is completely independant.

To likely lose book sales due to "having access to everything online for free"? Probably... especially after losing money and having laid off staff...

But, who knows, maybe its just that I fail to see what Paizo was losing from it in the first place.

Something something being scammed by Diamond something something...

If Paizo and the other companies were refunded and compensated from Diamond's closure, AoN wouldn't have been cut off.

Well, as long as they don't shut down, we're good...

Instead we got pugfolks ^^;

I need to ask: WHAT is there to remaster for the Ifrit, Oread, Sylph and Undine anyway?

To me, the only geniekin worth remastering is the Suli, because now you need to factor 2 extra elemental planes going from 4 to 6. Yeah, pretty sure that Tetramental Assault should be now an "Hexamental" one ^^;

The rest though? Not too sure...

I don't know what you mean by "Insulting". That's just the way spellstrike works. It's mean to work with spell attacks. I don't know why that's surprising.

Frostbite is the Remastered version of Ray of Frost, which was an eligible spell for Spellstrike, thanks to the attack roll. Now it's a save spell...

It's pretty telling that Paizo literally had to errata Spellstrike in order to add save spells due to how smaller the spell pool became.

Nothing is gonna convince you here it seems. You've entrenched yourself into a really strict position and wont accept anything even slightly different to your criteria. You won't concede any point when you are almost certainly incorrect on many of the things you are saying. You were like this on the Gunslinger discussion as well.

Please excuse me if I had hoped that Spellstrike's efficency would have been mostly dependant on the Magus's attack roll and be more potent via a regular weapon Strike than a spell cast, especially for cantrips.

Take the Slow spell for instance.
- If I cast the spell normally, the target simply has to make a Fortitude save. Fair enough.
- If I cast the spell via Spellstrike, I need to successfully hit its AC with a weapon Strike and THEN the target has to make a Fortitude save.

There's a extra roll/condition to get over. If on a Critical Hit, the target suffered a penalty to its save equal to the Magus's Weapon or Spell specialisation, THEN it would be worth it, because of the extra roll I need to do.

If you want to play a Magus that can Spellstrike almost every turn, you just use Starlit Span. It has been available from the very beginning.

Other studies are for people who want other playstyles.

Yes, I'm aware, but alongside Volatile Spark, Starlit Span allows ranged Spellstrike. You literally can be a better Spellshot or Eldritch Archer as a Magus.

As much as you guys think it's boring, at least I can stay at a very safe ditance while I go "gouging claw arrow go brr". I also require to switch cantrips each round, because persistent damage doesn't stack if it's the same damage type. I could Spellstrike with Gouging Claw, Live Wire and Ignition to stack up persistent damage for bleed, electricity and fire, respectively.

The only thing awkward about Starlit Span is how Arcane Cascade doesn't grant anything specific, such as "your ranged strikes deal 1 extra force damage. This damage increases to 2 if you have weapon specialization and 3 if you have greater weapon specialization."

Starlit Span, right now, basically offers a Magus the ability to choose between melee or ranged for its Spellstrike.

Aside from the missing ones, any giant-blooded ancestry...

I'm bouncing between a giantkin ancestry with heritages based on the current giant species, or a versatile heritage...

Oh, and Ogres, Trolls, Cyclops and whatnot could be added.

I just assume that Rage of Elements is eventually going to need reprinting, at which point we will add in the errata, do some minimal changes (e.g. find and replace "negative/positive" for "void/vital") and change the license from OGL to ORC.

I do not think there will be many changes made to the Kineticist.

Not until Paizo implements standardized feats... hopefully...

Oh, and the Kineticist could use something that treats its stuff as Stikes or Spells... That should be something you decide at lvl 1.

You're asking to make the class very overpowered. What is the point of having a recharge if you just have a way to basically do it alongside the actions you wanted do do anyway? There are enough ways in the class to offset the downsides of recharging. You have:

- Conflux spells, which are very action efficient.
- A few feats which combine recharge with another action
- A way to do it as a free action once per day with a feat.
- A level 20 feat which makes you permanently quickened.
- 2 slots per level, which can easily help you spellstrike more often.

I think you're forgetting that the recharge is supposed to be a downside.

When your class is considered as worse as the Inventor, making it "very overpowered" kinda even things out.

Oh, and Conflux spells are FOCUS spells, NOT at-will Cantrips like the Psychic's Psi Cantrips, while Rapid Recharge is a Lvl 10 feat... without the lvl 16 upgrade that goes from once per day to once per hour.

The downside is being a Magus is that you're in melee, which is a death sentence for ANY spellcaster. Blasting foes at close range is the reward for risking your life in melee.

Spellstrike went through many revisions that it's not even funny anymore. All people want is to "deliver a spell through a weapon Strike" and "have that spell be '10 times' harder to resist".

The fact that you can score a Critical Hit with Frostbite on a Spellstrike, but the target can NEGATE the entire spell on a Critical Succes is outright insulting. It wouldn't be if a Critical Hit from you imparted "one step worse" for the target.

Spellstrike should be like that scene in Pirates of the Caribeans, where Will Turner shoves a bomb inside a skeleton pirate's ribcage, pushes him away from the light, making it human... and he then blows up, because he cannot throw it away, being stuck inside him.

Sibelius Eos Owm wrote:

The one spellstrike recharge action compression sufgested by JiCi that I could get behind adding (assuming we don't find in 2 days that it exists) is on raising a shield. Keeping a spare action to raise shield every round while alao trying to fit in a cascade eventually seems like it would be especially difficult in a Magus's playstyle, regardless whether we were concerned with every-round spellstrikes or not. Considering there is a shield based study, I would expect some support for that, and it doesn't seem egregiously more powerful than striding each recharge, although maybe I'm off on that.

I agree for Sparkling Targe at the very least.

Then add one way for the other studies as well.

Why does it specifically not have to cost an action? Why can't it just be easier in other ways like the class already does?

Ok, so we have one new feat that allows Stepping or Stride while recharging. That's good, but not enough. The fact that none of the Studies offer a special way to recharge is a HUGE problem.

To answer your question, recharging doesn't make your situation more advantageous.

If you Step or Stride, you move around.
If you Strike or Cast a Spell, you deal damage.
If you use an item, you try something different, including healing.
If you recharge, you're doing... nothing else.

Dude, Reloading a Firearm can be done in more numerous ways than Recharging Spellstrike, THAT's the current problem right now.

You know how each Gunslinger Way has a special way to Reload, plus extras with feats? The Magus should have gotten similar things years ago.

It doesn't help that Reloading a Firearm has no trait (I checked), versus Recharging Spellstrike, which has the Concentrate trait, being vulnerable if your mind is screwed up.

At that point why don't you just ask for removing the charge on spellstrike entirely? Because that's what you're really saying. And to repeat myself: be careful what you wish for.

I'm asking to remove the charge. I'm asking Paizo to give 10 more ways to recharge instead of "spending one action idling in place recharging".

Yes, I can cast a Conflux spell, but 1) those are Focus spells, and 2) those are limited in usage per encounter.

Also I hate to break it to you: Magus is a glass cannon. If you're in melee lighting stuff up with Spellstrike, you're already a target.

Then let me feel confident to use Spellstrike without worrying about recharging.

I'll say it again: a Magus should be able to recharge its Spellstrike faster as it levels up. Right now, a Lvl 1 and a lvl 20 Magus absolutely needs ONE action to recharge Spellstrike after using it.

Rapid Recharge allows you to recharge Spellstrike as a free action... once per day.. without any advanced feat to make it once per hour and then once per minute...

the spellstrike rotation round and the spellstrike recharge rotation round.

and Recharging isn't viable in some many cases due to the Concentrate trait.

If you're in melee, you're gonna trigger every Reaction possible.

Let me cast a regular non-focus non-cantrip spell to recharge Spellstrike...
Let me normally Strike at least 2 times with a weapon to recharge Spellstrike...
Let me use a specific action related to my hybrid study to recharge Spellstrike...
Let me be rewarded a Critical Hit (something a Magus won't do everytime) with a free Spellstrike recharge...
Let me be saved from a Spellstrike Failure by wasting the spell, but not the Spellstrike itself.

The Magus is currently missing ways to recharge Spellstrike without making themselves a target.

Either give me 1,001 ways to recharge Spellstrike, or get me a recharge TIME of 1 round/spell rank, with cantrips costing one round, that activates automatically, because there's like nothing that requires NOT having a Spellstrike ready.

JiCi wrote:

BotBrain wrote:

Barbarian doesn't have to spend two actions every turn raging? That's AestheticDialetic's point. A class where 2/3rds of your actions are predetermined sounds unbelievably boring.

Spellcasters are not cycling through their spells; they're likely spamming the same cantrips.

If you're spamming cantrips in high level games you need to ask your GM to up the difficulty. Even by mid level you've got enough spells to be using them frequently.

All I keep hearing from AP players and GMs is how they either needed to tone down the encounters or that they almost got TPKed... because the encounters are somehow pretty difficult.

That alone makes me think that you should be dealing damage every single round, with no break to recharge.

Spellstriking is also safer with cantrips, since missing it doesn't waste a spell slot... and how since P2E's inception, spells no longer heighten automatically.

Finally, everyone and their mother have been asking for more ways to recharge Spellstrike. Whether or not it's boring is up yo you, but don't assume every player thinks it's monotonous...

Barbarian doesn't have to spend two actions every turn raging? That's AestheticDialetic's point. A class where 2/3rds of your actions are predetermined sounds unbelievably boring.

Spellcasters are not cycling through their spells; they're likely spamming the same cantrips.

JiCi wrote:

Say "you shouldn't Spellstrike every round" all you want, but when most of your feats resolve around Spellstrike, it just sucks that you cannot repeatedly use the Magus's core ability.

It's my opinion that beyond any balance concerns, a magus that can spellstrike every turn is going to be monotonous at best, and encouraging poor play patterns at worst. Starlit span is an excellent example of how it is monotonous

Well, it's not like successfully hitting with a Spellstrike can...

and all of it being reset when you recharge your Spellstrike.

Right now, it's like saying how a Barbarian shouldn't be enraged for the entire combat, or a Bard shouldn't maintain their Performance.

Everyone is praising the Magus's new features, but I fail to understand why Paizo still hasn't added a way to recharge Spellstrike at a faster pace.

Say "you shouldn't Spellstrike every round" all you want, but when most of your feats resolve around Spellstrike, it just sucks that you cannot repeatedly use the Magus's core ability.

You'd think that a Magus would be able to recharge Spellstrike faster as they level up.

Seriously, that's ALL you need to balance the class.

It needs feats that let it recharge Spellstrike when...
- scoring a Critical hit
- reloading a firearm or crossbow
- raising its shield
- switching grip for a staff
- Stepping

How hard can it be to add one special way to recharge Spellstrike for each Hybrid Study?

How "broken" would Spellstriking each round would it really be compared to a squishy spellcaster casting every round or a fighter Striking every round? Explain to me this train of thought like I'm 5...

Everyone, take your favorite doll and point me where Paizo would hurt you if Spellstrike was usable every round, come on now, don't be shy.

In fairness, I don't think Starfinder is likely to do 2 classes in a year after Tech Core, specifically because Tech Core covers two 1E classes that were originally part of the starting lineup. The team is much smaller, and because of cross-compatibility they need to be much more creative about having class identity, mechanics, and play loop that is distinct enough from PF to not be "X Class but IN SPAAAACE"

And I think that's perfectly fine, it gives them more time to create more interesting and polished options! (Though on the topic of PF/SF class distinction, Daredevil feels WAY more SF-coded to me than PF, and probably would have a lot of cooler options in SF especially if you made a Pilot-centric "subclass")

No joke, I'd love a book that takes every single PF class and convert them properly for SF. Right now, we have to settle with "mere suggestions" instead of actual rules.

You actually don't even have to think for it. We're already confirmed to only get one class, the Luminary, in 2027. If we were gonna get two, we would have gotten a class playtest of two. But yes, I agree that only having one class gives time for the devs to cook on the ideas. In the end, when taking a view of 2E as a whole, instead of just Pathfinder and just Starfinder, we still get 2 classes per year anyway, which is good.

How long must they cook to get back the Biohacker, Evolutionist and Vanguard though?

I'm surprised that the Legchair isn't a construct, similar to an animated object...

I mean, how complicated would a "walking chair" be ^^; ?

And yet, little to no late-level options to recharge Spellstrike right away to use Spellstrike every round...

Seriously guys, when 9 feats out of 10 require Spellstrike, it really sucks that the Magus still can't use its main ability repeatedly.

Pretty sure that standardized feats could be used for them.

JiCi wrote:

So... an aggregate robot with an AI and a holoskin?

Kinda, but the ai could enter/be the ship then enter the armor, some tech or drive a hard light construct. Glitching would suck.

Sentient AI is a staple of SFI and a current business plan bullet. If the game allows playing tiny sentient stars, an AI seems more relevant and scifi than more random animal people.
-D

Well, as an AI, you should be able to jump from tech to tech. However, in order to... save space and avoid having 20 sheets, I think it would be nice if each AI receives a free generic robotic mannequin-esque shell with a holoskin that is customizable in your AI code, exactly like a living hologram :)

The thing is the "no more evil character" also affected "no more evil act"...

Necromancy is usually evil, but for some reason, Paizo didn't twist it to make it "non-evil".

What happened to "an Orision mage summoning mummified ancestral guards", "a Mwangi sorcerer called juju zombies" and whatnot?

Maybe it's just me, but ever since they removed alignments, everything became shades of grey...

"This ancestry wasn't always evil, and that creature wasn't always good."

All... the... time...

This reminds me of Eberron, where "anyone could be of any alignment", except at least it gives us expanded options, where this time, Pathfidner feels more restictive, as in "no, you cannot play an evil goblin".

So... an aggregate robot with an AI and a holoskin?

I've said before I'd love a dedicated rule book called something like "Last Omens" giving those rules for porting the PF2e classes in, and maybe future specific subclasses.

They kinda do, but... most of the "rules" are "you could treat" stuff, like "you could treat an alchemist's bombs as a grenade".

Ok? I could... or I should?

Dedictated Divine, Primal and Occult classes...

Biohacker...

Vanguard, maybe now as a Constitution-based class...

Evolutionist, maybe as a new field for the Biohacker...

Conversion guide for all PF classes and ancestries, at least the most important things...

You're likely better off using the Awakened Animal ancestry and use the Entu feats on top of it.

I prefer my kaijin ^^;

The Colossiborn would be nice to see returning...

On a sidenote, I'm surprised that the Verthanis weren't introduced, especially when they're Verces's main inhabitants...

Is Tech Core supposed to bring them back? I read that Verthanis are extremely well-versed into technology.

Well, the Inventor needs 1 innovation/3 levels, a way to reduce both Overdrive and Unstable DCs... and Offensive Boost to affect stuff like Megavolt as a bonus.

"The galaxy is a stage, and WE are the actors!"

It's a literal content creator that decides to go on an adventure for views, likes and exposure XD

We laugh, but... how many times have we seen sci-fi stories where a musician/artist was an important character?
- Miime in Captain Harlock
- The various idols in Macross
- Lacus Clyne in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

-some kind of han solo class. Non magically supporting allies and sneaking under the radar.

Operative with scroundrel-like archetype and/or background?

-some kind of vtuber/idol class that buffs allies and debuffs enemies with tech instead of spells.

Envoy or Mystic with a new style or connection tied with the Infosphere?

-I feel like a mecha pilot class could be interesting. Building your own unique mech suit like something out of Armored Core

That should definitely be an archetype and not a class. I could see anyone piloting a mech even if they're not from a martial background.

The only thing I can think of is a Charisma-based spellcaster focused on pre-Gap stuff...

With the number of Large ancestries, I'd be down for the following...
- Cyclops
- Ogres
- Trolls
- True Giants
- Titans
- Onis / Yais

alongside a versatile heritage that makes you one size larger.

Mechanic - Intelligence
Technomancer - Intelligence

Ok, cool, but... we're gonna need more classes that use other attributes...

Biohacker - Intelligence or Wisdom
Vanguard - Constitution
Evolutionist - Strength or Dexterity (if it doesn't become an archetype like the Nanocyte)

What else? I'm legit surprised that we don't have another possible class with only Wisdom or Charisma.

Aside from that, I fail to see what other classes they can come up with...

Could we get an elemental fragment as an ancestry, with all 6 planes havign their respective heritages, including Earth for Rocky, and a "Late Awakened Heritage" feat at Level 5?

The Fonqugons are the new ooze ancestry in SF2.

Funny enough, we have Aakriti (The Evershifting), an ooze deity somewhat related to life and creation, as well as insects.

Canes aren't swords, or deal slashing damage. They aren't eligible to be vorpal weapons. Your argument is therefore invalid; CHECK AND MATE, OLD MAN!

I'm still surprised that the Sword Cane doesn't have the Versatile S trait though ^^;

At least consarus are tied to Aeons, an outsider monster family.

Modern Pugs are actually the results of "misbreeding", hence why they have compressed muzzles... and possible respiratory problems :O

Antique Pugs used to have longer muzzles and looked like dogs :P

Again, I don't think we shouldn't strive to create cool and awesome things. It's just that I think a professional company like Paizo shouldn't create content impulsively, but rather with a mindset of "how will this expansion improve the player experience?"

I agree.

JiCi wrote:

That makes sense...

Still cannot believe that a pug was made into an ancestry though...

I genuinely quite like the Shoony. "A people made in the image of a god's beloved dog" is a genuinely cute origin story, and they're one of the only bits of regional lore on the Isle of Kortos that I like. Compared to how underbaked and lacking in context as some Ancestries can be, I think the pugs are doing better than most!

It's... a... pug :O !

If it was a Corgi, Terrier or a Shiba Inu, it would have flown much better :P

Yes, totally... especially some with the Attack trait...

Seriously, the Magus got screwed big time with the convertion...

Like, take an energy or elemental trait, double-check if there's a cantrip with an attack roll and if not, add it.

That makes sense...

Still cannot believe that a pug was made into an ancestry though...

That said, I certainly don't think original races are a bad thing. I fully support the vast diversity of species in Starfinder. In this case, the local, alien, strange, and extremely diverse Galaxy is precisely what perfectly meets the requirement that Starfinder strives to fulfill. Especially since, unlike the single planet in the case of Golarion, which isn't really all that large, the Galaxy is vast enough that races exist in the background, and we barely consider interactions with them.

IIRC, many alien races were introduced in S1E with the APs and standalone adventures. Those planets still exist, so as a convertion, most of them are simply updated for S2E.

And then you have rhino-like beetles and pugfolks...

Going purely with Greek mythology, harpies are violent vulture-esque winged females, while sirens are beautiful half-bird women who lured sailors to their doom.

JiCi wrote:

Kavlor wrote:

Medusas - in many ways similar to harpies, but I've just seen fewer interesting examples of their character development and am therefore less eager to see them in the game.

You mean the Stheno? It's ready for playable status, so ;)

Yes, I'm talking about them. But I haven't heard of any plans to make them playable.

More like they have all the framework to make them playable.

By the way, as another possibility, I'd love to be able to play as the Large Amurruns. Something akin to the race of tigers, lions, and other large cats.

That would be... a separate ancestry, similar to how Hobgoblins are separate from Goblins.

I think you're being too pessimistic about harpies - in Monster Core, where the wind spirit change happened, there's still this sidebar

Huge shot in the dark, but could they merge the harpy and the siren, making one single ancestry based on "two female-based avian creatures" ? Sirens aren't cruel IIRC.

I mean, I support as many anthropomorphic options as possible.

Look no further than Starfinder :P

That,s ON TOP of what Pathfinder already have XD

Medusas - in many ways similar to harpies, but I've just seen fewer interesting examples of their character development and am therefore less eager to see them in the game.

You mean the Stheno? It's ready for playable status, so ;)

Is this thread only about asking for 1e remakes, or can we just say any old thing?

Both :P

Rougarous, Wyrwoods, Gathlains, Yaddithians, Syrinxes, Shabtis, Orang-Pendaks, Munavris, Kurus, Calignis, Boggards, Astomois, Wyvarans, Bugbears, Ogres and Trolls are still missing...

Half-Giant, as a versatile heritage with the various species as lineages, would be nice.

Multiple new heritages for existing ancestries could be welcomed:
- Flind for Kholos, Large
- Monkey Goblin for Goblins, climb speed and brachiation
- Grindylow for Goblins, aquatic goblinoid squidfolk
- Cecaelia for Merfolks, tentacles instead of fish tail

Finally, Celedons, human-sized animated statues created by deities, would be a great addition as a new ancestry. Just like some ancestries are tied to Occult or Primal (to the point of replacing spells), those could be tied to Divine.

That's just for "returning races" though :p