JiCi's page

...but I don’t think all of these and Spellstrike could be buffed to complete satisfaction without overpowering the class.

Dude, all the Magus needs are...

Unless you're a bow-using Starlit Span Magus, you're gonna be stuck in melee for most of the times, and the faster you can dispatch your enemies, the better.

Forcing players to not Spellstrike every round is ridiculous, as if you guys heard complaints about how "boring" it would be.

One BIG issue is that the previous Slayer class was renamed the Avenger, and is now an archetype.

The Slayer was a pseudo-assassin in P1E and now it's a monster hunter in P2E... but it' snot the SAME Hunter class as P1E...

The Slayer was initially rebranded as the Avenger, as a Rogue-exclusive archetype. Now we're getting the Slayer back in name only? What's next? Getting back the Inquisitor when we already have the Vindicator?

Archetypes for the Ranger and Swashbuckler, respectively...

Seriously, who asked for those as classes?

JiCi wrote:

Yeah, you have Slow and now Paralyze, but at Rank 3, you also have Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Levitate, Vampiric Feast, Haste and any heightened Rank 1 or 2 spell you may want. No Magus is going to pack all Slow spells, come on now...

Trust me when I say there are many tables that would definitely end up with a Magus that prepares mostly debuffs every day if Paizo implemented guaranteed failures or critical failures on saves for Spellstrike hits or critical hits.

After all, no amount of damage can compare with removing a target's ability to act completely, unless that damage kills the target outright. And when you need single-target damage, Spellstriking with focus spells and cantrips does just fine.

Then have a feat that allows save cantrips to be harder to resist.

As a reminder, Acid Splash, Chill Touch and Ray of Frost became save spells, when they were attack spells. Yes, you can still use those legacy spells, but still...

Therefore, the idea of ​​giving some benefit to the magus to use saving spells in SpellStrike, ideally occurring in parallel with standard spellcasters receiving some item bonus for attack spells, wouldn't solve the problem, but it would make it less bad, or at least more similar to the kineticist when using attack spells derived from items like scrolls, wands, and staves having a superior bonus due to the Attenuator. At the same time, this will reduce the situation of dispute between classes where one prefers one type of defense while the other prefers another, and therefore they end up competing for space so that new spells ideal for each can be cast.

Well, they made several cantrips save spells when they worked perfectly fine as attack spells, due to the remaster.

They then add save spells to compensate, but forgot to factor how attack spells discharge on a successful hit, while save spells can still be resisted, even on a critical hit.

Now what?

Yeah, you have Slow and now Paralyze, but at Rank 3, you also have Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Levitate, Vampiric Feast, Haste and any heightened Rank 1 or 2 spell you may want. No Magus is going to pack all Slow spells, come on now...

Save spells feel like poison effects when it comes to saves, but I'm pretty sure that poison-based abilities eventually make those harder to resist.

You guys are really trying to nerf Spellstrike now, do you...?

Save spells, when used with Spellstrike, should be 10 times harder to resist. You should trade the target's saves to their AC when it comes to save spells using Spellstrike.

- Give it a penalty to their saves equal to the Magus's weapon or spell proficiency bonus, which doubles on a Critical Hit.

OR

- Make the target's result one stage worse, which becomes an automatic Failure on a Critical Hit (rolling only to avoid a Critical Failure)

How broken would THAT be, seriously? If I'm spellstriking with Frostbite, which used to be an Attack spell called Ray of Frost, either the target CANNOT COMPLETELY negate the damage or it's gonna have a HARD time doing so, but it's not balanced to give the target "a fair chance" to resist when the Magus has to use a Strike.

The idea of Spellstriking is to substitute either a Save, a ranged attack roll or a weaker-than-usual unarmed attack roll on a spell with a weapon Strike. Oh, and you're putting yourself at risk in melee unless you have Starlit Span.

BTW, no Magus is going to prepare 4 or even 5 Slow spells, be at Rank 3 or 6, come on now...

JiCi wrote:

ScooterScoots wrote:

JiCi wrote:

ScooterScoots wrote:

Primary target on save spells would 1000% justify spellstriking with them, that’s goated. Maybe a bit too goated for non-damage AOE.

A Critical Hit would justify this...

I'm sorry, but on a Critical Spellstrike Hit, the spell should basically detonate INSIDE the target.

Good luck dodging this...

The last thing magus needs is better crits. The crits are fine. The problems are when they don’t happen.

Last time I checked, a spell doesn't get its critical effect on a spellstrike.

It does if it’s a spell attack.

Saves don’t, they don’t get anything, which is the problem, but the way to fix this isn’t to load all the benefits on getting a crit - magus is already a class that has explosive crits because of it’s spell attack spellstrike crits, why double down on the inconsistency of being crit centeral?

Because of this:

Primary Target

You can focus fire on a single target when unleashing the full devastation of your powerful area weaponry. Before you make an area attack with a weapon (such as from the Area Fire or Auto-Fire actions), you can make a ranged Strike as a free action with the same weapon against a single creature in the area, who's selected as your primary target. If your attack is a burst, you must select the creature closest to the center of the attack. If your attack is a cone or line, you must select the creature closest to you. If two or more creatures are equidistant, you can choose which one is your primary target. On a hit, if your primary target rolls a success against your Area Fire or Auto-Fire action, they get a failure instead. This Strike doesn't count toward your multiple attack penalty.

Emphasis mine

Give THIS for save spells on a critical hit with spellstrikes and then it would be more appealing to use them.

Seriously, SEVERAL cantrips lost the Attack trait with the Remaster, so might have well rectify this for an explosive result.

JiCi wrote:

ScooterScoots wrote:

Primary target on save spells would 1000% justify spellstriking with them, that’s goated. Maybe a bit too goated for non-damage AOE.

A Critical Hit would justify this...

I'm sorry, but on a Critical Spellstrike Hit, the spell should basically detonate INSIDE the target.

Good luck dodging this...

The last thing magus needs is better crits. The crits are fine. The problems are when they don’t happen.

Last time I checked, a spell doesn't get its critical effect on a spellstrike.

Primary target on save spells would 1000% justify spellstriking with them, that’s goated. Maybe a bit too goated for non-damage AOE.

A Critical Hit would justify this...

I'm sorry, but on a Critical Spellstrike Hit, the spell should basically detonate INSIDE the target.

Good luck dodging this...

JiCi wrote:

Well, I don't hear people complaining about melee martials not being able to Strike 3 times in a row, so...

Reloading takes an action, or more.

Switch barrels on a Capacity weapon takes an action.

Recharging Spellstrike takes an action.

Activating Arcane Cascade takes an action.

And there is barely anything to speed things up.

BTW, very bad gaming habit to tell someone "Well you shouldn't do that every round"...

I'm genuinely not understanding your point. Can you just state it clearly?

The whole point of reload weapons is that you aren't firing them 3 times a turn, firing/attacking 3 times a turn is heavily discouraged outside specific builds that dampen the downsides, and even then you likely have something better to do.

It's more than you can't do it every round than you shouldn't. But like even on Gunslinger, you can with some really weird builds, but they kind of suck.

My point is that as you level up, the action economy should DEcrease, making tedious actions faster.

The fact that at level 16 and up, a Gunslinger can't Reload their weapons as a free action is ridiculous.

Same with Spellstrike...

What is this standard? You want martials to be able to do something that's not viable anyway? If that's the case, use a repeating weapon and you can. It's weird to complain specifically that reload weapons don't do this, that's kind of the whole point of them.

Well, I don't hear people complaining about melee martials not being able to Strike 3 times in a row, so...

Reloading takes an action, or more.

Switch barrels on a Capacity weapon takes an action.

Recharging Spellstrike takes an action.

Activating Arcane Cascade takes an action.

And there is barely anything to speed things up.

BTW, very bad gaming habit to tell someone "Well you shouldn't do that every round"...

I think that asking for a gunslinger with Reload 0 is missing the point of playing with a firearm. The firearm enables American-Old-West tropes such as Drifter or Pistolero. But asking for revolver or semi-automatic fire jumps ahead to the late 19th century and early 20th century tropes of soldiers with repeating rifles and gangsters with Tommy Guns. Pathfinder classes are about embracing the style of the class, not simply about dealing massive damage.

It's not even about "dealing massive damage", it's about "being able to make 3 strikes per round by around level 18 as a martial".

Sure, it's not viable due to MAP, but I'd rather at least have the choice to do so. Right now, some of the Slinger's Reload abilities are also quite specific in order to use. There's Running Reload, but there's nothing that rewards you when scoring a Critical Hit with a free Reload. Finally, Reloading your firearm "paints a target on your back".

Same with the Magus's Spellstrike. It's not about damage, it's about shaving off the number of Actions required.

JiCi wrote:

WWHsmackdown wrote:

Funny you say that, I don't think the Magus should spellstrike every round..... I don't think anybody should do the same thing every round. I genuinely think combat design, class design, and player desire should be more engaging than *looks down from phone* "I do the same thing as last turn"

The Fighter does the same thing over and over... yet everyone adores the class...

My main issue since "the departure from 3.5" is how combat encounters became looooooooooooooong, as in enemies got double HP while the players could no longer attack multiple times, let alone not longer dishing big amounts of damage.

If all classes are limited with their damage-dealing abilities, it's gonna turn every fight into a chore...

Some turns our Season of the Ghost fighter strikes, some turns he vicious swings, other turns he grapples. I've also seen him take turns to pull out and use items. His combat to combat action economy is extremely open ended.....and, yes, the fighter class is well designed

Versus casting 3 different spells in 3 rounds?

Funny you say that, I don't think the Magus should spellstrike every round..... I don't think anybody should do the same thing every round. I genuinely think combat design, class design, and player desire should be more engaging than *looks down from phone* "I do the same thing as last turn"

The Fighter does the same thing over and over... yet everyone adores the class...

My main issue since "the departure from 3.5" is how combat encounters became looooooooooooooong, as in enemies got double HP while the players could no longer attack multiple times, let alone not longer dishing big amounts of damage.

If all classes are limited with their damage-dealing abilities, it's gonna turn every fight into a chore...

JiCi wrote:

*good reload feats*

That's a laugh...

Where's the reload feat that allows me to reload as a free action upon scoring a Critical Hit? or a feat that allows me to "reload" a Capacity weapon right after Striking as a free action?

Dude, the Gunslinger CANNOT strikes 3 times in a round unless it has a Repeating weapon, which for some reason are rare.

The point of a gunslinger is to make one or two big hits per turn, not 'unload' three shots off black powder weapons, though... People keep seeming to think gun technology in Golarion is more advanced than it actually is...

Says who? Jealous players who watched Gunsligners steal their thunder?

I don't see people complaining about Gunslingers using Advanced Repeating Crossbows. Why should it be an issue with firearms?

Capacity weapons feel like they should work like early revolvers, where you had to manually cock the hammer back every shot, also known as "fanning". I should be able to shoot 3 times with a Pepperbox, if I'm have a hand free.

Saying that "a gunslinger shouldn't shoot 3 times per round" is as dumb as saying that "a magus shouldn't spellstrike every round".

What's next? "A spellcaster shouldn't cast spells every round" ?

Gunslinger as an archetype has the big issue of reloading, the "good" reload feats are only available at lvl 10. Guns without reloading compression are just plain worse.

Combining this with an already action-starved class is just shooting yourself into the foot.

Spellshot/Beastgunner seems to be a way to achieve something similar.

*good reload feats*

That's a laugh...

Where's the reload feat that allows me to reload as a free action upon scoring a Critical Hit? or a feat that allows me to "reload" a Capacity weapon right after Striking as a free action?

Dude, the Gunslinger CANNOT strikes 3 times in a round unless it has a Repeating weapon, which for some reason are rare.

Zoken44 wrote:

Alan Tudyk is a good idea, again lots of experience with this sort of work, but I don't know if I wouldn't rather him for Qwirp and the Inventor.

No no you hire Alan Tudyk you simply must have him in for a character that does not speak simply clucks or something.

That's Frank Welker's or Dee Bradley Parker's job :p

We do have a feathered bear in Monster Core 2, so...

Oni Shogun wrote:

Can spells appearance be changed just for flavor or to fit a theme and are there feats that could actually change the type of damage something does? Iceball instead of Fireball? A fireball of balefire that does void damage?

Flavor - that's a table/GM decision.

Traits - no, and arguably for good reason. Weaknesses, resistances, and immunities are unevenly distributed across damage types, so the ability to change damage type would allow players to "tune in" their spells to the most rare resistances or most common weaknesses for a given campaign. Personally, I like 'build-a-bear' magic systems when they occur in other games. But they tend to be balanced out by greater resource use (i.e. mana points or what have you). Combining the ability to change type on the fly with a classic class-and-level-and-slot system where by 10th level you have something like 30 spells/day you can cast is a recipe for massively overpowered casters.

I recall a Metamagic feat "way back then" that allows a spellcaster to visually customize a spell, making it harder to counter or dispel, because, well, it "doesn't look right".

A feat that would grant a bonus to DCs due to that could work.

JiCi wrote:

Did the Mind Smith archetype get reprinted with extra feats and traits?

Bear in mind anything cnew in the book means something else came out from the same section, so best to temper your expectations.

You'd think taht after working on the Solarian, they would look at the Mind Smith and say: "Yeah... it needs more love."

Mental Forge adds grapple, modular (B, P, S), nonlethal, shove, or trip... Someone thought it was enough when Disarm, Forceful, Backswing, Backstabber, Deadly, Sweep, and Twin were right there...

JiCi wrote:

I'd take "Getting a Critical Hit" as a way to recharge a spellstrike.

*hits blunt* you know what magus reaaallly needs… better crits

A Magus will crit less often than a Fighter, so such a reward would be satisfying.

I don't think the Magus needs a remaster as much as "here are feats that allow you to recharge Spellstrike alongside another action" and "here are feats that allow you to activate Arcane Cascade alongside other actions".

That's it...

They can add more studies for more fighting styles, but the urgency is how action taxing the Magus currently is...

Seriously, I'd take a feat that recharges Spellstrike if I normally cast a non-cantrip spell.

Startlit span is so popular because its the magus that can spellstrike every turn. That's it.

Only if you use a bow... You cannot do so with a crossbow or firearm...

Feats that allow to recharge spellstrike with any other action would be beneficial.

I'd take "Getting a Critical Hit" as a way to recharge a spellstrike.

Did the Mind Smith archetype get reprinted with extra feats and traits?

Here you go:

"The Plane of Wood returned."

Done, nothing more needed, maybe pair that Leshy iconic with a Ghoran to hammer this point home.

Whoa, whoa, whoa... I won't stand for this Zon-Shelyn slander! Zon-Kuthon and Shelyn merged because they both sacrificed themselves trying to save the other at the same time. How is that not a redemption of Zon-Kuthon? Certainly, Shelyn embraced part of his portfolio, but he embraced part of hers. Redemption isn't always from a high-handed and lofty position without getting dirty to meet someone where they're at.

Zon-Kuthon needed saving? Really?

Honestly I feel like Sarenrae and Desna would be happy for Shelyn that her long quest to save her brother "worked". I mean it's not the ideal outcome of getting Dou-Bral back, but it could have worked out way, way worse than it did.

It might make the triad odd or maybe that isn't a thing by that point anymore, but "the siblings reuiniting in an act of love to banish a great evil" doesn't seem like the kind of thing Sarenrae and Desna are going to be super upset about.

I would believe you if Zon-Kuthon was redeemed, in the same manner as Nocticula... but that didn't happen. Shelyn didn't purify her brother and atone for his sins; she instead embraced part of his portfolio.

"Nethys found some new magic and tried it out" is as good an explanation as any lol. It's certainly something he would do.

Well, what else could make an entire planet vanish AND make everyone, outerworldly beings and deities included, either forget about Golarion or not being able to bring the planet back, let alone know what happened?

It's "my" explanation, sure, but it's not a weird one either :p

As Mr. Jacobs said, while both Path and Starfinder are kept separated for both narrative and gameplay reasons, both settings are still connected with puzzle pieces left to be assembled.

Then again, Paizo could tinker with multiverses and make it like Marvel, where the 2099 timeline is often kept apart from the Classic or Ultimate storylines XD

I know that the Gap is your "reset button", but... you know full well that not everyone forgot about it, right :p ? There are pre-Gap stuff, like the Golarion Survivor Human heritage.

Then again, deities can move on to other things as time goes on. I could say the same with how outer planes gradually adopted technology instead of keeping their realms "traditional".

BTW, I keep thinking that Nethys cast a forbidden spell that caused Golarion to vanish. I mean, where's Nethys in Starfinder now, huh ;) ?

IMO, Sarenrae, alongside Desna, should be more worried about something else... in the future...

Zon-Shelyn is the divine reunion of Shelyn the Eternal Rose and her estranged brother, the Midnight Lord Zon-Kuthon. Together, the siblings represent the concepts of overcoming suffering through art, finding beauty in strange and unusual places, and reunion with lost loved ones.

As a reminder, Shelyn went missing after the Gap in search of her brother, while Sarenrae and Desna remain active. Back in Pathfinder, Shelyn formed a trouple with Sarenrae and Desna and even had their own pantheon called the Radiant Prism. Zon-Kuthon was also a mortal enemy of both Sarenrae and Desna, which didn't change in the latest edition. Fast forward in Starfinder and I... don't think either are pleased to see their consort "merging" with their nemesis. While Sarenrae and Desna may understand Shelyn's idea, I wouldn't be surprised if Zon-Shelyn churches are luring Shelyn's followers and slowly corrupting them :O

JiCi wrote:

- Shifter? that's the only class I can think of...

Pff, too bad iconics tend to be iconic about showing off their class fantasy rather than ironic. A plant being representing the class that transforms into animals and/or monsters might not be at the top of the list of options, but it would be pretty hilarious.

retty sure they could get creative, with the shifting Leshy transforming into animals made of trees, bushes and hedges :)

JiCi wrote:

Tridus wrote:

Leshy are really popular so I'm sure it'll happen at some point. But I don't think the thinking is around when it feels right for the character.

But Leshy show up in so much stuff that its bound to happen.

That is if we get more classes. That's also something to consider.

A Leshy iconic can happen, but it's still weird that we haven't seen one ever since they were promoted to core.

AFAIK there's a playtest coming up, and those are almost always new classes. So I think we can expect a couple more classes.

Hmmm...

Most of these could be exclusive archetypes, just like how we got the Bloodrager, Slayer and Inquisitor.

The Shifter, using Starfinder's evolutionist as its chassis, with various specializations, such as "plant", could work for a Leshy. It's also the only class I can think of ^^;

Leshy are really popular so I'm sure it'll happen at some point. But I don't think the thinking is around when it feels right for the character.

But Leshy show up in so much stuff that its bound to happen.

That is if we get more classes. That's also something to consider.

A Leshy iconic can happen, but it's still weird that we haven't seen one ever since they were promoted to core.

Really.

I'm happy to see non-core iconics, and if that means not artificially rushing a leshy iconic, that seems okay. That doesn't mean leshy is unpopular - we regularly get shown them in NPC art for adventures or books. The last three Paizo Lives have featured new leshy art.

Well, not really asking to force a Leshy, but there were good ways to add one...

We'll be getting an Automaton Runesmith and an Iruxi Necromancer (which I now want to see if they can summon giant dinosaur fossils :D ).

We still have no Leshy iconic... despite Paizo's sudden pivot to make them a core ancestry...

Are Leshies still niche? Has their popularity faded out? Are they waiting for a more nature-friendly class to be added?

Sorry, what I meant want "If you want a mesmerist now, you could reflavour a bard" since they've got access to a bunch of buffs/debuffs you could reflavour as hypnotist tricks.

Most of the Occult spell list fits a Mesmerist's vibes, so at least there's that.

If it's being made bespoke Psychic is the best bet for the reasons you noted.

To me, that sounds like the best option, instead of either making a new class or a dedictated archetype.

Summoners start with eidlodon surge which at level 3 allow you to make your eidlodon large. I would imagine that is the intended solution for mounting your medium eidlodon, as unideal as it is.

The addition of Large PCs also warrants the addition of scalable eidolons.

Like I said, there's no reason why every kind shouldn't have a Small, Medium and Large version.

That 6-elements Elemental is a level 15 creature called a Totum Font, its in Monster Core 2.

That's what I found out... after I commented ^^;

Yeah mesmerist is one of those pf1e classes that I love the flavour of but we don't really have an equivalent in pf2e yet. Bard maybe could be reflavoured but a dedicated archtype would make me happy.

The Mesmerist was a psychic spellcasting class back then, so that's why I would like to make it a conscious mind for the Psychic class.

For example:
Surface Unique Psi cantrip: Mesmer Stare
(normal) afflicts [Stupefied 1] of a failed save or [Stupefied 2] on a Critical failure

(heightened 3rd) can select Enfeebled
(heightened 5th) can select Clumsy
(heightened 7th) can select Drained
(heightened 9th) can select Stunned

(amp) deals 1d4 mental damage
(amp heightened (+1)) The damage increases by 1d4.

The deeper and deepest cantrips could be upgraded versions with more conditions and/or penalties to afflict. I cannot fit every single stare and trick, but that could be one way to do it.

JiCi wrote:

BotBrain wrote:

JiCi wrote:

Shouldn't the Psychic be remastered as well?

It's being a while since that class got new stuff...

Dark Archive remastered is out soonish.

Oh, I see...

My point still stands that we haven't gotten anything new...

I could have seen the Mesmerist, Medium and Spiritualist being added as subconscious minds for the Psychic by now.

Isn't spiritualist just a phantom eidlodon?

Yeah, point taken ^^;

For the Mesmerist, the stare could be split into 3 unique PSI cantrips for a conscious mind, each with the usual 4 variations.

JiCi wrote:

Shouldn't the Psychic be remastered as well?

It's being a while since that class got new stuff...

Dark Archive remastered is out soonish.

Oh, I see...

My point still stands that we haven't gotten anything new...

I could have seen the Mesmerist, Medium and Spiritualist being added as subconscious minds for the Psychic by now.

Shouldn't the Psychic be remastered as well?

It's being a while since that class got new stuff...

Huh... no one is talking about that 6-headed elemental :O ?

Anyway, for the Magus, I just wish for more feats that reduce action economy:
- Recharging spellstrike on a Critical Hit
- Activating Arcane Cascade as a Free Action or on a Critical Hit
- Combining recharging Spellstrike with Striding or Reloading

I'll also take a feat that make save-using spells much harder to resist when a Spellstrike scores a Critical Hit, like "the target can't succeed unless it,s a Natural 20".

I'm sorry, but if I get a Critical Hit, that spell should get discharged without resistance. It's like it detonates inside the target.

JiCi wrote:

Oh I'm not ready to see her with blank black eyes ^^;

Yeah, that's one design choice I just don't like in Pathfinder...

I NEED IT WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING!!!

The thing is that I thought she pulled off Furiosa pretty good in Mad Max, succeeding Charlize Theron. However, I am so not vibing with the alien-looking eyes Pathfidner's elves have ^^;

Anya Taylor Joy as Merisiel

Oh I'm not ready to see her with blank black eyes ^^;

Yeah, that's one design choice I just don't like in Pathfinder...

JiCi wrote:

Steed Form is a Level 2 feat... but ALL Eidolons are Medium... and you need to wait until Level 8 to get Hulking Size... in order to get your Eidolon as a Large creature.

Why don't ALL Eidolons have Small, Medium and Large version, from the get go?

It's possible to ride a medium creature, and the feat is level 2 for those cases.

Yeah, if you're Small or smaller.

However...

Your eidolon still must be at least one size category larger than you to ride it.

So... sucks to be you if you're a Human, I guess...

Steed Form is a Level 2 feat... but ALL Eidolons are Medium... and you need to wait until Level 8 to get Hulking Size... in order to get your Eidolon as a Large creature.

Why don't ALL Eidolons have Small, Medium and Large version, from the get go?

- A new Alchemist research field that lets them make items based on spells, using the usual spellcasting rules;

- A complete rework of the Inventor, so they can have 1 innovation per 3 levels in on object, at least.

- 1 or 2 more spells of the common elemental traits

- Aether and Void elements for the Kineticist

Sibelius Eos Owm wrote:

I kind of feel like at least the bracing trait might allow you to get an action discount specifically for bracing at weapon. One action to brace instead of two. Maybe it negates the MAP penalty, but then we're getting closer to installing Reactive Strike as a weapon trait again.]

I really like the idea of the brace trait letting you Ready a Strike with the weapon as a single action. In my opinion, you wouldn’t even need the MAP negation or bonus damage for this to be a fun, versatile trait that unlocks a few extra options.

Look, make this an advanced feat, with Tactical Reflexes as a requirement, so you could Brace AND Strike as a Reaction.

JiCi wrote:

Sibelius Eos Owm wrote:

Oh, certainly, a sufficiently intelligent enemy can absolutely avoid a telegraphed attack without it being necessarily adversarial GMing (though I'd caution a GM from assuming every sapient combatant is automatically aware enough to recognize the false opening for what it is in the heat of combat). No, I was responding to JiCi's report that bracing reveals your plans to the GM--a take rather distinct from whether some enemies might be able to recognise a ready action.

Like I said, why can't you brace a weapon as a reaction instead of a 2-action move?

They did this in Braveheart and that sequence became quite iconic in cinema.

Why can't I go "Hold, hold, hold, NOW" when an enemy charges me again?

This is quite literally what readying an action is in this circumstance

But you are readying to prepare for a charge, not reacting to it.

While drawing a nodachi takes time, when you have it drawn, you should be able to Brace it as a reaction if someone tries to charge you.

This isn't like a RPG where "both sides pick their actions and then the round plays out". In those cases, if an opponent picked to Brace and you picked to charge, you have to commit to it... and probably get skewered.

In Pathfinder or any TTRPG, including D&D, which that problem was there as well as far back as 3E, it's turn by turn per character. Unless you and your GM can hide Bracing, you have to spoil your strategy.

Last time I checked, the one at the receiving end of the Braced weapon doesn't get a Perception check to swerve around it and avoid taking precision damage.

Oh, certainly, a sufficiently intelligent enemy can absolutely avoid a telegraphed attack without it being necessarily adversarial GMing (though I'd caution a GM from assuming every sapient combatant is automatically aware enough to recognize the false opening for what it is in the heat of combat). No, I was responding to JiCi's report that bracing reveals your plans to the GM--a take rather distinct from whether some enemies might be able to recognise a ready action.

Like I said, why can't you brace a weapon as a reaction instead of a 2-action move?

They did this in Braveheart and that sequence became quite iconic in cinema.

Why can't I go "Hold, hold, hold, NOW" when an enemy charges me again?