Josh Klingerman's page

Is the Core Deities list from Starfinder at all relevant to this? While I suppose anything is on the table, it does seem like it would be odd to kill a deity who is alive somewhere in this setting's future...

From LO Character Guide,
the Arcane & Ornate Tattoo Human Feats both depend on spell schools. Arcane Tattoo seems like it would be functional but is borderline.

From LO Pathfinder Society Guide,
the Dweomercat Cub familiar has a similar dependency on being targeted by spells of specific schools.

I'm not sure where else to post this, but I've noticed a few things that seem to have been missed in being retired.
I checked the Pathfinder FAQ and Character Options and couldn't find them in either place, but it's possible I missed something..

From LO Character Guide, the Arcane & Ornate Tattoo Human Feats both depend on spell schools. Arcane Tattoo seems like it would be functional but is borderline.

From LO Pathfinder Society Guide, the Dweomercat Cub familiar has a similar dependency on being targeted by spells of specific schools.

I have a character with the Discarded Fleshwarp heritage. What effect does that have now?

Discarded Heritage wrote:

The biomancers and mutagenists who warped your form labeled you a “discard on discovery”—a euphemism for destroying you on sight. An anomaly among anomalies, your body stubbornly repudiates the efforts of fleshcrafters seeking to mold you to their grandiose visions, and your immune responses blunt the worst effects of unwanted fleshwarping attempts. If you roll a success on a saving throw against a transmutation effect, you get a critical success instead.

My suggestion is that it should work against effects with the Morph or Polymorph traits.

(For reference, the Dwarf heritage that did the same thing against necromancy effects, Death Warden Dwarf, now works against things with the Void trait, or created by the undead.)

That's probably what we need, though I imagine the guide will have to say something like "Any time you see 'transmutation', use traits X Y Z', etc... or people will lose their minds.

YogoZuno wrote:

Quote:

Options in the Core Rulebook, the Pathfinder Bestiary (Second Edition), and Lost Omens: World Guide are considered always available resources regardless of ownership.

Always available is not same as ownership.

Having the rest of the paragraph would probably help, but he's right regardless when taking the final sentence as an override to the first. Seems silly to be arguing about this - of course they'll be the same ownership-optional as the Core Rulebook.

Players may use any Paizo published books or supplements they own during character creation, provided the options are valid per the Character Options document, Players residing in the same household may share owned resources. Options in the Core Rulebook, the Pathfinder Bestiary (Second Edition), and Lost Omens: World Guide are considered always available resources regardless of ownership.

Paizo I love you, but I really wouldn't mind some higher level scenarios

You'll probably be happy soon - there's a 5-8 next month and a 9-12 the month after.

What should the lighting be in these areas? The only one specifically called out is area B's dim light.

From the Character Options page under "Lost Omens: Pathfinder Society Guide:

Quote:

As stated in the section introduction, all characters have access to the magic items in the Magic Items section on page 117, as well as the items, familiars and spells on pages 120-121.

So no boon is required, but owning the book (in physical or PDF form) is.

Agree. There's this weird split where we have access to all of the Stones in the PFS Guide but none of the stones in the Core Rulebook. I'm not sure why that is, but there's a boon for the CRB ones so it's not that big of a deal.

The OP and I have different ideas of what us "super powerful."

Anyhow, if a subset of scenarios become known for requiring purchases (i.e., you're instructed to buy the must-have-to-even-play thing in the briefing), a subset of the population is going to actively avoid it. That's different than warning people they'll face a white dragon and giving them time to buy energy resistance.

Am I just an outlier here then? Half my characters have scrolls of those things - Resist Energy, Faerie Fire/See Invisibility, Dispel Magic, etc. By the time you really /need/ them, those costs are negligible to your budget but when you need them, you need them, and you don't have time to go back to the commissary.

There's a big difference between 'teaching' situations with consumables in 1-4's and that sort of thing in a 5-8 for example. You want new players to learn that things exist and consumables can/should be considered in budgeting.

By level 6 tho, you're 15-20 scenarios in and should have learned what to do and what not to do and shouldn't be expecting convenient consumables.

Just read the Multilingual feat - what it says on page 65 is explanation, but not the feat's actual function:

You easily pick up new languages. You learn two new languages, chosen from common languages, uncommon languages, and any others you have access to. You learn an additional language if you are or become a master in Society and again if you are or become legendary.

The feat itself just says "uncommon languages". no books specified, no tables referenced. This is the same common-isn't-common-unless-its-in-the-listed-books problem that isn't actually a problem.

All of that said, Azlanti, specifically is a (Rare) language. If you check AoN, you can see that the monsters referencing the language are listed as being from Bestiary 3, which has Azlanti listed as (rare), along with a few others, on the table on page 311. So you can't choose it with Multilingual. The only other references are a monster and an npc in two volumes of Age of Ashes, neither of which mention rarity. Unfortunately, I think AoN is just wrong in this case.

Good grief... we're creating problems where we don't have or need problems.

The Witch and the Magus don't need clarification because they say

You choose these spells from the common spells of the tradition determined by your patron or from other spells of that tradition you gain access to.

Each time you gain a level, your patron teaches your familiar two new spells of any level you can cast, chosen from common spells of your tradition or others you gain access to. Feats can also grant your familiar additional spells.

You choose these from the common spells on the arcane spell list or from other arcane spells you gain access to.

The whole problem was that Cleric, Druid, and Wizard had 'in this book' in their respective spells section and people got all bent out of shape trying to define what the 'access' definition meant.

The reason I didn't include it as a quoted text was because it's not directly searchable or selectable as it is part of their image on the page.. why a table is an image instead of, well, a table I don't know.

Direct link to the image

Also, if Common rarity means not needing to gain access would that not also mean Learn a Spell is moot as it simply gives you access. If you don't NEED to gain access then gaining access is unnecessary by definition. But that, I think, is moot as my link points directly to the image in which it states verbatim: Your character has access to this option.

The magus just says: You choose these from the common spells on the arcane spell list or from other arcane spells you gain access to.

The summoner says the same thing: You choose these from the common spells from the tradition corresponding to your eidolon, or from other spells from that tradition to which you have access.

Oracle and Witch in the APG are similar. The restriction is Common Spells.

That text combined with the transitive chain of access/commonality regarding Cleric/Druid STRONGLY suggests that the interpretation we have now regarding paying to Learn A Spell for Common Divine spells with Divine Casters is the wrong interpretation. We now have a second non-CRB sourcebook with Common classes that have access to Common spells across all books. For CRB classes to be treated differently is nonsense.

Order 36532531 seems to be about 3x what I'm normally paying for 'Cheapest' shipping.

Thank you!

This order is also seeing transaction declined for two cards that I know work elsewhere with the same information, one of which worked earlier today on Paizo for a non-subscription purchase.

Do I need to do anything? I've seen a number of other orders with similar problems today and want to make sure it's being taken care of.

Thanks in advance!

Are there any specifics about PFS 3-99, SFS 3-99?

I know that they're at Gencon and Gencon is Hybrid this year. Will that mean that we should expect that there will be some online tables of those events or will they only be held at Indianapolis?

I wouldn't advocate for any book to automatically be sanctioned; but I would like Bestiary 2 to be reviewed for sanctioning. It would be nice to see some of the summon lists have more options; or any options. For example summon fey at spell level 3 can summon fey up to level 2, but there are no level 2 fey in Bestiary 1. If Bestiary 2 was sanctioned then there would be two level 2 fey that could be summoned at that spell level.

Agree. I don't mean that we should necessarily take every Bestiary as 'everything is allowed', but I haven't seen any mention of Bestiary 2 being under review at all and there's quite a few Summon spells that are questionably functional right now because of lack of options when we're constrained to Bestiary 1.

My 9 year old daughter would like to put in a personal plea to have Bestiary 2 sanctioned. She keeps trying to conjure Giant Bugs, only to discover they are all B2. She is currently consoling herself with Vomit Swarm.

Seconding a request for a look at Bestiary 2.

Things like Summon Elemental has dead levels (Heightened 3rd), for example where every new option is Bestiary 2, and other spells are missing obvious staples like Hound Archon from Summon Celestial, just because of which book they fall into. Given that these spells are much better tuned than PF1, it seems like a pretty rough oversight to not be considering additional Bestiaries as available for Summons.

Even then, you tend to fall into one of two camps.

1) The museum is only as bad as it is because of Nigel.

2) The museum is only as bad as it is because of Nigel.

I haven’t decided which side of the argument I’m on yet. Maybe this new adventure will help me decide.

Easy!

In the first case, the museum would've been better off without him in charge.

In the second case, the museum would be far worse off if he wasn't in charge.

Or was it the other way around?

Which forum is the appropriate one? Since it seems like other than Jared's defense (as a down-level volunteer) we've essentially been met with radio silence from OPM and anyone else actually employed by Paizo who could provide even the smallest bit of clarity to this conversation.

That's the irritating part for me. Not that the ruling came in an otherwise unrelated blog post when it should've been in the Character Options blog (though that's still irritating).

That someone came in and dropped a bomb in everyone's lap, then when called out on it, said 'I guess I can look into it.' and then disappeared for a month while this thing festered and got out of hand.

This strikes me as an offhanded comment by someone who didn't understand the context of the question.

And it /still/ doesn't answer the disparity between CRB classes and APG (and presumably future classes in other books). The Witch and Oracle have no such limitations on having to buy access to Common spells in the APG. It makes no sense that CRB classes would have that limitation on Common spells. They're common for a reason.

KingTreyIII wrote:

Wait, so to learn a non-Core common spell you still need to pay gold? I feel like I’m missing some of the nuance of that whole thing, but isn’t the common trait supposed to mean that it’s available to anyone? So a 1st level Occult witch could get summon instrument for free (because 10 free cantrips at level 1), but a cleric would have to pay 2 gp AND make a check to be able to prepare it?

It's a subtle few words added to Clerics and Druids in the Core Rulebook. I missed it myself when I first started playing 2nd edition.

Divine Spellcasting wrote:

At 1st level, you can prepare two 1st-level spells and five cantrips each morning from the common spells on the divine spell list in this book (page 309) or from other divine spells to which you gain access.

Emphasis mine. Since Wizards and Witches have to pay gold to learn spells beyond what they start with, this still leaves Clerics and Druids better-off, since they automatically know all common spells from the CRB, but to get access to the ones in other books, they're now a bit closer to the rest of the prepared casters in the game, financially.

I take a slightly different view. Bolded for emphasis. You'd have access to the spells in the APG because their rarity is Common. Nothing changes in this regard, though the sentence can certainly be read in a more restrictive way.

That's what I've been doing for Online play where I'm on my desktop and it works pretty well, but managing two PDFs works less well in person when you're using an iPad or something like that where changing PDFs will lose your place in the old one.

Is there going to be a cutoff for GM's working towards their 5th Star in Pathfinder 1E? I know of more than a few people who are pretty close but might not make it by the time Pathfinder Society 2E launches, and it'd be nice to know that either the requirements would change or that some attention would still be given to the 1E GMs getting their Specials and 150 games in even after 2E goes full steam.

Dale McCoy Jr wrote:

I wouldn't try driving in each day though.

Why not? I live in Delaware and was planning to drive in. I don't drive to Philly regularly, so is there something I don't know that would make this a bad idea, like no available parking? I was prepared to give myself time for traffic, but is it worse than I'm imagining?

I'm a PA/NJ resident and work around and in the city from time to time. Parking in center city is either exceptionally expensive or a hassle to find depending on the time of day. Don't be surprised with a $30-$40/day fee there in certain areas.

I second the PATCO to 8th & Market, or Broad Street Line to Race/Vine from somewhere north or south of city hall. There's a little bit of a walk, but it's pretty short. One thing to remember is PATCO stops going eastbound after a little before midnight, so you might get stuck if you use that if you're there too late.

Have:

Vanara, Suli

Want:

Ratfolk

Josh Klingerman wrote:

A scroll of Inspiring Recovery (Healers Handbook) is 1650gp and basically the replacement for a scroll of Breath of Life.

It's a 6th level spell so should heal 5d8 - you don't get the +9 from caster levels that you get with Breath of Life, but it's CL 11 to start and has a Medium range.

Why is it caster level 11?

It comes from the cleric list, and clerics get 6th level spells at level 11, yes?

A scroll of Inspiring Recovery (Healers Handbook) is 1650gp and basically the replacement for a scroll of Breath of Life.

It's a 6th level spell so should heal 5d8 - you don't get the +9 from caster levels that you get with Breath of Life, but it's CL 11 to start and has a Medium range.

Second post.

Charisma is currently a Trap.

There is exactly one ability (at level 11) that requires Charisma for the DC. Only the Zealot even has CHA as a casting stat.

My same Avenger example from level 1 above is going to be hard pressed to consider investing more than a 14, and even that is iffy, in Charisma for PFS.

I'd look for more reasons to encourage all four archetypes to seriously consider Charisma other than for Skills.

*) Use Charisma for the Warlock somehow - maybe not as the primary casting stat, but for the variable in a number of Talents perhaps. Maybe add some Talents that function like Arcanist exploits.
*) Consider having a General pool of Talents that all archetypes can select from. Things that let you use Charisma for alternative skill sets. Maybe one Talent to apply CHA to Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and Sense Motive. One for some Knowledge skills. Hell I'd even be stoked to see one to use CHA for your bonus HP instead of CON. Would be something unique but not completely broken.
*) For the Martial Classes, Talents that utilize CHA and aren't necessarily just Bonus Feats plus something. Maybe CHA to Damage with certain types of attacks. Maybe CHA to CMB checks of varying types.

Most of the above is just brainstorming, I'm looking for ways to make this stat interesting to the Vigilante both in Social and Vigilante 'roles'.

I didn't get a chance to join these guys in this playtest but I ran into similar concerns when trying to build an Avenger to join.

All of the archetypes feel like strictly worse versions of their base classes at level one. I'm assuming it gets better as you level up, but that first level is going to be PAINFUL. And god forbid your whole party is this class, which seems to be at least partially the intent.

Some specifics: I went to make an Avenger and one of the things that jumped out at me from reading the Talents was a Grapple/Maneuver master. As a Human Avenger, you have two Feats at level one. You don't want to take Improved Unarmed - you can get it as a Talent at 2. There's quite a few Talents in here that are the starting point of Feat Trees that you've got to wait until 2 to even start, and that's frustrating for people.

I think this class in the mid tier is solid - levels 6-15 or so look like they're going to be reasonable, but it needs serious help at the early levels and I think the obvious solution is that Vigilante Talent get moved either to a 1/3/5/7... progression, or be like Fighter bonus feats and be 1/2/4/6/... I don't think you have to worry about people multiclassing as most of these Talents aren't front-loaded. A number of them take until 6 to power up into the "better than a feat" option, but a lot of them are necessary at 1 to really get a reasonable theme going.

As it stands, if I were to play an Avenger in PFS, I'd be hard pressed not to just retrain my level 1 feat(s) as soon as I got at least one Vigilante Talent to start the Feat Trees with. Anything that involves a recommendation of "Just choose whatever at 1 and Retrain it after you get a Vigilante Talent" is really bad for that class. One more talent at level 1 isn't going to break this class, but it will make quality of life better for all four archetypes.