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Oh, that's lovely! I hope the patches aren't driving you too crazy. Mine itched terribly--so bad I lowkey wondered if I was allergic. missed you. Hope you and girlfriend are eating well. My and my three girlfriends are doing great! X3
I think the play is let him fly around in the worm chamber, honestly. I combined it with the big worm for a much more cinematic battle. The party actually had to flee the first time and then scry-and-fry later on. I did also give him time stop. it was fine. they were fine. almost no one died.
Good luck, Orthos! I 100% get the body hair thing, that's always been one of my biggest problems. I used to feel bad or shallow about being so turned off by body hair. Then I realized I just didn't like thinking about body hair period, on anyone, because it was such a driver for my own dysphoria. XD Anyways, haven't been here for a bit, but it's so nice seeing you making your way through this! Through some pretty rough times, it's some of the most hopeful news getting posted on this thread. In a way, transfems getting to live happily as transfems is our most basic form of activism.
Of course, Blue Moon couldn't resist giving Thrakle its business card, so now I'll have to do some sort of noir sidequest for Blue Moon now where she comes into its office with a case.
So, some notable changes I made to the Thistletop approach: Horsequest is acquired in the Nettlewood as Lester Absinthe is fleeing the goblins, and is why Shalelu is forced to part ways with the party and can't come with them--she has to show this dumbass back to the road. Lester Absinthe, the owner of Shadowmist, is a somewhat amoral messenger from Korvosa bearing the critical news that a Scarnetti son has been found murdered in the walls of his own home (tracked down and murdered by Nualia, naturally). He is a blustering, scatterbrained fellow with a pencil mustache and a thick Korvosan accent. He loves his horse, viewing her as a crucial business partner, and eagerly raves about her high quality and great expense. He also only escaped because the goblins were distracted hacking a path through for their captive horse. Lester is a coward and a little selfish. Although he leads in with, "They've got her! Who knows what they're doing to her!", he has quite forgotten that his sister, Pavla, was also captured. He sort of rationalized that she was already dead when he abandoned her. She wasn't. There wasn't really anything he could have done, but it's still something he can't bear to think about or acknowledge in any serious way. Not sure what I'll do with Lester, but I wanted a horse questgiver, I needed the reveal about the Scarnetti son for Nualia's story (sadly, the PCs didn't ask him what "business" he and Shadowmist were in, oh well), and he might be a useful NPC for the future. Clearing a Path
I didn't do this to fix a "plothole" (who cares), but I think it may be a good way of facilitating, say, a PC with a Large companion, or a Large PC like a centaur or minotaur. Also, the endless cramped paths may be realistic, but they're really frustrating for a large party with a summoner and a construct inventor. I felt like the solution I gave was a good compromise--Small creatures retain some strategic advantage without it being tedious and frustrating. Notably, there's a small branching path here--the PCs can choose to press on without Shalelu, or wait for her to return. If they wait, they'll encounter Gogmurt and his companion at the front entrance fixing things up, or might even find the thicket fully repaired (Shalelu knows from experience that Gogmurt works quick). Mine didn't wait. The Last of the Birdcrunchers:
I moved the Birdcruncher warriors to directly north of the Howling Hole, put them behind a thicket "door", and put a goblin dog guarding the door on their side. I tweaked pretty recklessly here. I left it implied that the northwest region of the thicket is reserved for new recruits, mainly (but not entirely) Birdcruncher warriors and noncombatants. The warriors have been ill-treated and abused, but some are still hopeful that they'll be welcomed into the Thistletops eventually. Of course, they keep getting thrown into the Howling Hole. As far as they know, the grandiose Chief Mukwick died in the raid while aiding in the Boneyard heist. In reality, Ripnugget had one of his henchmen murder Mukwick en route (Tsuto was extremely annoyed, but didn't have time to worry about it). This was either out of a desire to grab power or, more likely, petty envy over Mukwick's beautiful scrub jay-feather cloak. The warriors' new de facto leader is Lental, because she is the oldest and also the loudest and most stubborn. She and three others are Unfriendly towards the PCs. The other five are Indifferent--they are exhausted and close to despair. The most effective line of persuasion is to convince the Birdcrunchers that they will never be welcomed among the Thistletops, and perhaps to promise to deal with Gogmurt for them. Revealing that Ripnugget murdered their chief could also work. You can consider dropping hints about this earlier if you like, perhaps as rewards for PCs who interrogate captive goblins after the raid. Maybe a body turns up post-raid with a blue feather cloak and a dogslicer in its back. I say I was reckless because the PCs would find it close to impossible to fight the Birdcrunchers in practice. Eight goblin warriors, plus a goblin dog, plus them sounding the alarm, plus the possibility of pursuers from the other recruits and refugees sequestered in the northwestern quarter. I wasn't prepped for a real fight. Luckily, the PCs spoke wisely and rolled well. Part of the reason I wanted the Birdcrunchers to be entirely a roleplay encounter was to try to avoid this feeling like a goblin meatgrinder. The Thistletops may be awful, but they're also people being manipulated by cult-like leaders. The Birdcrunchers are half-indoctrinated, and their treatment is there to expose the cruelty of Thistletop conditioning. Helping the refugees leave the Thistletops by killing or persuading Gogmurt is a huge part of truly defeating the Thistletops in the long-term, allowing the refugees to leave and expose the cruelty and pointlessness of the cult. I did kind of want to put Seven Tooth members there. I honestly just ran out of prep time. I think if I include Mavvi (the Seven Tooth peddler who's been trying to undermine the Seven Tooth alliance with the Thistletops), she'll be a captive in the Thistletop base itself. Maybe I'll have a character foreshadow that at the start of the new session. Gogmurt and Thrakle: Gogmurt
So, Gogmurt is a plant druid now. It felt fitting for a goblin taking care of the thistles. He carries a shillelagh fashioned from woven teasels* and usually wears his goblin warface around guests to conceal a relatively soft, pleasant normal appearance. Gogmurt is a gruff, angry, somewhat cruel sort who has mostly been having the Birdcrunchers thrown into the Howling Hole because of his orders--and because it's cathartic. He is loyal to the Thistletops, but less so to Ripnugget nowadays, and he detests the Prophet. Despite his callousness, Gogmurt doesn't like seeing Thistletops killed needlessly, and takes immense pride in both the Thistletops and his place among them. I almost considered basing him on Richard Nixon. Gogmurt is Hostile towards the PCs, but willing to hear them out if they haven't attacked his companion yet. Overall, Gogmurt must be made Unfriendly to let the PCs pass unhindered (but will still alert Ripnugget after they leave), and at least Indifferent to be persuaded to release the captives and not alert Ripnugget--an unlikely task indeed for his DC 22 Will save. A check gains an untyped +1 bonus for each of the following strategies, for a maximum total of +6. - The PCs bring up the nuisance of the Thistletops wrecking the tunnels to bring that stupid horse in here.
Thrakle
"Oh, I'd better tell Gogmurt, I'm sure he can clear aaall of this right up!" "If you're not guests, should I tell Gogmurt you're intruders? :)"
Overall, Thrakle is much more diplomatic than Gogmurt, and as long as the PCs are polite to Thrakle and don't lie to her (she has a lowish Int, but a good Perception), she will happily alert Gogmurt to their location and allow a dialogue to be broached. Or she'll warn him so they can kill the intruders. Thrakle starts out Unfriendly, but will shift up one step for every step Gogmurt improves by. If she becomes Indifferent and Gogmurt becomes Unfriendly or Indifferent, she will be heard asking Gogmurt in Fey, "Should we tell them about the trapped bridge?", to which he'll shrug. She sometimes likes to watch people cross the bridge, thinking it's funny when goblins forget to tie off the rope and fall in.
*A species of super-invasive thistle called Chelaxian teasel, abrogail, or fury thistle, depending on who you ask.
Oh, I thought I'd share a peek at this little Campaign Achievements document I've been working on, though. Everyone gets a Hero Point if one gets fulfilled. The italicized pair refresh at the end of every session. I also give people Hero Points for session/adventure milestones, like "the party reaches Thistletop" or "the party encounters Gogmurt". It's a nice alternative to the 1-hour timer that helps make sure people are actually getting points when they need them.
As an update, for anyone still watching, we went on a lengthy hiatus after our landlord decided to subtly force us out of our home, likely in hopes of selling it. Then everyone got sick, and then... well, it's been hectic. We're going to do our first session in ages either this week or the next. They'll be finally heading to Thistletop! I may link the recap document Aktri's player has done, although it's a lot rougher than my prose recaps. More likely I'll just try to summarize more of my changes.
You got it, Carina. Back to Redhand to buy dresses and accessories for the next two months.
Oh gosh, sorry, this slipped my mind pretty hard. So, we're still moving in. It's been an intense process, and we still aren't that close to unpacked. Simply moving out fully took all week. Then the election happened. And then we all got sick! This game's still a priority, just wanted to be clear! I just haven't been able to focus much on anything. We're recovering now and hoping to finish the move next week. Or I guess this week, now.
Oh, also, striped tights became a stereotype for a reason--tights and leggings in general can be very flattering for trans girls (we tend to have nice legs) and they also cover leg hair and make skirts/kilts a bit more forgiving when sitting down. That's obviously much more blatantly on the fem-presenting side of things. Anyways, good luck!!
You haven't at all! These are super normal concerns and worries, I feel like. I wish I had a how-to guide to offer you! I guess just keep looking into those medical options, looking for ways to keep transitioning socially, maybe get your ears pierced since it sounds like something you really want, and start thinking about names if you want to change yours. There's no right or wrong way to transition, but long hair, changed name, t-blockers and pretty skirts are very common ways that often seem to work for people.
At the same time, if you catch yourself feeling disappointed by the possibility that you might not be transfem, boy have I got good news for you. while you don't have to rush to a label, it's also like. It's okay to rush to a label! you can try the label out in safe spaces, nobody worthwhile's going to call you a fake gaymer and nobody worthwhile is going to penalize you if you later change the answer. Most of the time, I think people figure out their exact gender identity by trial and error. Anyways I'm on my phone so my grammar is lazy but I'm super super excited for you, Orthos!! (These are things people told me, for what it's worth. In my case, turns out they were what I needed to hear!) (They also told me to be careful about admitting any confused feelings to doctors, because we have a super cool health care system that definitely doesn't punish us for acknowledging nuance.)
Alright, that's definitely the last post I can wrangle before the move starts. We do the main trip this Sunday. See you all on the other side! Good luck on the roll, DCat! If Carina fails her check, it's still extremely unlikely the night twist with 50 hp will survive to its turn. Whether or not the surgery works, unsurprisingly, a power word stun has essentially ended the "fight" part of the fight.
I'm still kicking! Actually, things are potentially approaching a turning point with a lot of the bigger sources of stress. We're going to be moving to a new place at the end of the month, and from there, I truly hope to reach a state of normalcy. I'd really like to resume at some point after that, but I'd kind of want to have at least four of our original players on board if possible.
Inching our way along! Move prep is about to heat up and I wanted to get us to the next round--and within sight of an end to the battle--before everything goes crazy over here.
Augh, I keep getting caught up with other obligations, but I got my first commission sent in and it's bought me some breathing room. I'll likely be posting pretty irregularly for the time being, but I'm still here! Just looking forward to the move being finalized. Just a few more weeks of limbo. :)
Alright, we've just about got the lease lined up. Just waiting for the new landlords to figure out how PDFs work!
Honestly, I'd love to see a nature-defending champion.
I don't think I could name a single thing I expect more in this thread than Spanish Inquisition jokes
If that's what you think...you really don't know what a Slayer is!Buffy is just the only fighter in a party of envoys, thaumaturges and a couple casters. Her apparent superpowers are really just that extra +2 to-hit.To me, "Slayer" should be some kind of magical rogue subtype - but I'm admittedly a 90s girl and when you say "Slayer," I think Buffy. "Trust me when I say you're gonna find out."
Then as soon as our current housing situation is dealt with, we'll start on the fast-track!
Let's aim higher, folks. Why's it even still called "the Pathfinder RPG"? It's not like the Pathfinder Society is all that influential on the world or the system at this point. I for one hope that Pathfinder Third Edition finally fixes that minor bug.
A character like that is always going to have a lower Armor Class than they actually need to be a proper frontliner, though. You're deliberately nerfing yourself with no benefit, since you could just wear light armor and still get no speed penalty. A -1 or -2 net to AC is pretty punishing, and just because you can play it doesn't mean it's supported. Oh, you got me there. I was looking at the original quoted poster, but Squiggit seems to have pivoted to something more general.
A character like that is always going to have a lower Armor Class than they actually need to be a proper frontliner, though. You're deliberately nerfing yourself with no benefit, since you could just wear light armor and still get no speed penalty. A -1 or -2 net to AC is pretty punishing, and just because you can play it doesn't mean it's supported.
Gosh, but that's such a cynical way to look at the game's success, isn't it? It's possible that WOTC fumbling the ball has helped PF2's business recently, but PF2 was successful long before WOTC pulled that crap. We're talking about the success of PF2 as a whole. I don't know, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth to dilute praise for skilled creators with a shot at another company.
Yeah, and that's so flavor-limited. Honestly, I'm holding out hope for some sort of clever archetype.
Imrijka is not a priest, so she's not bound to the uniform. It's more an informal dress code. :P I still don't lose hope for exemplars having a way to boost their unarmored AC since Nahoa likely still neds a way to protect himself (mechanically)! Maybe that girdle is PF2's equivalent of the mail bikini? Only time will tell. Imrijka's new design is really cool, by the way. The artist did a really good job preserving her old feel while innovating and giving the outfit a lot of personality. I think my favorite thing about Imrijka, design-wise, is that a handful of iconics have been a little de-fanserviced over time to reflect more in-character fashion choices, but not Imrijka. And that implies that canonically, the scary grim-faced Pharasman vindicator does just like dressing this way. Maybe she is an iconoclast.
I dunno, I think it's fine? It's not like the Inquisitions themselves were super principled. The Spanish Inquisition ultimately amounted to a power grab. The cruelty comes across, and the cruelty is what matters with servants of an unholy god. An inquisitor of Rovagug goes around rooting out would-be artists and creators and servants of Sarenrae. The arguable real problem with an inquisitor of Rovagug is the ban on extended torture, but otherwise, there's nothing stopping a bloody Rovagug-worshiping Inquisition from overtaking Belkzen. Yet. We have a new orc goddess arriving on the scene, after all. ;) Also, not to belabor this point, but I think "chaotic" and "lawful" are much fidgetier concepts than they used to be, and that's useful here. An vengeful "inquisition" led by some especially cruel Calistrians is totally plausible.
Monk is kind of a poison pill. There really isn't a good name for it, and if any class would justify just bending the "one-word class" rule, it's monk. It's actually not dissimilar to the other class we're talking about--you're a warrior using a mix of esoteric and pseudo-magical techniques that nobody else really understands. Your accomplishments are downright miraculous, in fact. As such, I vote we rename it the thaumaturge.
It's doing kineticist numbers?? we have to do better. we can't let kineticist beat us!
esotericmetricismist if enough people like the post Paizo devs do legally have to use it
My girlfriend says there aren't enough syllables. I would like to amend my suggestion to the esotericismist.
I have just conducted an experiment on Michael Sayre's observations on the thaumaturge and exemplar. I showed a bunch of non pathfinder players both iconics, and asked them what they did. People thought the thaumaturge was a tank, and maybe a cleric or self healer, while the exemplar was very clearly a magical warrior of some sort. I do love the iconic themself, but my ideal thaumaturge for simply conveying the class's potential would be wearing way less armor, the better to show off their esoterica and their "utility martial" focus. They'd have tons of paper talismans and other trinkets, and they'd be wielding a lantern or bell in one hand and a pistol in the other, to really convey the idea of "dual-wielding a weapon and a weird trinket". And they'd be wearing 360 gp of lit candles. Also, it might be blasphemy, but I think the old "class art is just a picture of a guy staring at the camera" model is a shibboleth. I think the iconic class art should always show them *doing* something. Draw them parrying a vampire's attack with their bell! EDIT: And as long as I'm bullying my second-favorite class, rename it to "esoterician".
We had it happen in our campaign a while back. The party liberator was sworn to a god who commanded followers to control their temper and only let their anger out fully in battle, and she lost her temper in a shouting match with the party cleric (who was drunk and deliberately goading her). It was very much a deliberate roleplay moment. She wound up not being able to find a cleric who could cast the ritual, so she retrained into thaumaturge instead.
Funny thing is I mentioned a Monty python joke on page 2 of this thread and no one’s noticed.I noticed. But the 2020s are not a decade where gallows humor is considered more playful than painful, I guess. A large number of Python skits would not get aired today. folks it's just 2024 and we've all heard the same references 10,000 times unaltered at this point ;-;
I'm really hoping we finally get another armorless martial, at least as a subclass. The fact that the class was in part built around a character who is canonically shirtless gives me hope.
Bard -> Conductor
that oughta clear everything right up
I really like the term "benefactor" for the kobolds' power source. It's nice and neutral; a benefactor might be a master or an ally, or even an enemy, a prisoner, an unwitting host.
keftiu, I don't know why, but you are exactly the person I would expect to know things about Dragon Age. XD One thing I want to say: Across this thread and elsewhere, I've seen a few iterations today of, "This story's version of the Inquisition is different, because the heretics really are evil in-universe." I really think that take misses a step. It's not 100% wrong, but it sort of nags at me. When a setting like Warhammer Fantasy declares, "well, actually, the bigotry is kind of justified in-universe because witches are canonically bad news", that's a choice the authors made. Not to bully WHF (I'm simplifying its lore to make a broader point), but the authors in that instance are choosing to transfer a real-world atrocity--in that case, organized religious witch hunts--and concoct a setting in which the atrocity is justified. Warhammer in general plays a lot with the idea of "diagetically-kind-of-justified atrocities". You know, lots of "no, but these enemies really are pure evil savage teeming hordes, so it's cool to genocide them". In-universe, that's a correct statement, but out-of-universe, people might be excused for asking "why did you want to write that? Might a story like that encourage a certain worldview?" I like Warhammer Fantasy. Not here to condemn it today. It's just a useful example, because it's pretty gleefully unsubtle. When you create a setting in which a church is justified in rooting out evildoers, and you call that practice an inquisition, you're choosing to tell the story of a "just" Inquisition. That's a choice you made, not an inescapable truth of neutral worldbuilding. I'm not saying that's good or bad--it's kind of messy and really depends on you knowing what you're trying to say--but it's definitely no less fraught than any of the other examples we're discussing here. EDIT: There's a really common trope in fantasy and sci-fi stories of the "willing servant race". When handled badly, these stories tend to inadvertently recycle a lot of vile antebellum propaganda for their worldbuilding. Is it okay when it's a fantasy species that genuinely likes being servants? Well, that's the in-universe argument. But why would you write it like that?
also, like, doesn't Dragon Age as a series deal a ton with the idea that the church is super oppressive towards various marginalized groups? I seem to have internalized that from several years being surrounded by DA2 Discourse nerds.
I think thaumaturge is definitely very popular among people who love talking
the thaumaturge is so good though aaah that's heartbreaking! We clearly need more thaumaturge content. We need to revive its image. We need to bring back the thaumaturge iconic, and bring them back hotter, sexier, more covered in insane paraphernalia.I for 1 support this agenda!!! cover them in candles! there aren't enough candles!
the thaumaturge is so good though aaah that's heartbreaking! We clearly need more thaumaturge content. We need to revive its image. We need to bring back the thaumaturge iconic, and bring them back hotter, sexier, more covered in insane paraphernalia.
There were five class archetypes before this, although some were due for rebuilds. Wellspring mage was a favorite of mine, and I've always wanted to try out a flexible caster wizard.
We really just need some magus class archetypes or the like. One for barbarian-types, one for rogueish/swashbuckler-types, and... maybe generally just work on expanding the spell tradition access for the class, too. It's not too late for them to Remaster the class!
Honestly, sitting on it, I think Paizo made a serious misstep with the inquisitor thing. I think they should have added a new subclass for the swashbuckler dedicated to globetrotting and staging improbable heists. Then they could have given Imrijka an elaborate story update where, after losing faith in her old methods, she decides to wreak havoc in the Gravelands by stealing Tar-Baphon's superweapons and cool monuments. Then they could have kept the outfit unchanged. :)
Yup! I want to be clear here that I'm not really judging PF1 for its choice back then. I liked PF1's edge a lot, even though it was a little hit-or-miss (loved Calistria and the runewells, wasn't so fond of the Grauls). I don't think "Inquisitor" was a great name, but it made more sense back then. It's just not the right pick for PF2.
My guess is they're holding off on Hunter stuff until they're ready to face down the beast in the jungle that is adapting the Shifter to PF2.
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