The biggest changes to classes are going to the wizard and witch, followed likely by the champion.
As a big Sorcerer fan from 1E, I'm actually quite interested if the class is getting a bigger rework since it's in Player Core 2 or if that's just the luck of the draw, since they wanted to get changes to the Witch out faster than next year.
In one of the interview videos that I saw earlier in the month, one of the reasons given for Barbarian and Sorc to be in PC2 was so that dragons would be out before them since both classes have potential ties to dragons.
It helps you, especially if you are using a new game or class, learn that new element better.
It makes sense, most of the time, from a storytelling standpoint. That's not to say you can't tell a good story starting at a higher level. You clearly can, but if you're doing a 1 to 20 campaign, for example, it makes sense to start at level one.
Most importantly, IMO, it lets characters grow organically. I think too many people make 'builds' and not characters. They make choices for mechanical reasons, and often they don't reflect what the character has experienced.
A good example of this is the feats in Dark Archive that can only be taken if something has happened to you in game.
Now, starting at level one does not prevent you from just following a build. But, starting at level 3, 4, 10, whatever, does prevent you from organically growing a character, since you've got nothing to grow it from.
I use one of the blank Paizo flip maps and draw them as the players explore. I've also, in the past, when I've had a bigger table, used the above-mentioned 1-inch graph paper, except laminated, so that it can be erased and re-used.
Billi might not even be there, as his action this round was destroying the door, as Dr. Evil did say that only Billi had acted this round, and the rest of the party was up.
That said, while flanking is an easy way to get sneak attack, it's not the only way. Ioca could Feint, or Lamm could be tripped, just to give two examples.
I'm just very worried that one of the changes coming to the Remaster is a nerf of the Champion's multiclass archetype. As it stands, this character is dependent on that to gish without being a Battle Oracle, so any impact on its ability to help caster classes tank will likely be detrimental to their overall effectiveness. Same if the revisions to Oracle double-down on making Mysteries more tightly marry you to specific playstyles, meaning trying to play a Flames Oracle like a gish becomes even MORE of a bad idea.
This, more than anything, is what in the incoming Remaster scares me: they'll make decisions that overall will probably be a good thing for the long-term health of the game, but which will make it harder for me to make characters who go against the grain of how their classes are meant to be played. I don't WANT to have to play a Battle Oracle to gish as an Oracle, it's too obvious!
I understand why a lot of the changes that are made are being made and I think overall the Remaster is good! I'm excited for it! But until I get a clearer picture of just what changes are coming to the classes I'm most interested in, I'm going to be worried as well, because I'm kind of neurotic.
While your reasons do make a lot of sense, you can still play the character you have in mind after the Remastered books come out. Nothing prevents your table, or any table, from keeping in current PF2e elements that you like.
There's nothing that has been said in any of the interviews by Paizo to indicate that the current 'play what you like' design philosophy is changing in any way. They've also said that Remastered classes may have some changes, but they will still play like the current versions.
For example, Erik Mona verified Rogues get Martial Weapons and Wizards get Simple Weapons in Remastered. A change, yes, but they're still rogues and wizards.
So, if you have a game coming soon and want to play this character, and it seems to me that it's an interesting concept, do it. Next July, when Core 2 comes out, you and your GM can decide if you want to adjust it for Core 2, or just play it as is.
First, as Paizo said, in bold, over and over, the Remaster is backward compatible. It's the same game with tweaks.
Second, it looks like both of them are being released in Player Core 2, next summer. If you need to make changes, then you can, sure, but why wait, especially as it's all backward compatible.
You had a thaumaturge. All that character had to do was Exploit Vulnerabilities and there was no issue at all. That's the key aspect of the class, Identifying and Exploiting Weaknesses, or just giving them to an enemy if they have none.
I think if splint mail fits the concept and character vision better, then use splint mail. All too often, people forget the roleplaying aspects of an RPG in order to optimize the numbers, but I think the RP aspect matters more.
Still really want a Harrower class. Basically the same concept as an Ancestors Oracle, your options determined by luck at the start of the turn and it's up to you to figure out how to get the most value out of them.
Have you seen the Stolen Fate Players Guide? It has a Harrower Archetype and a Harrow Bloodline for Sorcerers, and they both use the Harrow Cards (or dice if you do not have the cards) as both flavor and mechanical elements.
I had not seen this, no... The archetype seems pretty terrible? You get your active harrow at the start of the day and lose it for using any of the archetype's mechanics so you're spending your archetype for a single effect per day. The bloodline is closer, though as Morgan said it has some editing issues (my ruling/hope would be that you choose targets after drawing on Invoke the Harrow and that you lose the benefits of Rewrite Possibility after using the reaction).
One of the level four feats in the Archtype, Restore Omen, lets you regain your active harrow with a 10 minute rest. You meditate, draw a new card, and get your active harrow back.
I also agree that your actions did not break the anathema. However, even if you had, one violation should not make you fall. You should get a warning 'Keep doing this, and I take your powers away.' It should never, IMO, go to full power loss on one violation.
I would say that you are correct, that you do not have to hold the amulet to use Guidance, as Guidance only has a Verbal component. If it had a Material component, I'd say that you'd have to hold out the Amulet in some way to use it, but that you'd just need a free hand and not one more action.
Also, yes, the higher level skill bonus is to Occultism.
Still really want a Harrower class. Basically the same concept as an Ancestors Oracle, your options determined by luck at the start of the turn and it's up to you to figure out how to get the most value out of them.
Have you seen the Stolen Fate Players Guide? It has a Harrower Archetype and a Harrow Bloodline for Sorcerers, and they both use the Harrow Cards (or dice if you do not have the cards) as both flavor and mechanical elements.
I don't think you need to decide that yet. I mean, the thug and gator still go before you, or I or Talindra does, so even if you did have a plan at the moment, it might change by round 3!
The first thing I would do as a cleric facing what I thought was a fiend would be Recall Knowledge, as Religion is the skill used for RK on fiends. From there, based on what I learned, I'd try and adapt my tactics.
I'm using it in my three player AoA game, but only two people are actually using it. The kobold cleric of Apsu went Dragon Disciple, and the Hell Knight fighter went Hell Knight. The wizard didn't use it at all.
In future games, I may or may not use it. It would depend on what I felt was right for that game, and for the players' concepts. It would also depend on what archetypes were new in that AP, and if they interested any of the players.
Spell Attacks aren't Strikes. I am using spells that make Strikes but use your Spell Attack as examples. You are only claiming I'm making a strawman argument because you have no actual claim here.
You Sustain the Spell or command the dragons, and then the spell makes a Strike. It uses your Spell Attack modifier to do so. How is this so difficult to understand?
Draconic Barrage is not sustained. It has a fixed duration of one minute.
Yeah, it's often more bang for your action buck than, say, trying an offensive spell with a 50/50 failure rate. Healing and buffs are never not a good idea.
Mind you, a single heal often can negate damage taken in a round, if you have the heal spell or invested in Battle Medicine. Two-action heal can basically negate an enemy's whole turn, and if you decided to spec for healing with the Medic archetype or the like, it gets even better.
This is what I've seen, often, in the AoA game I have running. The cleric's two action heals, with healing hands feat often brings people from close to dead to almost full HP. Like anything, it can be situational, but in combat healing is not something to be ignored, IMO.
There is nothing in the fleeing condition that says you lose tactical awareness because of terror. This is a forced tactical retreat due to fear, and NOT the mindless grip of overwhelming terror.
You move away from the source of your fear, in a way that doesn't put you in more immediate danger. Players should be able to still tactically chose where to run too. Behind a pillar, a door, etc are all perfectly expedient. Top three synonyms: Prudent, Desirable, and wise all indicate tactical awareness is still present.
Except that it does not say that at all. There is no caveat, at all, about not putting the fleeing person in more immediate danger.
"You're forced to run away due to fear or some other compulsion. On your turn, you must spend each of your actions trying to escape the source of the fleeing condition as expediently as possible (such as by using move actions to flee, or opening doors barring your escape). The source is usually the effect or caster that gave you the condition, though some effects might define something else as the source. You can't Delay or Ready while fleeing."
There is nothing in the condition that even begins to hint that it is a "forced tactical retreat due to fear."
What about the frightened condition itself? Well, here it is from the CrB:
"You’re gripped by fear and struggle to control your nerves. The frightened condition always includes a value. You take a status penalty equal to this value to all your checks and DCs. Unless specified otherwise, at the end of each of your turns, the value of your frightened condition decreases by 1."
Just think about that for a minute. You are so scared that /everything/ you do is worse.
There is nothing in either condition that would indicate that a character is able to make a tactical, 5 foot step. Everything about both shows the character is terrified. At Frightened 1 and 2, they hold it together. At 3 or more, most of the time, they actually are in terror, hence the forced fleeing action.
What gets you to that condition? It's almost always a critical failure on a save against a spell or creature effect. If anything, fleeing for 1 round is generous. If you crit fail a save against dragon fear, are you stopping running after just 6 seconds? Probably not.
Now, if your table wants to nerf fear that's the choice of your table. Just don't be upset when the GM has that think with 20' reach step three times for its 'fleeing' and then kill a PC with an AoO because it's still in reach.
I would also rule that you could not use a step action when you are fleeing. A careful step is not fleeing, the word itself implies panic, and when you are panicking, you are not being careful. You are moving away from the source of that panic as quickly as possible.
Ralldar was the only fight my group had issues with, but there is also a potential ally that can join in that fight and/or warn them in advance, and depending on RP, they could also have Arak with them. Also, Ralldar does have not have to be fought, there are ways to appease him and avoid the fight entirely.
With bad die rolls, any fight can be hard, but for the most part, my group cruised through Book One.
From my experience, it's a great focus spell. The cleric in my AoA game is a kobold cleric of Apsu, and uses it all the time. It's a really cool, flexible, and effective spell.
I'd think a cane would already be in your hand, so there'd be no need to draw it to use the wand. I've never seen anyone with a cane through their belt or sling over their back.
Thanks for the selection, I look forward to this too:
Here is why Billi is so riled up. As a dwarf, family clan and honor were everything to him. He leaves his family because he is overshadowing his older brother after his older brother dies trying to prove himself. His parents may have traded in Korvosa looking for Billi and get killed in an alley. He follows to investigate and finds they were brutally killed and gets addicted to shiver--losing honor and self respect.
Billi has lost everything, and wants to stop the drug trade and find those responsible. At the moment he is completely closed off to others, and like our GM said, he is rubbing dirt and beer in his emotional wounds.
He lost a game of dice to Sable, but remembers she was nice and somehow spoke dwarven.
In Sable's line of work, and in the sort of dives she worked in, it was rare where people got close. Between drugs, and crime, and just the environment, it seemed everyone built walls. Even Sable. Except for one person. His name was Ruuskar, and he was an amurrun sailor from far Absalom. Once or twice a year he was in Korvosa, crewing on one ship or another, and they'd spend a few days having fun and getting into trouble. She'd even playfully had a ring made from a fragment of black hematite, a common, not very expensive, gemstone.
When she got a note from a fence she knew, a tengu named Coalfeather, to visit his shop, she did. She saw the ring on display and learned that way that Ruuksar had been found dead. Coalfeather wouldn't give her the ring, and she understood that, but he did share the fact that a man named Gaedren Lamm had sold it to him.
Now, Sable is torn. She wants to find some sort of justice for her friend. But, she doesn't believe that the authorities will do anything for the poor, so for now, she's waiting, and trying to see what she can subtly learn about him, patiently biding her time as she tries to find a weakness that can be used for her own goals.
On some side notes, I just want to say that all the applications have been amazing, and I don't envy Dr. Evil on his cut down choices. If anyone could show me how to link a character sheet into a profile name, I'd appreciate it. It's really cool. Also, if I can help anyone with the mechanics of character generation, toss me a PM. I haven't played 2E yet, but I've been GMIng for my daughter, and have it down pretty well.
Sable is a native of Korvosa, the youngest of three children. Her parents and two older brothers are all alive, and working in various parts of the city. The name she uses, Sable, is an alias, to protect her family, as she has worked often in the Eel's End, primarily as a dance and dealer for the gabling dens. However, given the nature of the Eel's End, it is certainly possible she's been involved in seedier jobs over the years she has worked there.
Sable is 25 years old and took her stage name from the color of her long hair. She has green eyes, and is slim, and striking in a girl next door way rather than a supermodel way. Her long term goal is to become wealthy and travel the world. Her flaw, however, may keep that from happening. She has a hard time saying no to reasonable bets, and so money has a habit of flowing in and out of her hands, so she has not made progress towards her goal.
Unlike some bards who use instruments to Perform, Sable uses dance, and sometimes song.
Attributes:
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 18
Ancestry:
Human. She has the skilled heritage, and I chose to be trained in Gambling Lore, which will become expert at level 5. Her Ancestry feat is General Training. I chose the Canny Acumen General feat, and bumped her Fort save to Expert with it. She speaks Common and Dwarven.
Background:
Entertainer. This gave the Theater Lore skill and the Fascinating Performance skill feat
Class:
Bard with the Maestro muse. This gives the Lingering Composition feat. Her cantrips are Detect Magic, Light, Infectious Enthusiasm, Read the Air, and Wash your Luck. Level one known spells are Biting Words, Magic Weapon, and Soothe (the latter gained via her Muse). She has one focus point, the Counter Performance Composition Spell, and the Inspire Courage Composition Cantrip.
Skills:
. These are just her trained skills. Acrobatics +5, Athletics +5, Deception +7, Diplomacy +7, Gambling Lore +3, Theater Lore +3, Occultism +3, Performance +7, Society +3
Combat Stats:
AC 17, HP 17, Perception +5, Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +5. Spell Attack +7, DC 17. Melee (Longsword, +5, 1d8+2), Ranged (Thrown Dagger, +5, 1d4, ranged 10')
Gear:
Studded Leather Armor, Longsword, 1 throwing dagger, Adventures Pack, 1 set fine clothing, 3 sets normal clothing, 1 mirror, 6 GP.
