Mad Beetle's page

Not a game for me, I´m afraid.
The combat system is fine, I actually like that, I see a lot of things that could have been potentially cool about the game, but it just falls shy being good and just end up being meh for me.

As a minimum, a magical item that can give you an item bonus to spell DC´s and attack modifiers.
As it stands, spells can only be reliably used to fight off weaker enemies.

The Magus class or archetype, we need something that can make spells and combat blend together better.

Something that makes the Sorcerer an actual better spontaneous caster than the Wizard.

20th level characters are larger than life demi-gods, and should act like it, maybe instead of killing them, have a divine avatar come to them, calling them to help save one of the outer planes.
Them being the big heroes that they are, they jump at the oppertunity to go have a mythic adventure.

They leave their (Somewhat unwanted and forced upon them by the kingdom) frail and mortal apprentices to look after the slightly enchanted fortress that serves as a glorified gate house and contact point to the heroes personal Demi-Plane.
The apprentices have never been inside the Demi-Plane, but the place is rumored to rival Elysium in it´s splendor.

A week after the heroes leave, not expecting to return for at least a year, the BBEG starts invading with his goblin army and evil McGuffin that will enable him to control the kingdom in an iron appendage.
Time to half-elf up and act like actual soon-to-be heroes.

As written on page 545 of the CRB, tanglefoot bags will, on a critical hit, act like an parachute when you catch a winged creature with it, making them take a safe plummet to the ground, where they are freed the next round.

I propose to remove this paragraph in my home games, there is no way in heaven that a 850 kilo young dragon wont be hurt from falling 300ft in pretty much an instant after being hit by an exploding super-glue bomb.

Have any of you found that some of youre favorite anti-air moves don´t work as they should no more?
Let´s see if we can find a solution!

In all honesty, this looks like Amiri in her teenage years, during her emo-phase.

Now, I really don´t care all that much, I have always felt that the barbarian Iconic should look big and strong, no matter the race or gender, really.
But that´s just me.

Sorcerers need to be totally changed, they currently have no niche to fill, other than being the least effective spontaneous caster around.
They should remake it to be more like the Warlock class from 3.5 or 5e or the Kineticist, a few, specialized magical powers, that they can use a lot/have unlimited uses of.
They were already contemplating removing the Sorcerer, and it currently looks like it has no niche to fill, so this might be the answer.

It´s not a problem, they are just using their resources.
This just means that they finish quickly.

Is my group and I missing something, or does most buff-spells only last 1 minute? Is there some action, item or feat that I missed that can increase the life-span of my magical effects?
I´m asking, since we just finished the 4th playtest scenario (Moonmirror?) and just before the last combat we were told that there was a lull in the battle and we could prepare ourselves, but it would shave 1 minute off of any spell-effects we had up.
Suffice to say, we were somewhat surprised, since the only buff we could cast that lasted longer than that was Telepathic Bond, which has an duration of 8 hours.
This made me wonder, have we have missed something?

This is not a discussions of whether it might be cost effective or anything, but it is about enjoyment of the items, and I really love that blessed little ring.

Now, is there anything that you guys have found that you liked?
My hope is to focus on what we enjoy in the current system, so that the dear developers know what is fun with the new system.

So, I just fell in love with an item, and I wanted to hear what all you fine people found in the gear list and thought "Damn, that sounds good/fun/crazy/downright sexy!"

For my part, I played through Sombrefell today, and I had gotten myself the Ring of the Ram as one of my item-picks, and Oh my sweet Pharasma am I in love!
For the un-initiated, the Ring of the Ram makes you able to charge up an force attack of increasing power, the level 5 version that I used can go up to 6d6 force damage on a ranged touch, and then shove the opponent.
Not only did I severly damage a

I just adore the ring, and I can´t see myself not using it more in the future!
So, do any of you guys have some kind of item that you found interesting?

The same was true in PF1. The vast majority of the time, your abilities and skills would grow regardless of what happened in the adventure.

People would multiclass all the time with complete disregard for what happened during their adventure, most of the time it wouldn't even make sense for them to all-of-a-sudden know how to use every single armor in the game or to just happen to suddenly gain a spellbook.

You'd get skill points which you could put in any skill you wanted, regardless of your characters in-game experiences.

This phenomenon isn't new to PF2.

It seems that we have had some vastly different experiences during play, we normaly dont have that kind of unorganic character-progression, that´s just how we roll, we try and explain it with training during downtime or the wizard getting tired of being shanked and taking a self-defense course through astral projection, that sort of thing.

Not really. Roleplaying means more than numbers on a page, there's nothing explicitly saying that your numbers change anything about how you play, or what they explicitly mean.

You will also generally never be forced to use any of those skills. Statistically someone else in your party will be good at the things you choose not to be.

Comparatively to Pathfinder 1, there was a number of skills that needed 1 or 2 points. If you didn't have them you were looking at being unable to accomplish certain tasks (looking at you Climb and Swim). This pulled away from the few-skill classes already limited points. While you may not be happy about having minimal capabilities all around, it prevents a system with limited opportunities for advancement from having to spend them on necessities.

You can make the choice not to use a skill in the long run. It is decidedly not fun to have no choice in spending resources one way or else not be able to continue.

** spoiler omitted **...

Sure, I don´t have to use anything on my character sheet if I don´t want to, but that does not mean that I can´t.

When the story can´t progress, based on the abilities and choices of the players, that is not on them, that is 100% on the GM.
It is kind of a dick move too, from the GM´s side.
Also, you still need to take feats to craft magical equipment in 2E, so that does not really change anything, nor make a point.

And what if I dont WANT my dumb-ass barbarian to know all this magical mumbo-jumbo, as well as all the other skills that I dont want him to learn? What if I like my un-educated brutes, that go hunt monsters and fight dragons by being just that level of bone-headed knuckle-dragger, dumb-but-capable that makes the villagers uncomfortable and nobles disgusted whenever I open my mouth
But now my stats are literally making me more book-smart than the royal archivist and able to talk circles around the aristocracy with my charms?
See the problem?

Mad Beetle wrote:

Yeah, it makes little sense that a lvl 15 half-orc barbarian with an intelligence of 8 and that can´t read, never learned more that basic maths, still has an +12 to his Arcane knowledge and religion skills, making him able to discuss magical theory at the level of an int 18 level 6 elven wizard with expert training.

I don't exactly see this as an issue. Look at it another way.

A level 15 half-orc barbarian has seen a lot in his travels, from legendary smiths that forge his weapons, to the lairs of lichs he's helped smack down with his companions. His arcane knowledge comes purely from experience, as he's seen nine more levels worth of stuff in general than the highly booksmart level 6 wizard. It is a matter of how you choose to roleplay that knowledge.

"I was fightin' this thing and fire burst from his eyes and exploded all over the room. Weren't for this necklace I'd 'a been burnt to a crisp, cause it eats fire."

"He was casting a fireball you simpleton... And your necklace is an amulet of antimagic, it absorbs any magic that gets near it when you hold it."

"Nah, it definitely eats fire. You'll understand one day greenhorn."

Comparatively, your other example of your olympic wizard, it's the same thing. Experience. When he started his adventures he was tripping over himself he was so inept, but he learned fast he'd need to shimmy on narrow ledges with his teammates and be able to outrun dragon's fire when everything goes t!$# up.

The difference in the Playtest so far, is that investment. Instead of it being one or two points representating specialization it's skill feats. The difference betwen Untrained and Legendary on paper is +5, however the additional trained skill uses, and the skill feats giving even MORE uses is where the difference lies. That barbarian can't identify or read magic, he can just recall knowledge based on his experiences. That wizard may have the basics to stay alive down, but he's got none of the talent of running, jumping,...

Oh, I get that, an experienced barbarian might know stuff about stuff, sure, but he can still Identify several kinds of magical items and effects, just by looking at them and talk about advanced magical theories, discuss the mating rituals of the southeren Garundy Wyverns, Identify an Noble based on their heraldry and/or jawline and the many ways of how to create a golem.

I get that being a higher level should mean that you are more of a badass, give you more options and powers, but it should not make you better at EVERYTHING under the sun.
When high level characters dont have limits or weaknesses we end up with some kind of Anime-Levels of b!#@~~+@tery OP characters.
Not that I hate those, they just dont fit my image of a fantasy game.

Yeah, it makes little sense that a lvl 15 half-orc barbarian with an intelligence of 8 and that can´t read, never learned more that basic maths, still has an +12 to his Arcane knowledge and religion skills, making him able to discuss magical theory at the level of an int 18 level 6 elven wizard with expert training.

It breaks the character a bit, that he becomes incredibly skilled at EVERYTHING as he levels up. It smacks too much of a videogame.
You just can´t make an big dumb brute anymore, without him becoming an erudite in cultural lore and book-learning.
You can´t make a physically weak and frail wizard either, that guy will be able to run and jump at the levels of an olympic gymnast, when he is 98 years old, not to mention that he can see and hear ants dancing from 85 feet away.

So yeah, I get that it seems a little strange, I don´t care for it either.
Being unable to do something, and then finding a way to beat it or work around that limitation is sort of one of the great things about table-top rpg´s, and I am sad to see them change that.

The "Ancestry" system (I kinda hate the word, dunno if it is me being a grognard and prefering Races, but hell that´s a whole other bugbear to shave.) is really an gem in the rough.
While they have taken the various races and made them into bland, uninteresting choices of wheather you want a +5 movement speed or +2 health on top of a static stat increase and small penalty, you get to evolve into an actual elf... over the next 17 levels.

If they had just started us out with an actual dwarf, gnome or elf to begin with, and then given us interesting cultural and/or special racial abilities (Expanded spell-lists, special combat stances, super-humanly good sigth/hearing/smelling) then I would have been clapping my hands and praising the "Heritage Feat" system to the heavens, and then left for some other thing to nit-pick over or tear apart for being non-sensical.

As I said, a gem in the rough, with some actual great potential for customizing your characters heritage and implementing things like gnomish tieflings and goblin aasimars down the road. If they cut the gem right.

Mad Beetle wrote:

The thing is, I can actually see a potential with the current system, if they divorce themselves from the idea of "balanced" races and treat the Ancestry Feats as Traits from 1st Edition.

Have dwarfs start out with their normal poison resistance and magical stunting stubborness, maybe a connection to stone. Then have the Ancestry Feats work as a way to flesh out the culture and/or heritage of said dwarf; did he come from a clan of dwarven warriors that habitually fought with giants?? Take Weapon Familiarity and Giant Bane!
Maybe he grew up in a mountain valley that was raided from time to time by duergar and orcs? Take Rock Runner and Ancestral Hatred.

That would work so much better, than the current "Evolve-into-1E-dwarf-over-17-levels" deal that they are currently going for.

Race should be a very big impact on your character, not just a difference in +2 hit points vs +5 movement speed.

So essentially placing the "biological" features of the race back in as defaults, and leave the things that could be "cultural" as Ancestry Feats/Heritage Feats?

Yeah, that is essentially what I´m saying. It would make far more sense that way.

The thing is, I can actually see a potential with the current system, if they divorce themselves from the idea of "balanced" races and treat the Ancestry Feats as Traits from 1st Edition.

Have dwarfs start out with their normal poison resistance and magical stunting stubborness, maybe a connection to stone. Then have the Ancestry Feats work as a way to flesh out the culture and/or heritage of said dwarf; did he come from a clan of dwarven warriors that habitually fought with giants?? Take Weapon Familiarity and Giant Bane!
Maybe he grew up in a mountain valley that was raided from time to time by duergar and orcs? Take Rock Runner and Ancestral Hatred.

That would work so much better, than the current "Evolve-into-1E-dwarf-over-17-levels" deal that they are currently going for.

Race should be a very big impact on your character, not just a difference in +2 hit points vs +5 movement speed.

Just to re-post my initial post.

Okay, I know that the playtest has not even been out for a day yet, but I need to get this off my chest; I dislike the new way they have done races.
Races are now exceedingly bland, all racial abilities, besides Low-light and Dark-Vision (and that dwarven encumberance ability), are more or less bought with "Ancestry Feats", of which you gain one at first level an then 1 more every four levels (5,9,13,17).
This means, that every person in Golarion is now slowly evolving into their race, instead of starting out as one.
Now, I get that weapon familiarity and other things like that might be more connected to cultural background could be taken as feats, that seems more than fine to me, but having to choose between being trained with dwarven weaponry OR being resistant to poisons just seems a bit off to me.
I get that they have tried to make races less powerful and all that, but it just seems wrong to me, that dwarfs aren´t poison resistent unless they use "Speicies Points" to get it over all the other racial traits that they usually had.
Or that Elves aren´t naturally immune to sleep spells, they have to evolve that ability through adventuring.

Thing is, if you want a character to have the starting racial abilities from 1st Edition, you need to be level 17 to do it. And some races would still not be fully fleshed out.

Now, what I do like about the system; race means something for starting HP and some of the Ancestry Feats are cool and flavorful, I can see quite a potential in the way it is made, I just disagree with the choice to make the races bare-boned and then having to choose between illusion-sense or obsessive for my gnome characters. I´d rather have to choose between starting with a familiar or weapon-training or an expanded spell list based on my race, for example.

Anywho, I´m going back to reading.

I'm guessing that ALL feats that are "genetic" to a race should be included by default and traits that are culturally trained can be picked one.

This is more or less what I am going for, I do not feel that it is right, that leveling is what enables you to evolve into a dwarf, from being a tough, but slow human being.

Okay, I know that the playtest has not even been out for an hour, but I need to get this off my chest; I dislike the new way they have done races.
Races are now exceedingly bland, all racial abilities, besides Low-light and Dark-Vision (and that dwarven encumberance ability), are more or less bought with "Ancestry Feats", of which you gain one at first level an then 1 more every four levels (5,9,13,17).
This means, that every person in Golarion is now slowly evolving into their race, instead of starting out as one.
Now, I get that weapon familiarity and other things like that might be more connected to cultural background could be taken as feats, that seems more than fine to me, but having to choose between being trained with dwarven weaponry OR being resistant to poisons just seems a bit off to me.
I get that they have tried to make races less powerful and all that, but it just seems wrong to me, that dwarfs aren´t poison resistent unless they use "Speicies Points" to get it over all the other racial traits that they usually had.
Or that Elves aren´t naturally immune to sleep spells, they have to evolve that ability through adventuring.

Thing is, if you want a character to have the starting racial abilities from 1st Edition, you need to be level 17 to do it. And some races would still not be fully fleshed out.

Now, what I do like about the system; race means something for starting HP and some of the Ancestry Feats are cool and flavorful, I can see quite a potential in the way it is made, I just disagree with the choice to make the races bare-boned and then having to choose between illusion-sense or obsessive for my gnome characters. I´d rather have to choose between starting with a familiar or weapon-training or an expanded spell list based on my race, for example.

Anywho, I´m going back to reading.

Alignment has many problems, one is that it rarely tells you anything about the players motivations, only a vague philosophical world veiw and in the worst case for some, an excuse to act out childish power-fantasies and hardcore edge-lording.
But that is neither here nor there, if you want my advice for motivating the players; as long as they want adventure and getting paid the big money, they will most likely want to do merc-work for the town, use that time to make them give a damn about the people around them, foster relationships and attachments to the world.
Make small downtime scenes where the players get to drink at their favorite tavern, and getting thanked by one of the NPC´s that they have saved for example.

TL;DR Alignment does not matter, motivation and attachments do.

This idea seems a bit misguided, if you want someone to feel like they belong, making a seperate special prize for them hardly seems like a way do it.

Well, Religiously you are golden, since Nethys dont care why/how/when you use magic on either who or what, just as long as you use it at much as possible.
Callistrias temples are usually also brothels, so that should also be okay, there is no set price for sevices rendered.
Nethys is not in any conflict with Callistria, as far as I am aware, so you are not even helping and "enemy" of the church,
So, no there is nothing immoral going on.

Schrodinger's Dice wrote:

Alternatively, the nature of reality could be contingent on the narrative framework with which an observer approaches it. Expect Standard Model particles? All your experiments show Standard Model particles. Expect elemental planes? Your wizardry shows elemental planes.

The wave function collapses in weirder ways than we can imagine... or perhaps it collapses as we imagine.

Except that we (the humans of Earth) weren't expecting anything when we started looking at the world in detail and we found subatomic particles, so clearly your expectations do not shape what you see.

How can you know that? Maybe Rutherford and Goldstein were slightly convinced that Prout´s hypothesis about "protyles" were right somewhere. I mean, the hypothesis had been around for near a century before they found them, if not as Prout predicted, but he might have planted the idea.

Yes.

Edit: If the PC is aware that the person he/she has carnal relations to is undead, it it necrophilia.
If they dont, it´s something the other PC ´s brings up at the tavern to embarras him/her.

"Hey Merlin, remember that time you banged that zombie?"
"SHE WAS A VAMPIRE AND I WAS UNDER A DOMINATION SPELL!"
"Hey, whatever get´s you off man, just keep away from the graveyard!"

I have 3 different characters i would like to submit, one sorcerer(DD buffer + close-combat, Taking guardian and maybe dualpathing into archmage) and two Bloodragers( one is basically an angry paladin (Champion) the other is an tiefling with a grudge(Guardian))

I will begin with backgrounds later today.

I´m personally hoping for a Gunslinger/Alchemist - 4th level extracts, lots of explosives and prototype gun modifications.

As anyone who's been at an organized play table has probably experienced, paladins (particularly PC paladins) can be serious jerks. They get an idea in their head and nothing else whatsoever matters. Collateral damage becomes irrelevant, and killing everyone so that the gods can sort out the virtuous from the evil gets routinely suggested as the best tactic. My question is: will taking this to its logical extreme be enough to justify the assault on Talingarde?

What? If any paladin at my table suggest killing a village and letting the gods filter the virtuous from the wicked, he will be fall so hard, that he cant even say the name of his former god without being wracked with holy fury!

... Antimagic Field in his cell/on his manacles?

Hello there.
I have been toying around with some homebrew ideas, mainly for the eberron setting, but they can be used for any setting, and i´d like to hear what you gents (and gentettes) think of what i came up with
(I apologize for any strange formulations or grammatical no-no´s)

So, tell me what you think.

Hello everyone.
Me, and a another player have had a bit of an argument about the rules regarding the feat Deadly Aim and using it with firearms.

Now the rules are saying that:

Early Firearms: When firing an early firearm, the attack resolves against the target's touch AC when the target is within the first range increment of the weapon, but this type of attack is not considered a touch attack for the purposes of feats and abilities such as Deadly Aim. At higher range increments, the attack resolves normally, including taking the normal cumulative –2 penalty for each full range increment. Unlike other projectile weapons, early firearms have a maximum range of five range increments.

I have bolded what stated the argument.

He reads the rules as this: When using Deadly Aim, guns target full AC, not Touch AC, not even within the first range increment.

I read it: You can use Deadly Aim and target Touch AC within the first range increment with guns.

Who is right? Is there an official ruling or clarification anywhere i can point to?

Thank you for your time.