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I don't quite get how this spell works. I basically have to build up to 4 forms? And can this form be built from anything, any mix and match of abilities that's possible(if so wow that sounds game breaking) but at the same time confusing? Like I just want to turn into a laser wolf, is that even still possible? I want to turn a threat into a toad, is that still a thing I can do or is that something that requires me to 'build toad, give bonuses" and possibly actually make the enemy stronger?

And while I'm at it, why does Polymorph 1 exist when it doesn't let you basically do anything? All the actual abilities and power ups are only allowed to be picked up from level 2 casting onward.

I keep looking at this as it might be a fun thing to do with my Biohacker but I'm going "How does this work, how does one build, why can't I just say I turn into a bug bear, get +4 to stats and be done with it?".

I'm sorry, this is probably really simple when understood and finally built out but I'm not a fan of pick and choose on abilities/spells like this. More so when I have to basically remake my character sheet a few times over or have shifting note cards per level.

Just confused and annoyed that the ruleset isn't "Fire and forget" but at the same time feels very limited and forcing into meta combos if that's how it works.

Oh god maaaaaaaaaaaath.

I'm running a Skull and Shackles game and have a group of pirates on the high seas. The issue is one of them isn't a pirate..., she's a merchant. And it's both interesting and adorable to see her play the trading mini game from port to port but...

I have no idea how to run this. Trade goods are listed but not all of them, lumber for example doesn't seem to have a price tag. And I'm quite unsure how to run/ask for skill checks(Diplomacy or Apprisal?)

The other issue is I'd rather not let her spiral out of control on money generation but at the same time I'm looking at economy(Yes we can poke fun at it elsewhere) of the given prices and going "Wait how'd you make money off this anyway". This is also the player that will loot the ENTIRE monster if they can, not just the treasure(We're talking bones, meat, scales, etc)

Currently I'm looking through the Isles of the Shackles book to see what each island might demand and raising the prices accordingly for trade goods but if people have experience in this type of player, let me know.

FYI, we play digitally so most the trades are done out of game on Discord so this isn't a huge problem of taking up time mid session.

Now I want to stress this isn't a "How do I beat this guy" but more a thought problem I had.

Player built a very good disarm/trip Monk. There's a number of ways to beat this but I like making foils for characters, kinda the inverse/rival of them depending on how the story goes. This character would use Quick Draw line of feats(Quick Draw, Stow, Sheath) or magic items to basically swing and put his weapon away in one round.

Is this effective? No of course not but I thought it would be fun.

Just..., how does Disarm work with this? Slight of hand could allow him to pick off the weapon when the rival isn't holding it but how would Disarm work for this? As kooky/bad as this is from an idea, I'd rather not get into a rules debate of if you can disarm an unarmed foe.

So I'm semi struggling on this but it's not a terribly needed answer(I low ball stuff anyway).

So as I understand it with automatic progression there's NO special gear? At least non with +1s or 2s.

Put a different way, I want to drop a 'Sniping' enchanted weapon.

Do I just give them the cash in this system?
Is it enchanted as Sniping only when they have 4 points to put into the weapon?
Does the bad guy even get sniping?

I like Auto Progression a lot because it frees up the required stat items but I'm struggling to figure out what to give them that isn't just Wonderous items that doesn't go into the bag or consumables.

Thematically I like this but mechanically(Paizo you always do good work but also botch at the end like this).

Frightening Injection - When you successfully inject a creature with a substance (including a biohacker’s biohack) using a weapon that has the injection special property, you can attempt an Intimidate check to demoralize that creature as a move action before the end of your turn. A creature can be affected by this ability only once per day.

It's nice, it's cool, it fits with 'mad space doctor' vibe.

Why would you ever take this.

1) Biohacker has no need for CHA and thus would have a lower Intimidate score than someone else.
2) It works with Injection weapons only, thus limiting it's usefulness to other classes as they can operate better weaponry.
3) A once per day per target restriction. Meaning you have to move on to the next target if you fail or vs a solo target, it's a dead feat.
4) Demoralize is range 30, and the feat doesn't at least as RaW remove that. So you're more than likely having to stay up close to a target rather than using a rifle to stay safer.
5) And all of the above could be debated and argued over if it's a good skill or not; if Improved Demoralize didn't exist.

I love little fun feats like this that really help flesh a character out, but it's truly TRULY hard to argue taking it when Improved Demoralize does the job but better without having to make an attack roll and be limited to once per day per target.

Paizo has a history of making really good thematic feats but then just making them garbage. Why does this feat exist?

Friends are trying to drag me into a Starfinder game. Thinking about going former 'space cop' or something. Idea is either double pistols, or maybe long rifles. Or just pistol and shield since they added those in.

Though a question occurs. You don't seem to get more attacks when duel wielding anymore it seems, so what's the point of going double pistol?

Best I could come up with was having more than one elemental property as Starfinder seems to be big on resistances.

I have a player in my game that's playing basically a hunter/merchant from another world/land/region.

One of their gimmicks is to strip a monster of any... useable parts. Skin for Leather, meat for cooking, bones/scales/tusks for other purposes.

Which I love, I was a fan of Monster Hunter but I have no idea how to actually rule this or use this other than giving them more home made rations(Which is good given that they have a large company following them) and maybe some extra gold.

That's the easiest but also cop out bland way to handle it. ANy ideas/tips/resources to look into?

I'm thinking about having a long range assassin go after the team and given that it's an undead focused game, I was thinking about using a Pale Stranger to keep with the feel. Just one question

While pistols normally consume bullets and black powder when fired, a pale stranger’s pistols supernaturally reload the instant it fires them, allowing the undead to make multiple attacks in a round with the weapons.

I figured if I re-flavored it's powers to a Rifle/musket instead, could I make it reload the rifle just as fast?

It's a monster and homebrew at this pint but I figured I should get a second opinion about this.

Something was brought up to me before my game petered out. After Lamm the PCs can very much go "Right we're done, we're out of this stinking city".

Thoughts on how to make the PCs connect more with the city and feel like trying to save it as opposed to going through the motions because "This is an adventure path"?

Pyrotechnic Eruption has this little tag line on it(The spell just basically setting down a flaming geyser under a target that follows them).

Anyone attempting to touch the target takes damage, using the same amount of dice as the last time the target attempted a save (Reflex half). A creature can take the place of the target by bull rushing or grappling it and switching places. The new creature then automatically takes the current round’s damage with no saving throw and can begin to attempt Reflex saves starting on its next turn.

So because a player asked me, what does "Touch" mean? His main concern is that can he put it on a target but end up having his friend, who is melee, catch fire after attacking the guy?

Myself I'm a bit unsure. I'd say yes but at the same time with a Reach Weapon I'd say no. Advise here?

Continuing my obsession with the brawler class and it's archetypes;

-Snake Bite Striker-
Snake Feint (Ex): At 3rd level, a snakebite striker who uses a standard action to move can combine that move with a feint. If she is able to feint as a move action (such as from having the Improved Feint feat), she can combine a move action to move with her feint. At 11th level, once per round she can declare her square and one adjacent square as the origin of her attacks until her next turn (allowing her to use one or both squares to determine whether she or allies are flanking an opponent). At 15th level, she counts an additional adjacent square for this purpose. This ability replaces maneuver training gained at 3rd and 7th levels.

Okay so the first part is kinda okay. You can move and Feint but I don't understand the second part when you have something like Improved Feint. Unless it means you can Feint then move?

But it's the level 11 ability that concerns me. There doesn't seem to be an action to do it, you just can. So does this mean you can do this without Feinting? Also, what happens if you move, does the flanking space still stay there?

Okay so I know that having more than one archetype works the following way;

"A character can take more than one archetype and garner additional alternate class features, but none of the alternate class features can replace or alter the same class feature from the base class as another alternate class feature."

So if for example 2 archetype change/remove Alchemist bombs, you can't take both.

But how do this work with Skills for example?

So how does this work? Or Can this work?

Conductive says it needs an ability that is a Touch Attack. So like Lay on Hands and Bombs.

Gun Chemist however doesn't..., 'have' a touch attack to the bullets it infuses. It just makes touch attacks with the gun, not the actual ability.

Is this legal by RAW or even RAI?

So I'm actually not sure how to do this so here goes.

I'm running 2 APs(Mummy's Mask and Skulls&Shackles) and something I haven't really sat down and done is... replacing some items. With items that give only AC, Resistances or Ability scores, I need some ideas for early treasure.

And too often do the first couple books supply a Ring of Protection or Braces of Natural Armor. Should I just switch them around for the same cost or look for more personal items for the group?

Tips?

I'm not entirely sure I get how two of it's abilities work together.

Breaker Rush (Ex): At 1st level, a siegebreaker can attempt bull rush or overrun combat maneuvers without provoking attacks of opportunity. When he performs either combat maneuver, he deals an amount of bludgeoning damage equal to his Strength bonus (minimum 1). If he has Improved Bull Rush or Improved Overrun, the damage dealt by the appropriate maneuver increases by 2 and he adds any enhancement bonus from his armor or shield (though such enhancement bonuses do not stack, if both armor and shield are magic). This ability replaces the feat gained at 1st level.

Breaker Momentum (Ex): At 2nd level, when a siegebreaker successfully bull rushes a foe, he can attempt an overrun combat maneuver check against that foe as a free action. This ability replaces the feat gained at 2nd level.

Okay so, if you bullrush someone you knock them back 5 feet, with further distance based on how well you rolled. So if you knock them back, you can also try to Overrun to keep up with them rather than losing your movement. I believe that's how it's supposed to work right?

But if I do the Two effects together, does that mean I get Two procs of Breaker Rush(1 for the Bullrush, one for the Overrun)?

I mean you don't Overrun the target over every square you bullrush them through right? As that'd lead to some pretty heavy damage depending on how far back you knocked them.

I've seen this happen a few times in my games. Someone gets slapped with a really bad roll(or good/high roll) and they're left with no choice but to sit out the rest of combat. Or massively disrupts the plan/flow that was going on.

As 2 examples, I've seen a player basically quit the fight because they got turned to stone for 4 turns. Given most Pathfinder fights last about 4-6 turns anyway it seems, this meant he'd be out of most if not the entire combat. And we didn't have any way of curing him during the fight.

In my other example, I've been in a group that came up with a pretty good plan on how to kill the boss and the resulting demon we were sure was going to show up after we killed him. Phase one went pretty well, till more than half the team failed a Fear save and had to run away through 2 rooms, leaving me and one other character(Bob) to fight for 3-4 rounds. This resulted in Bob dying in a rear guard action to let me escape but you could tell the rest of the fight he and the others were kinda checked out of it.

It's weird isn't it? As players we seem to like Crowd Control/disables/"Save or suck" when used against enemies but the moment we end up getting tripped/disarmed/stoned/feared/controlled ourselves it's a massive pain to the point it can break encounters if not games depending on how bad they are.

I don't know, I suppose I'm looking for a discussion about how people handle it from both Player and GM sides. Myself I privately roll the effect and question and usually limit it to it's medium length(1d4 turns is closer to 1d2 turns without telling them). And no I don't worry about my players finding out, I only have one player that visits here.

SO what do others think/handle this? Are these examples bad players or have a point? Poorly handled or flaw in the system/expectations of the game?

Sword Saint's Iaijutsu Strike only lists weapon, not a specific type of weapon. Well it lists it once, possibly in the opening flavor text of the ability

A sword saint can perform a lightning quick iaijutsu strike against the target of his challenge to inflict devastating wounds while drawing his sword.

But besides this one mention of a sword, the rest of the text uses Weapon instead. This could be to not confuse people by repeating Sword so much.

But could you possibly use a weapon that isn't a sword for this ability?

So I'm drawing up an encounter for my group and would like to maybe have someone look over the idea.

So the game is a Skull and Shackles run and I'm drawing up a pair of body guards to try and escort a VIP off the ship the team is raiding. PCs are mainly melee with 1 spell caster(Samurai/Barbarian, Rogue, Swashbuckler and caster is Sorcerer).

The idea is to have a strong front line hold/draw attention while the other guard uses a reach weapon to guard from the rear and stop people from taking the shortest path to the VIP. Here's what I've come up with;

Tanker
Level 4 Human Warpriest
STR 14
DEX 14
CON 16
INT 10
WIS 16
CHA 10
(25 point buy, throw the Human bonus into WIS)

Feats
lv1 -Combat Reflexes
Racial - Bodyguard
3rd level - In Harm's Way
Bonus Combat - Step up.

Designed to try and stay in the way or block for the Lancer. Uses Fervor to heal or self buff.

Lancer
Level 4 Slayer - Vanguard Archetype. Maybe Half Elf.
STR 16
DEX 15
CON 13
INT 14
WIS 14
CHA 10
(25 point buy, racial bonus into STR, level bonus can go into DEX or CON but not factored)

Feats
Lv 1 - Combat Reflexes
Lv 3 - Iron Will + Courage in Numbers

So Vanguard Slayer gives up a Slayer Trick for Tactician usage and a free Teamwork Feat at level 3.

Here's how I would LIKE to picture it. Tank sets up in front of Lancer, boosting them with a spell or Blessing. Lancer goes next and uses a Teamwork Feat to grant both of them an extra buff since they're going to be in base to base contact whenever possible. Vanguard also gives a bonus to Init and can allow them to pass off their Studied Target to allies so this can help boost the Tank some more when it comes to a problematic target.

I thought to put down Iron Will + Courage in Numbers because the PC's Samurai+Barbarian is running an Intimidate build and that has helped them chew through some mooks/chaff already.

This is still in the planning/design step and have probably a week to work on it. I could go Paladin and Fighter for a similar set up but I'm unsure. And the example is pretty fast and loose.

Thoughts if any?

So playing in Carrion Crown, with some home rules like the Elephant in the room feat tax rules and some others.

I'm looking into idea of what to do with my Human Brawler and came across Dimensional Agility feat tree. This... actually seems pretty good and I might be able to get to it in a decent rate.

"But MerlinCross, Brawlers can't use Abundant Step or Dimensional Door" and you're right..., kinda?

See the feat in question that actually sparked the idea isn't Dimensional Agility, it's something else. I'ts called Flickering Step.

Flickering Step (Conduit)

It's that Fighter bit down there at the end. Brawlers count as Fighters for qualifying for feats and for feats that have different effects if selected by a Fighter. So with Flickering Step, a Brawler can pick up the Dimensional Agility feats if I'm reading this right. Granted this might up to GM ruling but it looks sensible to me.

Now it's limit is twice my base speed so I wonder if I can use boots to increase that. Still 60 range teleport on a martial sounds pretty decent and in 3 levels(level 9) I can start using Dimensional Assault(Teleport and count as charging so I can make one attack) and by 11 I can use Dimensional Dervish to make a full attack action it sounds like?

This doesn't sound too bad actually as with being a Brawler, I can get up to 3 feats to dip into on the fly letting me skip over some.

Thoughts on this?

This was something that came up twice now but it was last night that really made me want to make a post.

So we're playing an AP that has a trial and we have someone on the stand we KNOW is lying to us. Rest of the players are trying to figure out how to catch him in one when I bring up "Couldn't we just zone of truth?". I had used it before in another game and that worked okay. But another player pointed out it's flaws(The will save and knowing you are effected by the spell) and actually took a dive into spells while we were debating. He only found 1 Paladin spell "Touch of Truth Telling" that would work but that belongs to a certain god. A dead one named Abadar.

So this got me thinking; is Sense Motive strong enough to compete with spells? I mean that's why basically everyone seems to suggest raising it if you can because you can't easily swap it out with a spell, right? I suppose you could get spells to raise your Sense Motive bonus but you still need the skill.

The only thing that might put a wrench into this idea is the use of Command spells. Couldn't you just use some sort of Charm/Command/Mind Control spell to get the truth you want from a subject? Now granted, in a Trial, that is basically asking the other side to just call Foul for all number of reasons but I think that's a way to get around lying.

I dunno, what I'm saying probably has been discussed before but the event sparked a desire to hear from other people. Magic can split the earth, control weather, and make demi planes. Can it keep up with a silver tongued two faced liar though? If so what are some ways to do so(That probably doesn't just give bonuses to Intimidate checks).

I don't know how to really word it otherwise. But while we liked how the GM was running things we just kinda all lost the drive to keep playing Iron Gods. By book 3 we felt like we were just blundering around and book 4 we just dropped after getting to the valley.

Part of the reason was we wanted to take the fight to the Technic League but they were... really no where. 2 spies and a former wizard. That was it. That was it, no clear cut examples in the book of the League going out and doing anything really.

But no we had just several spelunking adventures it felt like and more to come with the valley. Far removed from the actual plot/setting to throw in some Alien feel to it. I'm still somewhat confused about why this seemed to drive off the cliff into weirdvill.

I suppose what I'm asking is;
1) Did any of your groups struggle around the middle point? If so what did you change or do to help get over that fatigue/confusion?

2) What did they think of the jump from book 3 to 4 and the different feel of it?

So Golems are immune to magic unless specified. So have this problem before me.

Carrion Golems have this listed under their stat block for "Immune to Magic" : Any magical attack that deals cold or fire damage slows a carrion golem (as the slow spell) for 2d6 rounds (no save).

Does this mean Fire and Cold damage spells actually do damage or is it just converted to a Slow effect?

Okay so this is gonna be a weird question. Could go into rules but I'd like to se how one would run this.

So, I have some baddies that are going to dress up "monsters". Like enough wraps and they're a mummy, or some seaweed + junk to be a Floatsam terror. I'd probably allow a Perception check to see through it. But that's not the issue.

The issue comes with combat. The disguised goons are going to at first make Unarmed attacks to look like they are using "Slam Attacks". Now if I really wanted to go full in on this, I'd give them the feat but that got me thinking.

If the goons don't have Improved Unarmed Attack, how would you run this? The moment they go to "Slam" the PCs would get a free swing and probably see through the disguise even if it's on a meta level.

Would you wave that rule to keep up the disguise, give them all the feat, or maybe have a Perception roll during the attack to catch how clumsy they are? I'm actually a bit interested in seeing how others would do this.

So wait am I reading this right?

Inspiring Boost restores stamina equal to twice your envoy level + CHA mod. Then at level 6 you can spend a Resolve to add your envoy level to the amount you healed.

So by spending a Resolve you basically triple your envoy level for healing?

I saw this in Mr Plugg's inventory. Short run down;

Any creature attempting to intimidate or demoralize a target wearing shackles of compliance gains a +4 bonus on Intimidate checks. In addition, the holder of the manacles’ key can cast command (DC 25) on the wearer of the shackles three times per day.

Shackles of compliance have hardness 10 and 10 hit points, and a DC 30 Disable Device check is required to pick the shackles’ lock. A manacled creature can break free with a DC 28 Strength check or DC 35 Escape Artist check

Anyone actually see this in use? By PCs or against them? I'm not sure I would actually have Mr Plugg use this on a PC(Debates of taking away player agency even more considering Book 1), but any one else have history of this?

Thinking about having Mr Plugg use these on one of the party's friendlier NPCs that's helpful/useful but not relied on like say Sandara. Like say Owlbear after the fight.

Bit of an oddity now that I think about it. The lack of them.

Stuff like Cutlass, Boarding Axe and Pike, even Harpoons. And given that I'm running Skull and Shackles right now it's on my mind. Especially with the Pirate Archetype. So few things.

1) Should we wait to see if they make them later on? Or should we start homebrewing.

2) And if we homebrew, do we make them different or reskin existing weapons. As an example, would a Cutlass be closer to Shortsword or Longsword? Is a Boarding Axe basically a Hatchet or should we knock it down to Simple(Why is Hatchet Martial?)

So got an odd question for people. One that might involve Homebrewing.

So I'm Running a Mummy's Mask game, and one character - Fighter(Drill Sargent), has gone on record about finding some lost Osirion weapon techniques. Mainly swords.

I've played around with the idea of rewarding him a book(Or in this case a tablet) that he can learn some techniques from. Maybe a Feat, maybe at least a bonus point or two.

Only, hmmm. How would you go about defining Osirian weapon techs? I tried to look up a close proxy in the rule books but didn't see anything. Also tried to look up the real world inspiration being Egypt but also didn't really find anything.

Now it doens't need to be a feat, it could be a weapon(Though he loves his) or a magic item to help with fighting in the sand/desert. Or against undead.

Ideas?

So hmm having an issue or two here. Mainly "What to put in for the players to buy".

The group is playing with ABP so anything like a Cloak of Res is out. And the team is; Bloosoming Light Cleric(Channel Build), Shifter, Fighter(Drill Sargent I think? something that lets him give feats to others), and Psammokinetic kineticist.

So hmm ideas of what to put in? Rather not just hit up a random magic item generator.

That might be spolier that there's a cult in the AP but I don't think it's too much of one.

But yeah, how do you play your cultists? I don't mean the named and ranked ones but the more grunt/foot soldiers. Silent, uncaring, near mindless vessels? Blood thirsty, fanatical, screaming for the glory of their Pharaoh? Somewhere in between?

Other question because I haven't really seen a good answer. Do they worship the Pharaoh to the point of him basically being their god or do they worship the deity he did, which might be Anbuis?

Okay so I do realize I can get away handwaving it as "GM rules" but got a question for you all.

I'm about to run a session in the next week or two where the PCs are able to get a "pet" of sorts on their side. Big strong, and stupid; monsterous humanoid. So like a Lizardfolk or Gnoll, maybe even Orc with tanked Int and Wis stats due to reasons. Barbarian or Bloodrager too so they can get the full "Bad man, SMASH" feel I'm going for. Kinda like a nice puppy you find but also can just rev it up to smash a door.

Soooooo...., how do I build this?

Do I build it as a PC? Start with one of the racial stat set ups and build from there? Take the monster entry and apply a class levels? If I do it that way, do I swap out the base entry's feats?

Again I can just say "GM reason as to why he has more feats than you while not being a fighter" or far different stats than expected. Ideas suggestions? Extra note, this is an early encounter so maybe level/CR 2-3?

Huh this isn't something I've really thought about.

So in the games I'm running and getting ready to run, the players have the option to recruit some allies. A few of these are Divine spell caster. So like Cleric, Warpriest, Shaman maybe. Good stuff.

Only Hmmm, such classes usually have an entire spell book to run off of rather than just knowing spells. Even in NPCs stat blocks, the spells listed could be something completely different if the PCs ask.

So advice; how should I run these allies and do you handle it?

Also games in question are Mummy's Mask and Skull and Shackles.

Okay so, need some tips, help, advice. Not the whole character but some pointers might be needed.

First, we're playing with Elephant in the Room feat tax. Here if you don't know it. Granted we're using the PDF version but they're kinda close.

BUT Even without knowledge of that, short verison is I can skip Power Attack, Combat Expertise and a lot of "Improved Maneuver" feats. That or pick up Dirty Fighting.

No the biggest issue is the following. I'm a Brawler, in Carrion Crown. The heck do I build?

If this is undead heavy(Along with a few other monster types *COUGH* Abominations), Dirty Fighting is right out same with Feint. Trip isn't as useful and Grapple is going to be a pain. So Maneuvers seem right out. I plan on picking up Pummeling Style but that's 2 levels away.

I just don't know what feats to pick up besides just more "Tank" feats. But I find just picking up Toughness and Shield Focus to be..., meh? I don't know.

The team is Standard Brawler, Paladin, Sorcerer, and Druid. And I have no idea what to build/learn to help out against the enemy types. And I just hit level 4, but still can't figure out a level 3 feat. Help?

Okay. So, here's how this happened.

Rounding up some friends for Skull and Shackles. People start picking traits, statting up good times. Someone takes "Getting the Cargo Through" trait..., wait what? Yes, he mistakingly picked it up from Serpents SKULL, not SKULL and Shackles.

For those that don't know; the trait in question gives them 300 extra gold, AND a piece of cargo they need to deliver. What the cargo is, depends on the GM in question.

Now I'm not a big fan of taking traits outside of the Campaign they are in. But this one seems pretty harmless/basic. And besides they'll lose the cash/items at the start of the adventure anyway for a few days/session or two.

So..., it got me thinking; is this a good Opportunity? One of those instances where something just falls into your lap and you go "I can work with this?"

I have a couple ideas myself of what this cargo could be and help hint at the story going forward. Papers towards a certain group, smuggling some supplies/materials for some later event, heck maybe even sneak in some spies this way.

But this also means that the Wormwood also goes through this cargo. Which opens up some other ideas for me.

What do you guys think? Revoke it, use it?

Okay so Kerdak Bonefist. Part of the reason he's so powerful and such a target for revenge was his theft of Sun orchid elixir on it's way to Sun Orcid Elixir from the Thrunes. Twice Even! Why when the old man of a Thrune tried to teleport the Elixir, all he got for his trouble was a note that basically read "Gotcha - signed Bonefist". That was great!

How the bloody devils did Bonefist get the first one?

I flipped through it to a decent degree but it doesn't even hint as to how Bonefist was able to raid and stop the first Exilir from being shipped. I even cracked out a map and was looking at it for a way. Bonefist must have sailed a very long way to be in a position to pillage the ship.

Anyone have an idea as to how he got this feat off?

So I'm running a game or two and I'm using Automatic Progression for the PCs. Short version, magic stat items out, passive level gated bonuses in. No more Cloak of Resistance, you'll get that at level X and upgraded at Y, Z, etc.

I like it, find players buy some odd fun items but..., not here for the PCs. The PCs can take care of themselves.

What do I do about NPCs?

Okay monsters I can slap the Advanced tag on to make up for them not having a Ring or stapling a cloak to themselves but how should I do it with Humanoid NPCs? Partially mid boss/bosses.

Should I fully level them up with the progression? Half their level? Just wing it?

Would love to hear from people.

This has been something I've been meaning to ask for awhile now. Ever since coming to the forums I usually see just complaints about... basically everything in the system. Martials are bad, CLW spam, Rogue is dead, Monk is dead, Everything is +some absuard number, etc etc. And with the coming of PF2 and the playtest, I keep seeing this more and more.

Now I know the forum go-ers are a small part of the community but it's just, how did Paizo keep PF1 going for so long if it's such a bad system to play with? Everyone complains about it but it still keeps getting played. It kept getting sold instead of dying out.

So just, why do you play it?

DnD 4 was a mess?
Your friends dragged you into it?
There really wasn't another game on market like it?
Other options were confusing?

Just why do/did people play this game if it's so broken and bad as a system?

And yes some of this is just to vent my frustration. But I am curious as to WHY people would keep playing this. Even if the idea is "The APs", couldn't you just transfer that to a system you like?

So I noticed this with some of the monsters and this has probably been asked before.

I've seen monsters that have higher damage dice on their weapon attacks. Such as Gnoll Sargent and Stone Giant. Heck, the Harpy Entry has a 2d8 mace.

My question is what to do with these weapons after battle. Are they magic? Do they just revert down to normal ones? How do I explain that if I've done open rolls for battle?

First off, sad to see Master of Styles in the state it's in. Wonder if we'll be able to combine them later on in PF2 life span.

But that brings me to the actual topic. So it takes an Action to Swap from Style to Style right?

Master of Many Styles - Trigger Your turn Begins.
"You use an Action with the Style Tag"

I actually had to reread that a few times before I think I get what it means.

"At the start of your turn, you may enter/take/use a New Stance".

Can we maybe change the writing there? That seems a tad confusing or at least weird to say out loud otherwise.

Why? Just... why?

Anklets of Alacrity (Dex)
Belt of Giant Strength (Str)
Belt of Regeneration (Con)
Circlet of Persuasion (Cha)
Diadem of Intellect (Int)
Headband of Inspired Wisdom (Wis)

I'm just a little bit baffled by this. Maybe I didn't have the proper comprehension but I kinda thought we'd kill off the Big 6 and yet here's 1 of them, the Stat booster.

Why are they back? Why are they here? Heck when my friend brought it up to me I thought "No, those were supposed to be gone right". I even looked up Belt of Giant Strength. At first I thought my friend was over reacting when he just saw the name but then I saw it. "Increase STR by 2 or raise to 18, whichever is higher".

Why Paizo? I'm more sad here than anything. Even with Resonance, how don't these items still become instant pick ups?

So this is a weird thing that just happened in my game.

The group opened up a bag. Plot wise it had "Pocketful of Vipers" which spawns some poison vipers. Which are damage wise 1d4-1. But they have a poison effect if they hit.

So due to the sudden appearance, I ruled they got a surprised round and attacked. Well I got the following result on damage...

1d4-1 = (1)-1 for 0 damage.

Part of me clicked and said "Wait if I didn't actually do damage... do I still poison?"

Do you apply poison if the attack doesn't do damage due to either dice or maybe DR?

Need to sit down with my DM about this but want to get some thoughts here.

Alchemists get Throw Anything for free but also modifiy it with; "An alchemist adds his Intelligence modifier to damage done with splash weapons, including the splash damage if any."

I'm playing in Iron Gods. So we get tech grenades. "A grenade is a small, cylindrical device that is designed to be thrown as a splash weapon"

So um, do I get to add my INT to the damage?

Okay this is less an actual topic and more a question.

I've seen some people post out the list of what we get and when we get it per level. But I'm unsure how to use either my google fu or paizo search bar to easily find that.

That and because some people, myself included, get mixed up on somethings, maybe can just start a thread that complies info rather than having it spread out?

Unsure. I'd like to see that list though if possible.

So I'm going to build a Golem soon. Not optimized but my DM is pretty cool so I can probably tinker with it a bit as the game goes on.

But in the more Immediate sense, question. Golems are immune to spells that have Saving throws(Yes each one has their own small spell list that does effect them but broadly).

However what about non damaging spells? Can you buff a Golem with your spells? Or in my case, could I buff a Golem with Extracts? Or is tinkering and upgrading the golem all I can do?

And if I can buff a Golem, what kinds of spells would you suggest looking into?

So how do you handle it? Lemme explain.

APs are written for a general group and an expected guess of a level. So basically milestones. So how do you handle it? Go by the milestones with no EXP at all? Lower the amount given for side activities or roleplay moments? Not worry about managing the EXP for the books and just scale the CR up with higher DCs and monster templates?

There's probably more ways to deal with it so that's why I'm asking.

Probably should have asked this sooner but;

So my players are going to start running into Haunts in Mummy's Mask. I think I understand it after seeing some Haunts in Strange Aeons but just 1 question.

Haunts can be noticed during the Surprise round they trigger. Noticed and do..... what? The PC that finds it can warn their allies, can they run away, if they stay do they get a bonus to resisting the incoming effects?

It's really not hinted as to what they can do after noticing espically if doing so takes their standard action during the surprise round, robbing them of their move.

So I'm asking around about this as I'm not sure and it seems to have created tension in the group I'm in.

We're playing a session, level 4, and we stumble across a Gibbering Mouther. Oh dears. Now someone charges in to melee and gets grappled. Okay no problem..., no wait here's the issue.

Blood Drain (Ex) On a successful grapple check after grabbing, several of the creature's mouths attach to its target. Each round it maintains its grapple, its mouths automatically deal 1d4 points of bite damage and 1 point of Constitution damage as it drains its victim's blood.

Now here's where we get into problems. The DM sees the Mouther has 6 bite attacks. Thus it has 6 Mouths. And while DM ruling is a thing, I'm not sure I agree on the fact it has 6d4 + 6 Con damage Automatically.

How does this work? Was the DM in the right?