Nyhme's page

I cancelled my paizo subscriptions just for this reason. Rule 0 should be for flow and balance. If you dont understand a rule in game, the gm gives their interpretation and game continues. Then post game you can look for interpretation. Instead it's being used for the GMs to do the heavy lifting of rules interpretation. I like pathfinder because of its crunchy attention to detail. The GM should be spending their time preparing for the story and then as confusion arises should rule on interpretation for the fun of the party and smoothness in continuing the story.

Why buy books for a system that's been poorly edited, has little support and essentially defaults to the cheap rules lite game systems out there of "ask the gm"?

I get paizo only has 25 million a year in revenue. But it would be simple to reach out to the community for feedback on the rules and how they've been interpretated and played out. Then use that feedback with the developers in charge of those areas and give an official ruling.

I love paizo. I just dont feel that they should get a pass for a poorly implemented strategy just because they are the little guy. There are ways to get the multitude of ambiguous questions answered without increasing cost. If this is the quality that we can expect from paizo in the future then I dont see any reason to continue buying the products.

The best ad&d 2e campaign setting had 10th lvl spells. And it's the only thing wotc could ever produce that I'd actually purchase. Though I don't think they'd be able to get Troy Denning to come back so doubt it would be as good as it was. The 4e stuff they put out for the setting was pretty blah. Never played the 4e stuff, since i havent purchased anything by wotc since before they purchased tsr.

But I think the 10th lvl spells in pathfinder 2e was also to make cantrip auto heightening and scaling more smooth. And since cantrips were going to scale that way. It opened up being able to split up some of the 9th lvl spells. I really like how they've done spells and scaling in this edition.

Quote:

Good night, familiar. Good work. Sleep well. ::splorch:: I'll jus remake you in the morning.

I have a few variations; I jus grab the one I want on any given adventuring day

Any entertaining quote that references the princess bride gets a favorite from me.

Nyhme wrote:

The owl lacks the mount trait. So yes you can ride it this way, however, it would lose its ability to fly.

Source Core Rulebook pg. 214 2.0
You or an ally can ride your animal companion as long as it is at least one size larger than the rider. If it is carrying a rider, the animal companion can use only its land Speed, and it can’t move and Support you on the same turn. However, if your companion has the mount special ability, it’s especially suited for riding and ignores both of these restrictions.

Yes its animal companion not familiar but it's not a hard stretch to assume RAI would apply since corgi mount has the restriction on non land speeds.

Familiars don't use Mount. Look at the Corgi Mount feat: they had to spell out that "it can never gain a familiar ability that grants it any Speeds other than a land Speed". So it's true the RAI seems to be against permanent mount flight. Temp flight not so much as there are spells that already do that. Using a enlarge and taking actions to mount and command a LARGE familiar around for 5 min seems less an exploit to sidestep RAI and more a quick way to murder a familiar...

I disagree. Enlarge as a 2nd level spell and flight plus improved flight on your familiar for 80 feet of flight for 1 action(2 actions to move 40 from command) versus a 4th lvl fly spell and only 20 feet of movement per action would be huge difference.

And yes I agree it is an easy way to get your familiar killed but with the ability to minimize attacks against you since youre flying and other abilities like lifelink that can be mitigated.

Not saying its overpowered but could be exploited. Being able to balance encounters around fly at 3rd lvl would be significantly more problematic than at 7th lvl but its doable.

The owl lacks the mount trait. So yes you can ride it this way, however, it would lose its ability to fly.

Source Core Rulebook pg. 214 2.0
You or an ally can ride your animal companion as long as it is at least one size larger than the rider. If it is carrying a rider, the animal companion can use only its land Speed, and it can’t move and Support you on the same turn. However, if your companion has the mount special ability, it’s especially suited for riding and ignores both of these restrictions.

Yes its animal companion not familiar but it's not a hard stretch to assume RAI would apply since corgi mount has the restriction on non land speeds.

Nyhme wrote:

Fumarole wrote:

Nyhme wrote:

Time stop, horrid wilting, dispell magic and his other 9th+ effects would also work normally. He would lose freedom of movement though.

I do not think this is a correct reading of the antimagic field spell. The spell description says higher level spells (specifically calling out dispel magic) can "affect the field itself," not that the spell is unaffected by the field and works normally within it. It's an important difference.

CRB pg 318 "Spells of a higher level than the antimagic field overcome its effects, and can even be cast by a creature within the field"

I'll be damned, that's correct.

I know! I can't tell you how many times ive read that spell and completely missed that myself.

Nyhme wrote:

A lot

But what if you whole party doesn't have cleric dedication and 24 Dex?

Can you build a party from the ground up to fight Treerazer? Yes. That doesn't make him easy to kill. No.

Yep, i have like 8 different 4 person party makeups that can do it easily. That was just the easiest to type out.

4 rogues is my favorite but thats just cause its all stealth and so can avoid an actual setup easier.

The most reliable is a fighter, barbarian, swashbuckler, rogue setup.

There's also the super gimmick rogue solo build but it requires a 12 on 2 d20 and a bunch of setup without being discovered.

But all of these require an unprepared treerazer that is by himself. He is a super genius thats paranoid and the god of his on cult/clergy. He will have a high priest of his clergy as well as many cultists and demons nearby to aid him. Plus theres no reason why he wouldn't be investing other magic items everyday. So yeah he should be a nearly impossible fight. My point is dont put him with just that stat block against a prepared party.

Nyhme wrote:

Even still, Treerazor by himself and not played properly is an easy kill. A fighter recieving the aid action to attack from a hafling with a heroism spell, a quicksilver mutagen and a true target only needs a 6+ on 2 d20s to damage and slow 1 him or more devastatingly a spellstrike arrow with 8th lvl searing light if they archetyped into cleric. A ruffian rogue with duel weapon warrior, dual thrower and dual onslaught only needs an 8+ on 2 dice to hit, deal sneak damage and apply debilitation. A giant instinct barbarian with duel weapon warrior and dual onslaught with fangwire is also almost guaranteed to apply a grapple with their hit at range 20 so other than just attacking the barbarian's appendage has to break the gapple to get in melee and yes freedom of movement guarantees success on his escape but that means treerazor is down 1 action and already at map -5. Which a paladin or an observant halfing investigator with foresight cast on them can easily tank. Or a gymnast swashbuckler under 4th lvl enlarge and a whip with a readied action to trip once treerazor steps into range. I can go on with more ways a party can easily overcome treerazor but i think the point is made.

I'm not so sure about your builds here. Just taking the fighter, the quicksilver grants an item bonus, so it doesn't stack with your weapon so net +1, he's also taking 40 hp damage and a -2 to fort saves (very bad against Treerazer). I assume you are using a Halfling so they can have Halfling Helper feat, but that only grants a greater circumstance bonus on skill checks not attack rolls. It would also not be unreasonable for the DC to aid attacks against Treerazer to be very high, say a 40+. So with a 9th level and 7th level spell, assuming a flanking bonus and a critical success on aid, the fighter now goes from a +38 to a +45 against a 52 AC, meaning on two rolls he needs a 7 or better to hit. But that is also only for the first hit. It is more likely to be a +43. Your halfling friend who is using 2 of 3 actions...

Hasted/heroism hafling fighter with cleric dedication And Spellstrike arrows

Setup round wizard makes sure everyone has invisibility at greater than 60 range so trueseeing no issue. Everyone delays initiative for it to line up wizard, rogue, ranger fighter.

Rogue sets up an aid action, Ranger sets up an aid action, Fighter sets up an aid action. Next round wizard does true target time beacon and quickened polar ray needing a 10 to hit(28+7+3+4) on 4 dice(93.75% chance). Ice damage plus drained 2.

All 3 martials are doing spellstrike arrow with their 8th lvl searing light 2 actions, 1 aid action for the next person in line and their quickened action to shoot their spellstrike activated arrow.

Ruffian rogue goes 8 to hit on 2 dice(84% chance 28ish% chance to crit). Bow damage plus 8th lvl searing light damage plus clumsy plus weak piercing 5 plus sneak damage from arrow and spell. Ranger goes 7 to hit on 2 dice(87.5% chance 30ish% chance to critw) bow damage plus weakness piercing plus precision plus 8th lvl searing light, fighter goes 5 to hit on 2 dice(93.75% chance to hit 45ish% chance to crit) bow damage plus searing light damage plus. This isnt figuring the aligned oil on the arrows so theyre doing good damage and made from cold iron arrows. Anyways yea treerazor dead and he wasnt aware of the fight.

Aid affects attack

Aid Reaction
Source Core Rulebook pg. 470 2.0
Trigger An ally is about to use an action that requires a skill check or attack roll.
Requirements The ally is willing to accept your aid, and you have prepared to help (see below).

Doubling the dc from 20 to 40 is absolutely unjustifiable an incredibly hard/unique dc adjustment the highest listed on the dc adjustment chart is only +10. So anything more than 30 isnt even feasible by any stretch. but even still with a few easily aquired feats a 40 is easy to crit the aid.

26 prof, 7 dex, 4 circ from cooporative nature, 3 from heroism and 4 item bonus thats a +44 bonus on your rediculous 40 dc. With thw reroll from luck its very improbable not to get a crit on the aid.

From cultural adapability
Human
Source Core Rulebook pg. 57 2.0
The short human life span lends perspective and has taught you from a young age to set aside differences and work with others to achieve greatness. You gain a +4 circumstance bonus on checks to Aid.

1st lvl feat is hafling luck, 5th cultural adapability 9th helpful hafling 13th is guiding luck. So you have a free reroll.

And dont get me wrong Treerazer done properly should be a ridiculous encounter. However as i told the op, a 5 person prepared party thrown against a solo treerazer will win relatively easily unless they dont know how to prepare.

I .... fail to see how this is pertinent?

Pertinent is the ritual is the only way to actually make yourself an undead. And it increases your level by 2. So a 20th lvl sorcerer could then have a 17th lvl undead minion while being a dracolich(ravener)

Getting my group to convert to 2e has been the problem. We have our skulls ap that i play in, an age of ashes that just started that my wife runs, a strange aeons that just got to book 2 that im converting to 2e now despite my groups hesitation to convert to 2e and our super long running(coming on 15 years now) 3.5 that is set in dark sun.

We also do a few short campaigns in other systems every now and then.

The only thing that would ever get me to purchase a wotc product ever again would be if they ever started putting out new dark sun content.

Nyhme wrote:

Create undead ritual on pg 411 of the crb. Dont need anything wacky at all. Create if you dont crit succeed then send them off to do a singular command crit succeed you have a minion.

So consider the damphir ability to turn your companion into an undead combined with the cavalier 20th lvl feat that quickens you to command your mount. Undead mount, 2 undead minions from create undead and an independent familiar and you still have 1 action to cast true target for your minions to ravage away.

But the minions have to be 4 levels bellow you, meaning they'll always struggle a lot.

Personally I'm more of a fan of having some around and then moving them in order to final sacrifice them.

Thats true but you could also be an evil draconic sorcerer with bloodline mutation or entreat forebears that also cast the ritual raveners reanimation so you'd be effectively 2 levels higher. I mean you do need to get the rare ritual and then gamble with failing the ritual but man that would be fun.

Create undead ritual on pg 411 of the crb. Dont need anything wacky at all. Create if you dont crit succeed then send them off to do a singular command crit succeed you have a minion.

So consider the damphir ability to turn your companion into an undead combined with the cavalier 20th lvl feat that quickens you to command your mount. Undead mount, 2 undead minions from create undead and an independent familiar and you still have 1 action to cast true target for your minions to ravage away.

Cordell Kintner wrote:

The reason the Champion version is different is because it doesn't have a requirement, while the fighter/bastion version does.

They shouldn't stack, but they would have to add a clause to the Champion version saying it doesn't.

I'll believe it when the errata happens. Until then, they are different abilities with different requirements, even if they are functionally the same effect.

Plus, it's not at all OP until Indestructible Shields become available, since Shield HP is definitely a concern well beyond the levels you have these reactions. 2 to 3 reactions against effective enemies will destroy that shield within 2 or 3 rounds, barring crits, which will make it even worse.

Agree it might be going against RAI or it might not but overpowered it definitely isnt. Indestructible shield or possibly a combination of the mending lattice with an orichalcum shield and shield salvation could but even still that's not overpowered by itself unless paired with disarming block or aggressive block. And then youre talking a huge feat tax to get there.

And also by the time indestructible shield or the other combination comes online a fighter is only a couple levels from boundless reprisals anyway. So your talking a fighter with 1 block per enemy plus standard block plus quick block available versus a champion that took the 2 extra block feats and maybe the extra champion reaction feat. Seems pretty comparable.

Nyhme wrote:

Time stop, horrid wilting, dispell magic and his other 9th+ effects would also work normally. He would lose freedom of movement though.

I do not think this is a correct reading of the antimagic field spell. The spell description says higher level spells (specifically calling out dispel magic) can "affect the field itself," not that the spell is unaffected by the field and works normally within it. It's an important difference.

CRB pg 318 "Spells of a higher level than the antimagic field overcome its effects, and can even be cast by a creature within the field"

Non treerazor thought. That means a 20th lvl cleric could cast antimagic aura with effortless concentration then cast avatar.

The Raven Black wrote:

Then it would be easier to follow if you explicitly state it as your personal opinion rather than some kind of undeniable truth.

Zapp wrote:

You need to be trained in unarmed attacks to be considered "threatening" and thus flanking.

Unfortunately, since errata every character class is trained in unarmed combat.

It makes zero sense an unarmed human should be allowed to flank (unless you're in a fist fight or wrestling match).

If you're a monk, yes. Of course, your entire schtick is that your hands and feet are lethal weapons.

If you're a regular western hero, not so much. Even a fighter should need to wield a dagger at the very least before he counts as flanking. And no, wielding a bow or a holy symbol or a wand doesn't count. (I hated the whole stupid Legolas-killing-Orcs-with-arrows routine)

Unfortunately you need a houserule for this to happen :(

My first post contains six paragraphs. I've quoted the entirety of my post unedited. Let's walk through the paragraphs, shall we?

#1: Just a rules fact.
#2: Another rules fact combined with an opinion
#3: This is clearly my opinion.
#4: Again.
#5: ...and again.
#6: Here I clearly state that what I want is not what the rules say.

Don't listen to those who claim otherwise. In reality all they're doing is revealing how they assume I mistake facts for opinions, and how their responses are colored by this prejudice.

Have a nice day

Your main flaw is in the logic of lethal attacks being what causes flanking. The flanking bonus is due to distraction. If you are fighting 2 opponents if one is a 110 pound guy that's slapping at you like a swarm of mosquitos and the other is a guy swinging a baseball bat both are going to be slightly more effective. Being terrified of a bat to the face is going to make the slap more likely 3 stooges poke your eye and having a hand in your face is going to make it harder to dodge the bat.

If youre insinuating that the guy would focus on the bat and dismiss the lightweight slapper. Then you have to accept that he would absolutely be flat footed to the shocking grasp delivered from the same lightweight. But since pathfinder doesnt have facing and flanking is a condition inflicted by 2 characters. It works

Also by your logic the feint action shouldnt exist. Feint isnt lethal its a distraction. If a trained combatant is insitctively capable of knowing if the punch coming from behind is being delivered by a monk verusus a wizard or the same wizard reaching out delivering a touch attack spell.Then wouldnt the same trained combatant being equally capable of knowing that the rogues left hand wasnt actually intended to be lethal?

Additionally with your reasoning then the person slapping the trained combatant wouldnt provoke reactions since for your logic to work it means the combatant is completely dismissing the slappy weakling.

The point is the game is balanced around characters maximizing their attacks with all sorts of buffs, aids and debuffs. So houseruling to fit your convention of common sense is only causing unnecessary imbalance.

Technically allowed since they dont have a trigger requirement. If it said

"Trigger your turn starts"

Then no it wouldnt since they would have the same trigger and you can only recieve one effect from one trigger. And there is no restriction on 2 feats granting the same bonus not stacking unless its a typed bonus or specifically restricting(i.e. nimble elf and fleet stack but tiefling hoofs aren't allowed)

Alternatively 2 completely different named feats with the same trigger wouldnt work. Ie if you were a dual class wizard/monk with effortless concentration and master of many styles. You could only gain either the free sustain or the free stance. Since both have the same trigger. But nothing is stopping you from taking both.

Also you didn't ask this and i assume you didnt mean it this way but figured I'd say it anyway. You still only get to use 1 shield block per attack. But im pretty sure you didn't mean it that way.

And as usual theres the "up to gm discretion" for the multitude of ambiguous rules out there.

I'm definitely changing my opinion on antimagic field in regards to treerazor. If he is in one as an 8th lvl spell it definitely wouldn't affect most of his spells and blackaxe. Blackaxe is a +4 item which is higher than 20th lvl so a 10+ spell effect. Saying that it winks in and out is just lazy, no spell effect in the game only partially affects things. A large creature doesnt recieve 25% of a lightning bolt damage because the line only passed through one corner square. Time stop, horrid wilting, dispell magic and his other 9th+ effects would also work normally. He would lose freedom of movement though.

Even still, Treerazor by himself and not played properly is an easy kill. A fighter recieving the aid action to attack from a hafling with a heroism spell, a quicksilver mutagen and a true target only needs a 6+ on 2 d20s to damage and slow 1 him or more devastatingly a spellstrike arrow with 8th lvl searing light if they archetyped into cleric. A ruffian rogue with duel weapon warrior, dual thrower and dual onslaught only needs an 8+ on 2 dice to hit, deal sneak damage and apply debilitation. A giant instinct barbarian with duel weapon warrior and dual onslaught with fangwire is also almost guaranteed to apply a grapple with their hit at range 20 so other than just attacking the barbarian's appendage has to break the gapple to get in melee and yes freedom of movement guarantees success on his escape but that means treerazor is down 1 action and already at map -5. Which a paladin or an observant halfing investigator with foresight cast on them can easily tank. Or a gymnast swashbuckler under 4th lvl enlarge and a whip with a readied action to trip once treerazor steps into range. I can go on with more ways a party can easily overcome treerazor but i think the point is made.

The beauty of 2e is the strategy. If you only think "a fighter needs an 18 to hit" you arent playing correctly. With a 3 action economy fighting a lone boss is all about managing action economy. Its relatively easy to cut treerazor down to 2 actions then force him to have to use actions just to get into melee.

One thing i haven't seen mentioned. The 20th level cavalier feat is amazing. Not much of a consideration since who plays much at 20th lvl but definitely amazing.

Dr A Gon wrote:

Wouldn't antimagic field will stop spellstrike arrow shenanigans?

Your average party is highly dependent on magic items (more than a monster which has better stats but fewer powers and fewer toys) and I think antimagic helps treerazer. It will depend on the party build, however; godless healign and alchemy could still heal inside of antimagic. TR can still escape by flying at 60. Unless you're like a strix monk or something, wthout magic flight items, I don't see how you chase it.

I need to ask if artifacts are affected by antimagic field? (Are they magic items?) They are certainly not affected by disjunction.

Antimagic field is a 10ft radius around the caster. It will reduce the Blackaxe damage from 4d12 + 5d6 + 15 down to 1d12 + 2d6 + 15, but that is still an average of 28.5 damage per hit. With a 15 ft reach he's not even in the AM field. Also maybe he doesn't use Blackaxe, maybe he just bites you. There are not striking or property runes to disable on that.

Also he might be able to dispel it with his level 9 dispel magic. And nothing stop him from using Blackaxe to heal himself.

Antimagic field is immune to dispel magic at all levels.

Non magic flight for 20th lvl is easy. Aasimar, teifling, strix, tengu, kobold, cloud jump, felling shot, felling strike all easy ways to overcome it.

And yes antimagic would overcome the spellstrike arrow shenanigans but treerazor is also very dependent on magic. If you can stop his magic then it's easy to strategically manage his actions and take him. No freedom of movement and a giant instinct barbarian with a gill hook can shut down 2 of his actions every round with relative ease. Or even more reliable giant instinct duel weapon warrior barbarian with giants lung duel wielding fangwire with furious grab is pretty much guaranteed to shut treerazor down in an anti magic field.

It completely depends on how you set him up. I doubt antimagic field is a good idea since it turns blackaxe into a plain obsidian axe. His bite is still impressive but axe is his heal and his better attack. He also cant use his get out of jail free card in one.

Remember he has a 26 intelligence. Make sure to play him as such. Also, take into account he is aware that with him being cast out of the abyss he is terrified of dying on yhe material since it means his permanent death. He will escape the moment he feels the fight isnt going his way.

If you allow the PCs to get the jump on him the fight will be a joke. A cold iron spellstrike arrow with a high level searing light cast in it can easily take half his life in one shot.

I think it should have azata. I couldnt find any examples of a chaotic neutral one but their plane of origin is the more important factor i think. They originate from Elysium and Azata are the primary residents there.

Nyhme wrote:

graystone wrote:

Nyhme wrote:

A nektera sprite fighter get sprites spark for sonic damage. Specialize in sling weapon group adopted ancestry halfing grab some titan slinger. Then they can run around saying "pew pew pew pew" and kill things with your finger guns.

Just remember that those 'pew pew' finger guns will only ever have a max range of 20', not range increment.

Well of course. What self respecting finger gunslinger draws down at high noon at more than 20 paces?

That was awesome.

No worries. Looking at the stats I think the Tarrasque would be more of a challenge than this guy. No regen, no ranged attacks, trueseeing only at 6th lvl, no other precise or imprecise scenses. The needing to kill him in 2d6 rounds a second time after the first is problematic though.

Scratch that there's an easy way around that too. Assuming meta knowledge of treerazor, tarrasque and Cthulhu with prep time and an open field for battle. This Cthulhu is the easiest of the three.

I don't really have the time, personally, and I'm sure others here will do a better job than me.

No worries. Looking at the stats I think the Tarrasque would be more of a challenge than this guy. No regen, no ranged attacks, trueseeing only at 6th lvl, no other precise or imprecise scenses. The needing to kill him in 2d6 rounds a second time after the first is problematic though.

Nyhme wrote:

A nektera sprite fighter get sprites spark for sonic damage. Specialize in sling weapon group adopted ancestry halfing grab some titan slinger. Then they can run around saying "pew pew pew pew" and kill things with your finger guns.

Just remember that those 'pew pew' finger guns will only ever have a max range of 20', not range increment.

Well of course. What self respecting finger gunslinger draws down at high noon at more than 20 paces?

Since Treerazer has now been killed, you may be interested to consider the level 30 Cthulhu that Paizo developer Luis Loza wrote up for an unofficial article.

http://knowdirectionpodcast.com/2020/02/monstrous-physique-cthulhu-2e/

I'm in the process of reverse engineering the numbers on it for the monster building guide in the GMG, and so far it's looking consistent with a logical extension of the tables. So I think Paizo's table goes up a lot higher than the one they gave us.

Ooh, i like this. I have a couple build ideas. Do a new post, please. Set the scene. What are the restrictions on build, prep time, how much distance to start?

A nektera sprite fighter get sprites spark for sonic damage. Specialize in sling weapon group adopted ancestry halfing grab some titan slinger. Then they can run around saying "pew pew pew pew" and kill things with your finger guns.

Nyhme wrote:

Also, I will argue that theif is the best ranged rogue over mastermind. Yes the racket doesn't benefit bow shots. But at 10th lvl theif is the only racket with a zero action way to inflict flat footed.

2nd lvl archer
4th point blank shot
6th parting shot
8th eldritch archer
10th precise debilition.

Is the target flat footed?
Yes then eldritch shot.
No then parting shot.

No investment in additional lore or any other need feat for recall knowledge. Mastermind can only take advantage of eldritch shot if they got lucky on a crit recall. Automatic knowledge could do free flat footed on weak targets but meh.

If you're wanting to play a ranged rogue what racket is better? Up to 6th sure mastermind but parting shot changes that. 2 actions flat footed shot and step or 1 action recall knowledge for chance at flat footed strike no step.

Also bow is 1 hand+ so if you have to be melee and have a finesse natural attack then you get to take advantage of your dex.(note technically doesn't work by raw) but you do have a hand to draw a dagger and stab.

Also wanted to point out at 10th lvl not only is the theif free way of inflicting flat footed superior to mastermind for the rogue but the entire group. Mastermind is flat footed to only you. Scoundrels feint is only to melee attacks and has the mental trait. Precise debilition is just flat footed.

You are assuming that the party with the mastermind is not also benefiting from gaining the information that you get from recalling knowledge. There are many ways to build in getting to recall knowledge as a free action. Automatic knowledge really works well with the additional lore feat and getting specific about the kinds of targets that you are trying to identify. Being able to snipe and give a -10ft movement penalty is all the mastermind really needs to be an incredibly frustrating foe.

I mean you're right but at what cost and why? Addition lore, assurance,, automatic knowledge for how many skills? Sure you're a rogue but 3 skill feats for lore undead then 3 for lore animals etc... there aren't enough skill feats.. sure the campaign might have a theme but still. You could go loremaster and grab automatic knowledge for everything but then youre sacrificing some great high level feats. Investigator and ranger do the recall knowledge for the team better, enigma bard does it better. Wizard could feasibly do it as well, without sacrificing so many skill feats.

Plus you're the rogue. Using int just to give your target flat footed for you and then having some info to give the party is pretty lackluster in comparison. And if your going with automatic knowledge then an 8 int does as well as a 22 int.

Theif inflicting flat footed for everyone is superior in almost all scenarios to a -10 speed penalty. Heck if you really like the recall knowledge part theif is still better. Take parting shot and all the same recall knowledge feats you've got the same as what mastermind has but more versatility. And if the mastermind is taking parting shot then why bother being a mastermind? Theif has the better debilitation feat and more reliable ways to inflict flat footed and can still prioritize dex con and wis over int.

Mastermind small chance for 1 minute of flat footed for self only. A ton of devotion to recall knowledge skills. And bonus of giving info on targets.

Theif easily inflict flat footed at ranged with only 2 feats. One way inflicts flat footed for the party including for the spellcasters spell attacks, which is hard to do. Against already flat footed targets can add more precision damage. Better ability prioritization for wis and con for survivability and finding traps.. what rogues are supposed to do. And able to use skill feats for rogue skills.

If I were a paizo game designer. Eldritch Trickster would have been minor magic at 1st, magical trickster at 2nd and then progression in the tradition you chose with minor magic at 4th, 12th and 18th.

You could argue theif is even better than eldritch trickster since you can throw daggers and cast electric arc.

But skipping that, this is just a generic tossed togethwr.

Half elf scoundrel rogue
Same ability score breakdown as if you went eldritch trickster sorcerer, bard etc.

Wildborn magic electric arc
Nimble dodge or you're next I mean you are charisma based.

Distracting feint

Otherworldly magic telekinetic projectile.

Magical trickster

Something cool

Eldritch archer

Give your guy a whip, don't need to be trained in it just need the 10' melee reach.

First level standard 0 level badger AC 16 reflex +5 electric arc is superior with the reflex save of +5 versus dc 12 needing to take half damage. So 1 and 2 is crit double, 3 through 12 regular damage and 13 through 19 half and 20 none. 5% no damage, 35% half damage, 50% regular damage, 10% double damage.

Versus telekinetic projectile needing a 7 to hit if they are flat footed and crit 17 to 20.
1 to 6 zero damage, 7 to 16 regular damage 17 to 20 crit. So 30% no damage, 50% regular damage, 20% crit. It loses out even with extra 15% double against the 35% half damage.

2nd and 3rd lvl now we have distracting feint. So use the whip to feint at 10' and drop reflex by half. Now cr 2 blackberry 18 ac +8 reflex so that's a wash. Trickster has sneak now though. So chance for double damage is the same as trickster but you still have the gap for half damage versus no damage. And electric arc can hit 2 targets.

4th lvl now it's equal footing for damage but also consider this. Scoundrel feinting is debuffing ac for melee and reflex and perception for everyone. That's a world of difference versus the trickster creating a distraction.

6th lvl game over there's no comparison now.

Also more fun but won't work on mindless and things that don't understand you. Daze and bon mot. Now your debuffing will for everyone, doing the better damage as mental and a chance to stun 1 and force them to use an action unless they like that will debuff. That's gross and bon mot is so fun. 3rd lvl you could have daze, electric arc, bon mot and distracting feint. Also distracting feint and non mot are awesome together. One is circumstance the other is status. So perception debuffed by 4 or 5. Super easy crit feint there.

(Substitute Half-Elf for Elf above as appropriate, although I haven't heard a final resolution of whether Half-Elf even qualifies...

There was an official pfs ruling that half elves can't take it. I understand the logic but it's disappointing. In pf1 half elves were the king of multiclassing. No the only reflection of that is at 9th lvl with multitalented they can ignore the ability requirements.

Now ancient elf adopted ancestry human multitalented is king of multiclassing which I guess in a way is sort of half elf.

Eldritch trickster is terrible. The only reason to take it is for role-playing a back story. Scoundrel and mastermind do it better.

Twin Feint doesn’t require you to actually feint. There’s no success roll needed. The target is automatically flat-footed against the second attack. It’s a way for a low level rogue to ensure that someone is flat-footed to at least one of their attacks. So, again, it doesn’t compete with double slice, because you use them for different things. You’ll probably stop using Twin Feint at 6th, but you can’t even get double slice until 2nd (edit: forgot it was included in the dedication) (if you even take Two-Weapon Warrior and assuming you don’t want a different archetype). You can always retrain twin feint to something else at 6th if you want.

What double slice should really be compared against is just attacking twice. Someone ran the math there at one point and it seemed like it worked in double slice’s favor, since you can choose which attack to apply sneak to. And that worked out better with the extra crits than getting sneak twice with normal MAP.

Nimble Dodge is pretty terrible. You have to use it before you know the result of the attack, so it just ends up wasting your reaction most of the time. And at 8th level you’ll likely want your reaction for Opportune Backstab.

Your logic on nimble dodge is flawed. We are literally talking about an attack that changes AC by 2 before you know if it changes the outcome. That logic could also go "raising a shield is pretty terrible. You don't even know if you'll be attacked or if it will change the outcome"

Also, hit or miss isn't the only function of nimble dodge. The majority of you level monsters need a 9 to hit most characters that don't have a circumstance or status bonus. So in most cases that +2 from nimble dodge is actually reducing their crit chance by 1 as well. It reduces by 2 if they're needing an 8 to hit.

Logic on nimble dodge versus opportune backstab is also flawed. We are talking a mostly situational choice between 2 feats. Do you nimble dodge or opportune backstab with your reaction? And I agree most of the time I'll save for opportune backstab. But if the tank is down or indisposed or I know won't be attacking this round or if me and the other melee people already went so opportune backstab might not happen. So yes nimble dodge isn't the reaction you'll default to most of the time but I can guarantee it is far more often than the times Twin feint outperforms double slice.

But again your logic on retraining falls short since same logic applies to nimble dodge at 8th instead of twin feint.

Lastly I'll argue that nimble dodge is superior to twin feint even without double slice. A crit on a squishy rogue at 1st lvl can easily mean instant dying 2. So nimble dodge reducing a crit on 19 or 20 to 20 or crit on 18 to 20 to a 20 is huge.

Nyhme wrote:

Also, I'm so not a fan of twin feint. Dual weapon warrior at 2nd gives double slice. Even for a rogue I think double slice is the better feat. Yes you only get sneak damage once. But consider this twin feint is strike/strike -4. Double slice is strike/strike. So second attack is landing 20% more frequently and criting more if your bonus is high enough to have you needing a 9 or less. Twin feint is only better when both land. Double slice both hit ok sneak once. But say one crits and one hits you choose which gets precision so crit sneak. Also you get to add everything for overcoming damage reduction.

Twin Feint and Double Slice shouldn’t be competing with each other. You only need to use Twin Feint when the target isn’t already flat-footed. So it’s strike/strike -2 effectively but with sneak attack.

If you are already flanking or have them flat-footed, then twin feint doesn’t do anything, and you can double slice.

If they aren’t already flat-footed, you can double slice for a better chance to hit with the second attack, but you won’t get any sneak attack damage.

The feats are used in different situations.

Absolutely disagree. Twin feint is a wasted feat when you have double slice.

Your "strike/strike -2" over simplifies it. Better "strike/strike -4 + flat footed" since if double slice is against flat footed it is it is strike/strike both against flat footed.

Now let's look at the feint action. Target is flat footed against your next melee attack not strike attack. Double slice is a melee attack that gives two strikes. So feint double slice is a full map attack that provides strike/strike against flat footed. Twin feint is also an attack that gives two strikes so if you're feinting first then Twin feint is the same as 2 strikes no feat.

If you don't want to put points in charisma there's tumble behind but again flat footed next attack so twin feint is pointless. So the only time twin feint falls as advantageous to someone with double slice is if they can't flank, cant tumble behind(if they took the feat) or cant feint.

Now given the extremely rare situation that your scenario comes into play let's not forget that you chose that very situational feat over nimble dodge.

And then when you have gang up or any of the other ways to inflict flat footed twin feint never has a situation where the second attack against flat footed matters.

And yes you could say it's not the attack action that qualifies but the attack trait on strike. And that's probably the more accurate interpretation. But even then you still have a higher chance to hit at full map + flat footed and full map against not flat footed. And in most scenarios double slice still outperforms here. Now if you feint twin feint then you are close.

Anyway what I'm saying in even in the scenario that twin feint is better it's marginal and not that frequent and at 6th level and beyond its easy to get flat footed on all your attacks. And sacrificing nimble dodge for a situational slightly better attack is not a good choice. And if the target as any kind of resistance to the attacks double slice absolutely is superior in all situations.

Adding some opinion here. I hate how they did mastermind. Recalling knowledge is more investigator. Mastermind should work like the predictable feat maybe on just that perception do int instead of wisdom.

How does knowing the book facts on a human help you predict how a rogue versus wizard will move? None of the other rackets require as much as mastermind to make their racket work.

Skill monkey rogue was my favorite in 1e. And I played him like professor Moriarty. I'll take theif, ruffian or scoundrel over mastermind.

The other caveat, with that houserule, is that there's no such thing as a character without a Finesse Unarmed Attack. Having claws or something could be important in the specific case of fighting constructs, with their immunity to nonlethal damage, but otherwise the nonlethal trait on Fist is rarely a problem.

Yea and that makes sense. We houserule for unarmed it has to be lethal and agile as well as finesse. So no monk dragon stance etc.

Updated the original.

That last bit, about finesse unarmed strikes is not accurate without a houserule, I'm afraid. Thief's DEX to damage only applies to weapons, not unarmed attacks (to the dismay of many rogue martial artists).

Accurate, I did forget that one since we do have that house rule.

This and my stumbling stance swashbuckler are the two characters I currently play.

Also, I will argue that theif is the best ranged rogue over mastermind. Yes the racket doesn't benefit bow shots. But at 10th lvl theif is the only racket with a zero action way to inflict flat footed.

2nd lvl archer
4th point blank shot
6th parting shot
8th eldritch archer
10th precise debilition.

Is the target flat footed?
Yes then eldritch shot.
No then parting shot.

No investment in additional lore or any other need feat for recall knowledge. Mastermind can only take advantage of eldritch shot if they got lucky on a crit recall. Automatic knowledge could do free flat footed on weak targets but meh.

If you're wanting to play a ranged rogue what racket is better? Up to 6th sure mastermind but parting shot changes that. 2 actions flat footed shot and step or 1 action recall knowledge for chance at flat footed strike no step.

Also bow is 1 hand+ so if you have to be melee and have a finesse natural attack then you get to take advantage of your dex.(note technically doesn't work by raw) but you do have a hand to draw a dagger and stab.

Also wanted to point out at 10th lvl not only is the theif free way of inflicting flat footed superior to mastermind for the rogue but the entire group. Mastermind is flat footed to only you. Scoundrels feint is only to melee attacks and has the mental trait. Precise debilition is just flat footed.

Also to consider for dual weapon warrior with a ruffian rogue. Guide gave powerful sneak a relatively low rating. With powerful sneak sneak attack is no longer precision damage. So both attacks apply those extra d6s. Now twin feint is completely useless.

Think of this silly combination. Ruffian rogue with 2 spellstrike weapons. 4th lvl you took magical trickster to go with that. Now powerful sneak. You got gang up so target flat footed. Both ones a crit the other hit 3rd action pop spellstrike on the crit weapon if it's still loaded. So all that weapon damage plus the 3rd lvl spells crit damage plus you get sneak attack 3 times 2 of which are crits and didn't once suffer from map.

For ultraintelligent monsters I often assume they know everything, not that they used Recall Knowledge, just that my limited mind can't comprehend their intelligence so it's easier to figure they know what I, the GM knows, somehow, whether from instant deduction or ancient experience and retention. Whatever a party of mortals can devise could never outwit them (without an element of luck or third party interference).

Though in balance, this means that they can't also have the firepower to win plus they'll need some motivation to fit in the narrative rather than create their own.
And most of my high Int spellcasters have some sort of illusion to begin matters, deplete the party's 1st round buffs. Now that True Seeing's a bit less effective, I suppose I can keep at it. :)

In the Winter AP, I had the 40 Int (!) NPC attempt to talk with the high-20s Int PC (in private) about meta-theories of causality (given the RPG nature of that universe). For example how however unlikely an event should be, there always seemed to be a 1 in X chance of it occurring where X was often 20 to a power (d20 shenanigans) and sometimes 100 to a power (representing percentile charts' long odds). So by considering an extreme option, it became more possible. Quantum causality writ large?
The player only partially understood, so it worked out well. :)

ETA: On the flip side, stupid and mindless creatures would often be powerful brutes that the players could outwit if in interesting terrain, etc.

I agree. If I were running an ancient dragon he would have a host of his commander kobold posted everywhere and all of them will either have a wand of status or be able to cast status. Then the moment one is killed my intruders or charmed etc I know. I know which one died and where I posted him that day. So clairvoyance and clairaudience to see the intruders and hear their plans. Then precisely prepare to overcome exactly their plan. There's tons more but properly played as long as an ultraintelligent being can make friends he will be prepared.

Nyhme wrote:

HumbleGamer wrote:

Nyhme wrote:

Also consider mauler dedication for ruffian rogue with longspear or scoundrel that grabbed whip claw.

Harder they fall, shove down and shoving sweep. Your reaction suddenly becomes Gandalf screaming "you shall not pass". And possibly dealing sneak damage. Or skip Harder they fall for knockdown and control the field. If you late add barbarian say 9th multitalented then work in brutal bully you get to add strength to damage twice.

Consider oread human ruffian rogue. 2nd mauler, 3rd unconventional weaponry whip claw, 4th harder they fall, 5th the oread rock break thing, 6th shove down, 8th shoving sweep, 8th lvl you're master in athletics. Oread ability 1 action, step back 2nd action, use hampering 3rd action. Now you've got 5 squares in your reach that can't be stepped into and a reaction ready to send them flying if they try to approach the ranged guys behind you. 9th barbarian from multitalent, 10th sudden charge from barbarian, 12th giant stature since you're giant instinct. Now you're large with a reach weapon and a crazy reaction and mo size creature you can't shove and trip.

Or maybe you also take knockdown at 10th and preparation at 12th so you can and stay down at 14th. Now you trip them they try to stand and you say no with your preparation reaction. And a 2nd baddy comes in and you and you have shoving sweep ready for him. Its amazing control.

Alternatively, knockdown, harder they fall, whatever at 8th, improved knockdown. Now trip from knockdown auto crits so weapon damage plus sneak twice and a d6 plus they're prone.

Isn't better for a rogue to just rely on 2 strikes ( twin fein for example ) per round?

Especially by lvl 12, because of preparation, being able to hit twice during your turn and twice out of your turn should be the perfect deal ( if you are quickened you'd probably forgo twin feint for 2x strike ).

Against low level targets, that would be a higher damage output. But at 7th lvl you're

...

Also, I'm so not a fan of twin feint. Dual weapon warrior at 2nd gives double slice. Even for a rogue I think double slice is the better feat. Yes you only get sneak damage once. But consider this twin feint is strike/strike -4. Double slice is strike/strike. So second attack is landing 20% more frequently and criting more if your bonus is high enough to have you needing a 9 or less. Twin feint is only better when both land. Double slice both hit ok sneak once. But say one crits and one hits you choose which gets precision so crit sneak. Also you get to add everything for overcoming damage reduction.

Now consider a thief rogue. Debilitating strike says strike hits flat footed and deals damage not sneak attack just damage. So say you crit one hit the other. Precise debilition you can apply to the regular hit and then add your 2d6 from Precise debilitation to the crit.

Additionally if you're grabbing filtchers forks then with dual thrower you can double slice at range. Add in Precise debilition being able to keep them flat footed and now you're keeping them flat footed at range no need to create a distraction. Plus super later on 1 failure and one critical failure you still get a hit to do sneak damage.

Also dual weapon warrior gives you the higher level dual weapon feats that fighter dedication wouldn't allow. Like two weapon flurry. So at 16th lvl you pretty much auto hit once even on something ridiculous like treerazor. Inflict your debilition then can have 3 more attacks(two weapon flurry plus quickened) at -8 double debilitation you added both flat footed and extra precision damage so any of those three that land get the extra 2d6 precision.

Nyhme wrote:

Also consider mauler dedication for ruffian rogue with longspear or scoundrel that grabbed whip claw.

Harder they fall, shove down and shoving sweep. Your reaction suddenly becomes Gandalf screaming "you shall not pass". And possibly dealing sneak damage. Or skip Harder they fall for knockdown and control the field. If you late add barbarian say 9th multitalented then work in brutal bully you get to add strength to damage twice.

Consider oread human ruffian rogue. 2nd mauler, 3rd unconventional weaponry whip claw, 4th harder they fall, 5th the oread rock break thing, 6th shove down, 8th shoving sweep, 8th lvl you're master in athletics. Oread ability 1 action, step back 2nd action, use hampering 3rd action. Now you've got 5 squares in your reach that can't be stepped into and a reaction ready to send them flying if they try to approach the ranged guys behind you. 9th barbarian from multitalent, 10th sudden charge from barbarian, 12th giant stature since you're giant instinct. Now you're large with a reach weapon and a crazy reaction and mo size creature you can't shove and trip.

Or maybe you also take knockdown at 10th and preparation at 12th so you can and stay down at 14th. Now you trip them they try to stand and you say no with your preparation reaction. And a 2nd baddy comes in and you and you have shoving sweep ready for him. Its amazing control.

Alternatively, knockdown, harder they fall, whatever at 8th, improved knockdown. Now trip from knockdown auto crits so weapon damage plus sneak twice and a d6 plus they're prone.

Isn't better for a rogue to just rely on 2 strikes ( twin fein for example ) per round?

Especially by lvl 12, because of preparation, being able to hit twice during your turn and twice out of your turn should be the perfect deal ( if you are quickened you'd probably forgo twin feint for 2x strike ).

Against low level targets, that would be a higher damage output. But at 7th lvl you're master in athletics. So twin feint expert then expert minus 4. Knockdown expert trip at full master Against reflex which I can't think of anything that doesn't have a lower reflex than ac. You're chance to crit on the trip will typically be higher than to land the second attack.

Also consider you get the prone condition on the target. In the game of managing actions and debuffing inflicting prone is awesome.

Also consider mauler dedication for ruffian rogue with longspear or scoundrel that grabbed whip claw.

Harder they fall, shove down and shoving sweep. Your reaction suddenly becomes Gandalf screaming "you shall not pass". And possibly dealing sneak damage. Or skip Harder they fall for knockdown and control the field. If you late add barbarian say 9th multitalented then work in brutal bully you get to add strength to damage twice.

Consider oread human ruffian rogue. 2nd mauler, 3rd unconventional weaponry whip claw, 4th harder they fall, 5th the oread rock break thing, 6th shove down, 8th shoving sweep, 8th lvl you're master in athletics. Oread ability 1 action, step back 2nd action, use hampering 3rd action. Now you've got 5 squares in your reach that can't be stepped into and a reaction ready to send them flying if they try to approach the ranged guys behind you. 9th barbarian from multitalent, 10th sudden charge from barbarian, 12th giant stature since you're giant instinct. Now you're large with a reach weapon and a crazy reaction and mo size creature you can't shove and trip.

Or maybe you also take knockdown at 10th and preparation at 12th so you can and stay down at 14th. Now you trip them they try to stand and you say no with your preparation reaction. And a 2nd baddy comes in and you and you have shoving sweep ready for him. Its amazing control.

Alternatively, knockdown, harder they fall, whatever at 8th, improved knockdown. Now trip from knockdown auto crits so weapon damage plus sneak twice and a d6 plus they're prone.

Nyhme wrote:

Love the guide. One thing I think you missed in considering the value of arcane sense. It's detect magic as an innate arcane spell. That's trained in the arcane tradition. So at 1st lvl(rogue, investigator or anyone taking one of the backgrounds giving it) you can use arcane scrolls, wands etc and don't need trick magic item.

Consider an aasimar elf eldritch trickster bard. 3rd lvl he is trained in every spellcasting tradition(bard- occult, halo-divine, arcane sense- arcane wildborn magic - primal). 3rd level and trick magic item is obsolete.

Totally love the guide though.

I am not following your logic. Why do you think that Arcane Sense gives you the ability to use scrolls and wands? By its terms it gives you a single spell, detect magic.

Just double checked. The trained in the arcane tradition only affects that innate spell. So yea, retract that arcane sense is meh.

Nyhme wrote:

Also, I think the martial artist needs another footnote. Totally correct with stumbling stance. However a human rogue or one with adopted human can grab multitalented at 9th for monk. Then flurry at 10th. Now a scoundrel rogue gets his feint at a bonus and 2 backstab trait agile finesse attacks all for 1 action. I think it's definitely a blue archetype for a rogue with access to multitalented. And the question is why not just take monk? Stumbling feint is a 12th lvl feat there not an 8th.

Yeah, that's a good note. I'll add something in. In fact, I like it so much I'm doing another Rogue/Martial Artist build using that.

It's such a gross build. 1 action you're making target flat footed to the whole groups melee attacks and debuffing his reflex and perception, at 12th lvl your now also making it so he gets no reactions and getting 2 attacks. And you still have 2 actions. Cast an electric arc and flip the bird knowing he won't have an AoO.

In an AP, I wouldn't be surprised if TR has extra abilities in his base, partly because that's been done with other AP bosses and partly to plug up any weaknesses that the writer can't use the setting or allies to handle.

I expect the party will come in with lots of help, i.e. the each get Wishes like in the playtest finale, because of the level difference and to give TR some allies as we agree he should have nearby.
I think that Defoliation ability is meant to be his at-will "wilting", and in tighter combats, it is pretty rough, though I could see Master/Legendary Fort martials persevering maybe too easily.

The Tarrasque often is pictured rampaging across the land, which always seemed to make him vulnerable IMO to PCs simply trying until they succeed by kiting him or such. I'd expect a published encounter to be down in his pit as he reawakens. I don't know that he'd have too many followers in the same battle since he'd eat them too, though backstory could solve that somehow I suppose. I dislike the notion of anybody making nice with him and him reciprocating.
I wonder at what point does it run away given it's stupid yet wiser than nearly all creatures ever! Wuh?! (Of course he's better than an Olympic gymnast too, such is the wonky, anime-escalation of PF2.

The final AP creatures haven't been level 25, maybe 23?
Not sure where Tar Baphon will sit, but it's such a dramatic, dynamic shift in the world, I expect there might be an AP, a PFS season, and more before he's handled. (As in maybe the Pathfinder Society helps clip some of TB's support in canon so that the AP PCs can seal the deal...whatever form that takes given TB's resilience.)

Haven't read Bestiary 3.
Can't think of anything as iconic as the two we've got other than maybe a Cthulhu/Elder Gods critter maybe.

Couldn't agree more.

Defoliation is the ideal and agree but a 30 foot emanation is trivial to work with. The only class that doesn't have a good way of dealing with it is a melee rogue but what rogue is going to allow a party to tell him to go stabby stab the big dinosaur demon guy?

And yeah I can't picture a reciprocal relationship between the cultists and the tarrasque. But cultists of rovagug are used to unreciprocated adoration, so it's on flavor. Tarrasque would definitely eat them given the chance. But the puny loud food stuffs are making his ouchies better. So other than the occasional snatch and snack out of frustration I think his mind set would be to save those snacks for later, after the sky pokies have been dealt with.

GMing the super intelligent is one of the hardest things. Like it's rare to see a GM do an ancient dragon correctly. You're talking a being smart enough to get frustrated with Neil Degrass Tysons inability to grasp some basic astrophysics that all dragons after 600 years fully understand. The Dragon has literally had centuries to do batman levels of prep on every possible configuration of party/race and has a set of files, just like batmans "incase this hero goes rogue" memorized in his head and has prepared for it. But then GMing them properly would typically lead to TPK or at least a dragon fleeing to plot his revenge. And that's no fun.

Also, I think the martial artist needs another footnote. Totally correct with stumbling stance. However a human rogue or one with adopted human can grab multitalented at 9th for monk. Then flurry at 10th. Now a scoundrel rogue gets his feint at a bonus and 2 backstab trait agile finesse attacks all for 1 action. I think it's definitely a blue archetype for a rogue with access to multitalented. And the question is why not just take monk? Stumbling feint is a 12th lvl feat there not an 8th.

My current character is similar. Fencer swashbuckler that worships Cayden Cailean with a dazzling buckler and a mug in one hand punches in the other.

Love the guide. One thing I think you missed in considering the value of arcane sense. It's detect magic as an innate arcane spell. That's trained in the arcane tradition. So at 1st lvl(rogue, investigator or anyone taking one of the backgrounds giving it) you can use arcane scrolls, wands etc and don't need trick magic item.

Consider an aasimar elf eldritch trickster bard. 3rd lvl he is trained in every spellcasting tradition(bard- occult, halo-divine, arcane sense- arcane wildborn magic - primal). 3rd level and trick magic item is obsolete.

Totally love the guide though.

His best route is to hide, not Time Stop, though I doubt most GMs would have thought this out and aren't as smart & experienced as TR.

He'd want to hide because he can't see you despite seeing most everything all the time. So he knows he's dealing with some major high level player who just launched a missile at him that hit him in a vulnerable spot and exploded in fire yet did no damage.
First step would be safety (Hide, possibly Time Stop depending on if a party has been wiping out his troops lately), then recon (Recall Knowledge & Seek) because there's no offense to launch yet.

For all TR knows, the first attack was a ruse (possibly even a 9th+ illusion he saved against) to get him to blow a 1/day ability (not just Time Stop, but Horrid Wilting; he'd want to know they're useful).
Not sure how easy it'd be for him to find a place to find cover or concealment, yet given he has the skill, I'd say his lair should have something even for a Huge creature.

One thing I forgot, which is another reason I switched to the bow. The first attack crit so he has immobilized. Freedom of movement isn't nearly as good as it was in 1e. Yes he auto succeeds at removing the immobilized condition but he wasted am action.

So in the scenario above if he does the recall knowledge and wants to hide. It's recall, remove arrow hide. He does need to take cover since he's not a legendary sneak or not very very sneaky. So now second round he's taking cover but observed and he has a higher ac. Back to the if strategim tells me that second attack will hit then win. If it doesn't then flee and hide.

Or he skips the recall knowledge and does a take cover, hide, sneak. Then there's a 30 foot radius form where he originated for me to try a seek. And DC 50 isn't hard for a rogue at 20. Finds him, checks the attack roll, miss move on or hit finish him.

Now the scenario does need far more info. As a GM I'd never have Treerazer without a horde of orc, demons and cultists. He grants spells and has the one glabrazu at his beck and call. So there's definitely a high level cleric for heals and buffs and a wizard or sorcerer for haste and other buffs. A ton of demons seeking as well other support. I don't think the original scenario would ever happen since it does put him in a very dangerous situation. Since he knows 2 rogues built like this would almost guarantee and instant kill.

That all rogue party with blank slate( we will call them team Tswift). Could easily stalk into the witchbowl and kill him with very small chance of failure. Same strategy just not waiting for the 20 but 4 shots chaining attack aids for a +4 circumstance since we are swapping out elf step for helpful hafling. So 4 of those attacks all needing only an 8(7 if the ruffian went first and hit) on the 2 die 20s for a hit. Last one going would be the one that went wizard so he uses his third action for a power word stun on the off chance he is still alive after the 4th attack.

But again the getting there would need to be played out. Unless the witchbowl has some 10th level alarm or similar spells it's going to be hard to prevent them from finding treerazor.

Also, I'm kind of disappointed with 2e treerazor. Horrid wilting should have been 8th lvl but at will. Why's treerazor limited to once a day on a spell that screams treerazor? And why no decent ranged attacks? Telekinetic projectile is all has and its barely farther than his reach. He should also have at least an imprecise scence with a 120' range like the tarrasque. Call it "wailing of the trees" while in Tanglebriar treerazor is so attuned with the anguish of nature, it has become a sense for treerazor. Effectively giving him imprecise echolocation to 120 feet. Like you said a shot at over 120 feet in the Tanglebriar would be nearly impossible to set up.

Tarrasque is easy too with flying legendary shot rangers. He can't hide being the big dummy he is and 1000 feet of range is a lot of sky to be searching out of his scent range. But it does take a ton more to take him down. Since he doesn't have Treerazers weaknesses and searing light doesn't do much. Stuck with spamming divine Lance. As long as you're averaging over 50 damage a round he will eventually drop, hopefully before the arrows run out. Of course if he did emerge you could assume a band of rovagug cultists would be there buffing and healing him.

I haven't opened my bestiary 3 that came yet. Was there a new 25 cr?

I'd love to see tar baphons stats. Anyone GRINGO him would have to really know their stuff.

As a small note, not sure how helpful Sculpt Sound would be. At highest, the DC for a spell like that, which is being tricked, could be 10 +20level +6prof +7stat =43. (Correct me if my numbers are off.)

Treerazor's perception, without being a DC, is +46. That means he has to roll a not 1 to succeed at the spell, and anything above a 7 will net him a critical success, meaning that he is able to pinpoint the original sound's starting point.

You sir are absolutely correct. However he does need to actively use perception for that.so he's reducing his actions. He could even use a recall knowledge and with the crit success know the spell cast, it's tradition, and figure out that the inflections come from a kyonin elf with some laziness so most likely a half elf. That's 2 actions now he has to seek. So same situation. I do also have ventriloquism ready. So yes he will crit the disbelief but again an action used.