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Regardless of what happens in the War of Immortals adventure, I hope Yivali shows up. They'd be a fun little helper-NPC!

Oh man, there goes my bracket!

I was figuring Zon-Kuthon's death would be to merge with Shelyn. Comedy and Tragedy together, as divine pathos (like theater masks).

Also, Yivali calling her "Miss Shelyn" is just adorable!

Again, BIIIIG ol' spoilers. If you're playing don't read this.

** spoiler omitted **
Am I nuts? Does it need this? Anyone gotten this far and can comment?

Personally, I despise it. If I were a player, losing everything we had spent 2 books working on with zero chance of preventing the loss would make me leave the game. Absolutely hate it and seriously wonder why this was approved. The BBEG attacking the party with a surprise attack and trying to steal the cards? That's good! Love a proactive enemy. But automatically stealing them comes off as GM undercutting the party.

My recommendation is to have the robbery happen, but the party can try and hold onto cards if they take actions to do so during the fight. This makes the fight more dynamic as they have to decide whether to spend actions on holding onto cards or dealing with the monsters. As high level PC's they'll have plenty of options as well, but the BBEG can still get away with a good chunk of them. The rest of the book can still happen too, so it doesn't invalidate the rest of the adventure.

"Unfortunately, in some cases, a variety of reasons makes leaving behind strigiform-ursine hybrids or cuboid gels the best option for us."

Life is pain, but I understand. :(

I'd actually recommend alchemical items for pre-buffing. Many alchemical items, like elixirs, mutagens, poisons, etc. have either a long duration for their level or last until used (bombs, poisons, etc.).

Not to reinforce the idea that Alchemists are just fantasy vending machines, but they REALLY can buff the party in a variety of ways relatively cheaply.

My party was discussing how to get into Stormholt to assault the Black Whale prison-ships and one of them brought up airships. They also enjoyed the Dragonfly Pagoda dungeon and realized that it should be completed by now.

That's when one (I think the monk?) had the brilliant idea "What if the Dragonfly Pagoda was actually an airship?!"

As everyone was excitedly freaking out, I took a solid 3 minutes to think about it. Not having prepared anything close ot this (they can literally just take a rowboat to the Black Whale), this idea is too good to pass up. Right now they are already in the Black Whale, working their way through the prison, but I want to explore setting up the Dragonfly Pagoda as a vehicle they can use later on.

I'm thinking using the standard Airship stats (https://2e.aonprd.com/Vehicles.aspx?ID=1) to represent the Pagoda and having Olansa Darvakka minions attacking Absalom from the skies to create an dogfight between the PC's and the Darvakkas.

What do you think? This is going to be a BIG addition to the adventure, but it sounds so rad that I don't want to just ignore the idea.

Zon-Kuthon and Shelyn merging together could have some fun comedy/tragedy themes, like theater masks.

Brothers of the mine rejoice!
Swing, swing, swing with me
Raise your pick and raise your voice!
Sing, sing, sing with me
Down and down into the deep
Who knows what we'll find beneath?
Diamonds, rubies, gold and more
Hidden in the mountain store

Born underground, suckled from a teat of stone
Raised in the dark, the safety of our mountain home
Skin made of iron, steel in our bones
To dig and dig makes us free
Come on brothers sing with me!

I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole
Diggy diggy hole, diggy diggy hole
I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole
Diggy diggy hole, digging a hole

I love the backstory; but as far as I can tell Elixirs of Life should by all accounts work on undead.

Negative Healing [basic undead benefits]: "You are damaged by positive damage and aren't healed by **positive healing effects**. You don't take negative damage and are healed by negative effects that heal undead."

Elixir of life
[alchemical, consumable, elixir and healing].

Elixirs of life accelerate a living creature's natural healing processes and immune system. Upon drinking this elixir, you regain the listed number of Hit Points and gain an item bonus to saving throws against diseases and poisons for 10 minutes.

Healing Potion
[consumable, healing, magical, necromancy, **positive** and potion]

A healing potion is a vial of a ruby-red liquid that imparts a tingling sensation as the drinker's wounds heal rapidly. When you drink a healing potion, you regain the listed number of Hit Points.

You could however make the argument that there should be negative healing potions just as there are Healing Potions that have the positive trait

This! Beat me to it. RAW, the Elixir of Life just recovers HP without the Positive or Negative tags, so it'll heal HP for anyone!

Squiggit wrote:

Personally I'd rather not see the specializations get too heavy.

"too" heavy is always hard to define as it definitely depends on people (and builds in this case). But I still hope they'll be feats to improve aspects of the Alchemist that have hardly been glanced at currently.

The Mutagenist has nearly no feat: Revivifying Mutagen and one feat per Mutagen but you will hardly specialize yourself on all of them. Toxicologist only has the choice between 5 feats (and most Poison-based feats are based on you using poison but not your allies, which is a very important part of being a Toxicologist/Alchemist). Even the Chirurgeon has only 6 feats that are more or less related to healing Elixirs (without even addressing the fact that many of them are quite bad). The only specialty with a proper support is the Bomber.

So I hope there will be a higher level of specialization but by always making sure that Alchemical Items are perfectly usable without having the specialization (unlike Bomber as of now which is too weak if you don't buy a lot of feats). A specialization that increases usability and options but don't increase efficiency... Something hard to achieve.

Oh yeah, more Mutagenist feats would be cool! Maybe more stuff like Revivifying Mutagen (https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=97) that let you end a mutagen early in exchange for an effect. Drakeheart Mutagen already does this with its speed boost, but you could do this with a one time attack bonus, AC bonus, saving throw bonus, damage bonus, breath weapon, quickened, flash of dazzling light, skill bonus, etc.

There was also the Master Chymimst prestige class in PF1 (https://aonprd.com/PrestigeClassesDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Master%20Chymist) that gains a mutated form from their repeated use of mutagens. This mutated form can gain various abilities, like darkvision, a larger size, and even an entirely different personality.

PF1 also had alchemy feats based around altering one's own body. These would do stuff like help you avoid critical hits (your organs have shifted around) and gain new abilities. This might be more for the Chirugeon than the Mutagenist though.

This would be a BIG change to the entire game, but I think creatures need more Weaknesses and fewer Immunities.

I love the idea of the Alchemist having cheap access to a wide variety of damage types (fire, cold, electric, etc.) that they can use to exploit enemy Weaknesses and avoid their Resistances/Immunities. However, a minority of creatures have Weaknesses that can be exploited and far too many have Resistances/Immunities, so the creatures themselves undercut what should be the Alchemist's strengths. This also applies to other classes/builds that can use a variety of damage types (notably blasters).

A solution to this would be to reduce the number of Immunities, reduce the number of Resistances, and increase the number of Weaknesses. I would drop most Immunities to a high Resistance (save the ones that REALLY need to be there, like a fire elemental being immune to fire). Most Resistances I would either reduce (Resist 10 > Resist 5) or do away with entirely. Adding Weaknesses to creatures that didn't have them before might be a little tricky with some, but by and large should be easy to pull off.

An easier change would be to make Alchemists more debuff-centric via poisons. This would largely involve changing poisons by making more of the include conditions (enfeebled, clumsy, stupefied, etc.) and making fewer creatures immune to poison. I would also make poisons follow the Persistent Damage rules as opposed to their own subsystem, but that's me. More debuffing poisons, less poison immunity, and improved weapon proficiency, would be very helpful for making Alchemists pack more of a punch in combat.

One last thought, but in PF1 I greatly enjoyed the +2/-1 tradeoff that mutagens and cognatagens provided. Maybe bring that back for the mutagens in PF2?

Introducing Terimor Before Book 6: the Gray Queen is one of those villains who doesn't really show up on camera until very late in the adventure. Part of this is certainly due to keeping her off the player's radar as a potential threat as well as Terimor's skill at deception. If I remember correctly she does appear in book 1 briefly, but doesn't have any scripted lines and is just another government official who's upset about the Graveraker's disappearance. It's not until book 6 that she's suddenly revealed to be the BBEG, seemingly out of nowhere.

So how do we fix this?

What I did in my game is introduce Terimor in book 3 as a political ally of Captain Asilia. Terimor is a low-ranking member of the Council of Absalom who presents as a shy, mousy, bureaucrat who is a bit over her head in politics. I also had her play a role in running the Radiant Festival.

At my table, she's another NPC who is there to be a potential ally to the party and the "gateway" to the political side of the game. If my players wanted to, they could talk to her to learn about the political situation in Absalom with the Council, Radiant Festival, and any other high-level issues they'd like to explore. I had a few other NPCs in similar roles that my party could talk to, though they never really talked to Terimor much. I did make sure to get these NPCs on camera at least 3 times each, so they were established as Important People, but we'll see if my players suspect Terimor by the end.

Gatewalkers involves a prolonged escort mission as the PC's guide Sakuachi so she can progress the plot. The story here kinda stops being about the PC's and instead focuses on this NPC (who I do honestly like).

However, many players find escort missions un-fun and making an adventure about an NPC is often disappointing and frustrating for players. There is a sidebar that tries to address this, but I don't think that'll work for every table.

So let's brainstorm alternatives. What can be changed in Gatewalkers in books 2-3 to refocus the adventure on the PC's as opposed to Sakuachi?

Posted this on Reddit, reposting here to cover my bases.

So since PF2 started I had written off Inhaled poisons as a situational hazard for DMs to use as traps, but never really considered using them as an NPC or PC.

However, the Inhaled trait states:

"An inhaled poison is activated by unleashing it from its container. Once unleashed, the poison creates a cloud filling a 10-foot cube lasting for 1 minute or until a strong wind dissipates the cloud. Every creature entering this cloud is exposed to the poison and must attempt a saving throw against it; a creature aware of the poison before entering the cloud can use a single action to hold its breath and gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the saving throw for 1 round."

My understanding of this is that the container of inhaled poison can be opened and the 10 ft cube can be centered on the user OR pointed in a direction, so the cube only has to be adjacent to the user. Is this correct?

Also, can inhaled poison containers be thrown like a bomb, breaking on impact and releasing the toxins into the air?

If the directed-release or thrown uses work, Inhaled poisons are a LOT more useful than I had assumed based on previous experience. It would allow Alchemists and others to use inhaled poisons as battlefield control items, which hasn't been part of the Alchemists/Alchemical Items discourse that I've seen.
I suspect this reading is incorrect, otherwise others would have spotted it first, but I don't think its necessarily wrong. If nothing else, it'd be interesting to make an alchemical tool that releases inhaled poisons as a 15 foot cone or something.

Sure, a couple points:

-Stacking buffs can only go so far, as you can only benefit from the highest bonus from each of the three types. If I remember that thread correctly, they had made a rules error and the magus had benefitted from too many bonuses.

-That party had worked together to come up with a strong strategy, which should be rewarded! If your players come up with a good idea, its important to let them have that victory. Its only when that idea becomes overused that it becomes an issue (as is the case in that Reddit thread).

-Dispel Magic is a heck of a drug. So is Anti-Magic Field and similar effects.

-Your tactics won't help if you're ambushed! Give your players a Perception check or two, then BAM! Assassins.

-Battlefield control spells, especially those that split the party (ex: Wall of Stone) and/or lockdown a single target (ex: Paralyze)

Gotcha, okay. Having it only apply to the original target of the Strike on a Success or Critical Success makes sense RAW and RAI.

Thanks folks!

As the title, I had been telling an alchemist in my party that they can apply injury poison to a Junk Bomb and the poison would hit everyone that took damage from the Junk Bomb.

However, after re-reading the rules on injury poisons I think I might be wrong. Specifically:

"An injury poison is activated by applying it to a weapon or ammunition, and it affects the target of the first Strike made using the poisoned item. If that Strike is a success and deals piercing or slashing damage, the target must attempt a saving throw against the poison. On a failed Strike, the target is unaffected, but the poison remains on the weapon and you can try again. On a critical failure, or if the Strike fails to deal slashing or piercing damage for some other reason, the poison is spent but the target is unaffected."

What's the correct answer here?

Westcrown, former capitol of Cheliax, is the best match-up.

It's a coastal metropolis with extensive canals, heavy Italian inspiration, theater scene, and was supposed to be the site where Aroden would come down from the heavens to rule the Chelish empire himself.

See: https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Westcrown

OmegaZ wrote:

Ope just found this guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TRekzATFniY4ZRiCSWOYDvLAOaqefsBetqT_Kxf a71Q/edit

Still open to suggestions, though :)

Link says "Sorry, the file you have requested does not exist."

Ope, it's the gadget one here: https://zenithgames.blogspot.com/2019/09/pathfinder-2nd-edition-guide-to-gu ides.html

Ope just found this guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TRekzATFniY4ZRiCSWOYDvLAOaqefsBetqT_Kxf a71Q/edit

Still open to suggestions, though :)

I'm looking into making an inventor who uses a lot of gadgets and I love the ones that were printed in G&G. However, I wonder which ones are best to pick up. Any advice on ones to definitely pick up and/or avoid?

I'd suggest updating Carrion Hill in there somewhere. That one has a LOT of Yog-Sothothery in there.

Oh, good idea! I like Carrion Hill, so translating it to PF2 would be a fun exercise if nothing else.

I'm thinking of running the new Candlemere material as its own adventure, separate from an ongoing Kingmaker campaign, and want to get any advice y'all have to share. Here's what I've got so far:

This would start at level 4 in Chapter 2, part 7, "Candlemere Island". I'm not sure what the hook would be, but providing a few options would be pretty easy (Pharasmin PC seeks more information on a site of ancient clerical work they don't understand, occult investigators curious for secrets, dungeon crawler looking for treasure, etc.). This whole chapter could be run as-is.

Cult of the Bloom could be reworked into some weird eldritch shenanigans, planting the narrative seed that Bad Stuff is happening and is tied to Candlemere. Stopping these occurrences and investigating them can give clues about what is going on elsewhere. This will cover levels 6-8.

I'm considering adding the Varnhold Vanishing to cover levels 8-10. Considering the next Candlemere material is at level 16, I'm okay having a bridge between the two sections. Vordakai would make a good cultist as well, easy enough to change his backstory. I'd definitely want to add in a few elements that are more eldritch-horror and appropriate for showing that the Yog-Sothoth cultists are still a threat to the area. The "Among the Nomen" part would be a nice break from the spooky occult stuff, as well.

Chapter 8, part 3, "The Ghost of Whiterose" could also be reworked to fit the adventure. Instead of looking for Briar, the PC's could be uncovering some fantastic treasure that will help them in the dungeons below Candlemere and end the Thresholders for good. The problem is this is a jump to level 14, so we'd either have to time/level skip or fill in the gap.

After that we are at Chapter 9, "They Lurk Below" at level 16. This might require another time/level skip, unless we write more material (maybe borrowing from ideas in other AP's like Strange Aeons?). This whole chapter can be run as-is and will serve as the end of the adventure.

As Yog-Sothoth is connected to time, maybe that could be tied to the time/level skips somehow? At least thematically, if not mechanically.

What do you think? Any ideas? Suggestions? Critiques?

Okay that's not bad at all, really. I don't mind a couple bucks increase (and several decreases), especially for the quality of the books.

While Selty's new art is gorgeous, I can't help but miss his edgy black leather look (also don't mind how low-cut his top was).

The real catch with new class ideas is to come up with the theme or mechanics that aren't already represented in existing classes/archetypes/builds.

I'd really like something with mechanics similar to the Solarian from Starfinder, which builds up attunement to photons or gravitons the longer they're in either stance. Could translate it very easily or make it elemental as well!

I'm a big fan of the Mesmerist from PF1 so translating that would be great as well. I've been fiddling around with a homebrew Mesmerist that includes a supportive therapist subclass, which helps avoid some of the ethically dubious aspects of the class.

Lastly, this would work better as an Archetype, but some kind of Mageslayer would be neat. The dedication feat could give you better saves against magical effects and bonus damage against spellcasters. Later feats can give you tricks to help against different schools of magic (anti-conjuration gives you bonuses against summoned minions, anti-enchantment can trick the enchanter into thinking you failed, etc.) Eventually you can cut through magic like a knife through butter!

Oh nice, definitely using this in my game. The Harmony/Discord conflict alone makes for a wonderful character arc for a diviner.

I'm actually running a homebrew adventure in Sarkoris where the PC's are all new members of the Reclaimers, the loose alliance of Mendevian crusaders, Kellid tribespeople "coming home", and Green Faith druids trying to resettle Sarkoris. Naturally, these three groups have different ideas of what "resettling Sarkoris" means that don't always overlap (beyond slaying any demons left behind).

The Mendevian crusaders conflicted. On one hand, the Worldwound is closed and many want to just go home to pick up the lives they had assumed were over. On the other hand, leaving behind a broken land would be irresponsible and if the demons come back the crusaders will need to be ready. The war is over, but the work continues.

The Kellid people driven from their homes by the demon hordes endured. They fought and have now won the war, so their homeland can now be restored! The Sarkorian tribes can return to their ancestral homes to live as they once did. Then again, a unified Kellid nation would also be a great way to help keep demons at bay as well defend against any neighbors with imperialist and racist motivations.

The druids of the Green Faith also have goals in Sarkoris. The Abyss-blighted land was warped and corrupted in horrible ways. Healing the land and serving as stewards of the realm to ensure the ecosystem returns to its rightful state. The work of clearing this corruption will take many long seasons, so others had best recognize the druids' work as necessary and their decisions as wise (i.e. stay out of the way before you all make it worse).

These three groups were allies during the crusades, but now that the Worldwound has closed, how long will that last? What will the PC's do? What horrors still remain in the wake of the demon hordes?

Oh nice, welcome to the party and best of luck to you! Here's what I'd make sure are in-stock for PF2:

-Beginner Box (make sure you get the PF2 version, not the PF1 version https://paizo.com/pathfinder/beginnerbox)

-Pathfinder 2e Core Rulebook (obviously https://paizo.com/products/btq01zp3?Pathfinder-Core-Rulebook)

-Bestiary (at least the first, but second and third can't hurt https://paizo.com/products/btq01zp4?Pathfinder-Bestiary)

-Advanced Player's Guide (really good book, introduces a lot more player options https://paizo.com/products/btq023ih?Pathfinder-Advanced-Players-Guide)

-Pathfinder Lost Omens: World Guide (basic exploration of the Lost Omens setting, great inspiration with options for GMs and players https://paizo.com/products/btq01zoj?Pathfinder-Lost-Omens-World-Guide)

Beyond those basics, I'd also recommend a few others (especially if you see demand go up):

-Gamemaster Guide (much like the APG, but for GM's https://paizo.com/products/btq022c1?Pathfinder-Gamemastery-Guide)

-Pathfinder Lost Omens: Character Guide (bunch of great player options https://paizo.com/products/btq01zt4?Pathfinder-Lost-Omens-Character-Guide)

-Guns & Gears (for the technologically minded https://paizo.com/products/btq029xk?Pathfinder-Guns-Gears)

-Secrets of Magic (for the mystically inclined https://paizo.com/products/btq027uy?Pathfinder-Secrets-of-Magic)

-Standalone Adventures (short, sweet, and can be completed in 3-4 sessions, I'd keep a few in stock https://paizo.com/store/pathfinder/adventures/standalone/pathfinderAdventur es)

-Adventure Paths (these are the long-form campaigns of PF2, I'd try to get the 1st and 2nd books for a few in stock and grow from there if there's demand https://paizo.com/store/pathfinder/adventures/adventurePath)

Ok so my players succeeded in my altered casino heist. Here's how it went down:

-Instead of the heist automatically failing because Franca Laurentz beat them to it without any chance for success, I had Franca trying to rob the casino at the same time as the Agents. Franca also has connections to the Champion of Milani in the party, both having escaped slavery together, so its personal.

-Franca's plan was to sneak in through underground tunnels that connect the Iorium to the elevator shaft in the basement of the Lucky Nimbus. She brought a Vaultbreaker Ooze with her (my party didn't end up fighting one in book 2) and had learned the basics she needed to pull this off while working in disguise as a guard at the Lucky Nimbus. While she's robbing the place, Sathka and the svartalfar would try to kill Gage Carlyle upstairs as vengeance and distraction.

-The Agents did some wonderful prep-work for the heist, scoring 7 Edge Points by the time they began. They had learned secrets about NPCs, they had jobs working for the casino, the sorcerer had stored an item in the vault and used Prying Eyes to get the layout, it was *perfect*. They had also acquired a Insistent Door Knocker so they could just open a new door into the vault, completely bypassing the vault door itself (I had added a trap to the vault door that would go off if Gage's Key was used incorrectly or if the lock was picked and got a Critical Failure).

-On top of that, they also were able to pick Gage's Key out of his pocked with a mixture of distraction and good spellwork, which they didn't end up needing!

-Just after the Agents get the clockwork poison bomb (stored safely away with a Chest Feather token), Franca and the Vaultbreaker Ooze broke into the basement and knocked out the bouncer left in the basement (the others having run upstairs to fight the shadowy elves). The Agents had already gotten the bomb, so she chased them down and fought our rogue and monk.

-Rogue, monk, and the oracle were able to stop Franca and take her into custody, while also protecting the casino guests and Gage himself!

I'm not sure how the interrogation of Franca will go, nor am I sure what to do with Oggvurm and the other iruxi at the Irorium, but I'm excited to see what happens! Maybe Scathka will work with the lizardfolk to acquire the bomb and complete the gassing of the crowd? If Franca had acquired the bomb she was going to slip it down into the sewers as the Agents chased her through the Undercity to the Irorium.

My players are now (jokingly?) talking about using Wall of Stone to just seal up the Lucky Nimbus Casino entirely, like some Rollercoaster Tycoon level nonsense. Bad guys can't get The Item if *no one* can get the item, right?

I love this so much.

While I do enjoy Curse of the Crimson Throne and Korvosa, I was hoping the next adventure would tread new ground as opposed to being based on the events of Curse (as we've already had the original 3.5 Curse, the PF1 Curse update, an entire book of Shattered Star, part of Return of the Runelords, and The House on Hook Street).

Still, I'm sure it'll be fun and enjoyable by folks who are familiar with Curse.

I had mentioned it in the title, but SPOILERS FOR BOOK 4 OF AGENTS OF EDGEWATCH. Okay? Okay.

In Assault on Hunting Lodge Seven, the Agents infiltrate the Noxious Retort, delve into the poison temple, fight through venomous fiends and monsters all to arrest Jonis Flakfatter, the Infector, for the (attempted?) poisoning at the Irorium. Jonis, a clever man and member of the Twilight Four, surrenders to the Agents custody knowing his hired protectors will come to rescue him from wherever the Agents hold the poisoner.

Except this is all assuming that the Agents take him alive in the first place. I'm fairly certain my players won't care about Jonis being taken into custody, even if the poisonous priest doesn't fight them, and understandably so. Jonis is a devious, unrepentantly evil, murderer (and in my game a huge part of the drug trade) who orchestrated a terrorist attack all to appease Norgorber. Why on earth would the Agents care about taking him alive, beyond questioning him for information or an ironclad sense of justice and proper law enforcement?

In my view, the assumption that the players take Jonis alive leads to some fun and interesting gameplay, but its also a huge assumption on what the players will do. So what does a GM do if the players kill Jonis?

My idea would be to keep chapter 2 basically the same, but the attackers coming after the PC's are out for revenge and/or seeking Blackfingers' favor by taking the Agents down. To protect the Agents, they're brought to Gevrin Manor as a safehouse to hide out in until the legal/social ramifications of the Agents extra-judicial killing of a citizen/high priest (Norgorberite or not) is sorted out. All of the alchemists, poison priests, venom mages, clockworks, etc. can assault the hunting lodge as scripted with minimal tweaks. This also gives the GM time to show how the Rumormonger is turning the populace against the Agents and guard, each issue of the Eyes on Absalom "asking questions everyone is thinking" about the Agents activities. Sure, taking out a serial killer and murder cultists is all good, but Jonis was a semi-respected member of the community who ran an (ostensibly) gentle temple of Blackfingers. Its hard to hate the alchemy temple when they provide medicines and Elixirs of Life to the general populace.

I know it's an entirely different game system, but all of this is at the core of the White Wolf/Onyx Path game Mage: the Ascension. The different paradigms and how they help define how the varied ideas of magic/reality work is fascinating (and the source of endless discussion).

Applying this to the PF2 magical traditions is not a perfect fit (necessarily, depending on your interpretation), but it can help with the Arcane/Occult divide.

Got a question from a player about flying and want to confirm the action economy. The question is does moving and hovering in place use 1 action or two actions?p/b]

[b]EDIT: oh hey, here's the part I missed! On the rules for Fly it states "You move through the air up to your fly Speed. Moving upward (straight up or diagonally) uses the rules for moving through difficult terrain. You can move straight down 10 feet for every 5 feet of movement you spend. If you Fly to the ground, you don’t take falling damage. You can use an action to Fly 0 feet to hover in place. If you’re airborne at the end of your turn and didn’t use a Fly action this round, you fall."

"Foragers and For Ragers"

An all-barbarian playthrough of Quest for the Frozen Flame!

I haven't tried it yet, but I don't understand why they don't treat the eidolon like an animal companion when it comes to the action economy. Having the PC spend 1 action to give an order to their animal, who then got 2 actions, seemed perfectly fine to me. Why add an entirely new class-specific system (thought PF2 was trying to avoid that)? As I remember folks did NOT like that in the playtest, so why keep it around? Why limit the spellcasting (which I recall folks didn't like either)?

That all being said, I am excited to try one out. I want to make one with the occult list who's trying to join a secret cabal (maybe Palatine Eye?).

Terimor's Backup: Alright so Monsters of Myth is out and one of the legendary beasts it features is the Taljjae. This many-masked fey monster uses its different faces to wreak havoc and gets different abilities depending on the mask it wears.

Now doesn't that sound perfect for a high priestess of Norgorber to have as backup? Its creature level 18 so that makes it appropriate for the final battle, it can stalk the PC's throughout books 5 and 6 (though it shouldn't fight in book 5, as it is likely to overpower them), and you can easily reskin it to be some exemplar of the masked god. I'm thinking a divine servant of Norgyborgy who was once an actor bard and spy who went so far into their various roles and identities that they stopped being a proper person and are now just a collection of archetypal mask identities. Something akin to Sakashima or Lazav from Magic: the Gathering.

I'd drop the Jelly stuff, but you do what's best for your table.

Seconding Thuvia. I don't dislike the material that's been written, I just don't think there's enough going on in the region yet. Hopefully the future Golden Road book creates more material, can't wait to see what the writers come up with!

I must admit that this paragraph is frankly disappointing:

"ALIGNMENTS
Selfishness, cruelty, and greed have little place in a community where each member’s contributions are integral to the group’s survival. Other than evil, characters of any alignment fit equally well in the Broken Tusk following."

While I get that, part of it is, they don't want evil characters in Pathfinder Society (and you can play APs in Society), I think they need to stop assuming that helping the community is only done for neutral or good reasons, and start differentiating that evil people who help the community do so for their own selfish reasons. You should point out that evil characters are not the norm, but that, with GM permission, an evil character can work in this campaign. Yes, I'm well aware the GM can give permission anyway; but I think Paizo needs to stop excluding the idea of "helpful, but selfish evil". I don't think that I, as the GM, should have to specifically contradict what Paizo said in the Player's Guide, if I decide to allow the nuance of a helpful, but selfish evil character.

I interpreted this as "Evil alignments won't work because of the inherent need for cooperation to survive in the tundra." You can't afford to have any evil people in the following because their cruelty and selfishness will only make life harder for everyone (including the evil person). If you're evil and smart you'll soon realize its not worth trying anything too nefarious. If you're evil and foolish, your following will correct your behavior or leave you in the cold.

-Kellid human barbarian (rage instinct). Its the most on-theme character idea, which means absolutely no one will play it!

-Investigator or alchemist specializing in herbal alchemy, tracking prey, crafting, and the many talents one needs when one is a nomad. Calm and pragmatic because someone has to keep their temper.

-Champion of Iomedae (ex?) from Mendev who has walked away from the crusade after experiencing great loss and is looking for a purpose.

-Bard storyteller from "civilization" who came north to "get the authentic wild, Kellid, rough-and-tumble experience" they've heard about in stories. They broke down sobbing after their third freezing cold night and are still adjusting.

-Half-starved oracle (witch?) who survived being lost in the frozen wilds and survived by being guided by...something. Still a bit touched, but primal/divine magics are damn useful in the wilds.

I'm a big stan for abjuration magic, so I was disappointed when I dug into how Counterspell works in PF2. RAW, you can only attempt the Counteract check against the opposing spell if you happen to have the exact same spell prepared/in your repertoire (with exceptions for specific spells, like Bane and Bless). I feel that this makes Counterspell prohibitively difficult to use, which coupled with it being a reactive and defensive feat makes it even more unappealing. You can't even substitute Dispel Magic like you could in PF1.

My idea is to change the Trigger and Requirement so they do not necessitate having that exact spell, but give you bonuses on the Counteract roll if you use up similar/identical spells. Here's what I've got:

Counterspell

Reaction

If the prepared spell/spell slot you expend can match the triggering spell exactly or specifically states it can be use to counter the triggering spell (ex: Bane and Bless), you instead get a +3 bonus on the counteract check (does not stack with matching Tradition/School).

With these changes, if a wizard is trying to counterspell their clone they would have a 50-55-60-65% chance to successfully counteract the triggering spell, based on if they used up a spell that had zero matches, matching Tradition or School, matching Tradition & School or Dispel Magic, or had the exact same/exact counter.

Thoughts? Comments? Critiques? Suggestions? Let me know!

We'll see how it goes, but I'm cautiously optimistic. To me this reads as a company giving a measured mea culpa and outlines what they're doing now to address the issues. None of this will be happening quickly and change does not happen overnight, nor should it.

This, combined with Paizo execs formally recognizing the union and the union's progress so far are positive signs. We'll see what the results of these moves are, but realistically this is what a company that is trying to do better can get done at this juncture (or at least try to *look like* they're doing better).

Add in that these actions have costs (lawyers sure as hell ain't cheap), and its definitely NOT nothing.

@Naurgul: Skinner got a crit fail against Phantasmal Killer and was running/frightened for awhile. When she got back to the fight she still laid into the PC's, but with some good tactics they were able to take her down.

@Naurgul: We'll see tonight, they'll have to race to get in contact with the Copper Hand to call off the robbery.

No real issues with the Skinner. She was a real tough fight, but appropriately so for the 2nd boss of the adventure. They're only level 7, but there's 5 of them and they played their tactics very well.

Update! My players found the Skinsaw cult in the Catacombs of the Fellowship of Prospectus several days before the bank robbery was scheduled to take place. They completely cleared out the Skinner and her cult with 1/2 a day to spare, so...I guess we're skipping the actual robbery?

I could have the Copper Hand try to pull off the robbery anyway, but I feel like its more narratively appropriate and rewarding to the players to have the CH just go into hiding for awhile once they realize the guards are onto them and the Skinsaw cult isn't going to bother them for awhile.

So I guess we're on to book 3 without ever doing the robbery! I feel like I had the Agents work hard to get the info and location of the Skinsaw cult, so I'm happy with that aspect.

Expanding on Terimor's "Steal the City" scheme: Terimor is a city planner on the Grand Council and therefore has a LOT of influence over Absalom, but she's clever enough to be subtle with it. As part of her scheme, she passed a new regulation on the standards of locks that are required in the city. A fairly mundane update that helps keep Absalomians safe at night on the surface, but the new locks are being built with a specific flaw that only Terimor and her closest allies, the Smoke Knights, know about. The Smoke Knights know this allows them to more easily break into virtually any building in Absalom, but Terimor knows that with the Key to the City (part of the Primarch's regalia) she'll have magical access to the entire city. This is a fundamental aspect to the ritual she performs.

@EdwinM: Yeah, they would certainly work! I like including them, but looking into other, tougher options is a decent idea based on feedback I've read.

@Kazimir_980: Thanks, glad you're finding it useful!

Further Expansion of Ideas: Terimor can use the stolen souls of each district of Absalom to do special actions against the party, maybe on its own initiative? Like the giant Horde of Souls is just a massive hazard that does one of the 12 effects each round? Fleshing these out further, please provide any suggestion you've got!

Ascendant Court: Heal and/or Bless effect for Terimor and her friends (only heal if she's below 1/3 hp). I feel like this is the "classic"

Azlanti Keep: Wall of Stone effect splits up the party and/or protects Terimor, much like the Keep protects Absalom

The Coins: a Dominate Person effect to "buy" one of the Agents for a short while

The Docks: Mariner's Curse or Lightning Storm to tie it to the ocean. Maybe a big wave shoves the Agents into bad positions?

Eastgate: this one's a bit tricky. Its a lot of working class residents, so maybe a storm of crafters tools? Kinda Green Lantern-esque. If not that, maybe something to do with the rising sun?

Foreign Quarter: thought a Maze-effect would be interesting, with the "maze" being a series of twisting streets where every block looks like a different city around Golarion.

Ivy District: with its theaters, I'd say an Uncontrollable Dance effect would be good.

Petal District: as one of the most beautiful and wealthy districts, I feel like a Scintillating Pattern is appropriate. Visions of opulent beauty capture the minds of the Agents.

Precipice District: I want to say Earthquake, but that would likely mess up the entire tower. Or maybe Terimor THINKS it will be an earthquake, but it turns out the Precipice won't harm the Agents of Edgewatch! That'd be a fun twist!

The Puddles: flooding of some sort sounds good to me! Maybe the targeted PC is waterboarded and needs to worry about drowning and sloshing through difficult terrain.

Westgate: similar to Eastgate, I'm not sure what to do with this one. The Kortos Cavalry is here, so maybe a ghostly cavalry charge thunders across the room?

Wise Quarter: as the center of government in Absalom, maybe a disjunction effect from a spiritual bureaucrat

To help stop the Horde of Souls hazard, the Agents can properly identify each district's effect (giving them a bonus against the effect) and spend an action to appeal to the citizens (some appropriate check). Each district mollified in this way is no longer an option for the hazard.

Does anyone have any idea what this riddle(?) from Bandersworth's biography means? It's an example of what the cane has been whispering to him.

Quote:

“Build. Make. Unmake. Shackle/Bend/Break/and/Take and Unto the Cage, Cerulean Light Lakes.”

Is this just a generic reference to Maelstrom the plane of Proteans?

Probably a chaotically poetic way to describe the Maelstrom, but its proteans so who knows?

One way to increase her difficulty that might make sense would be to give her a "final form" that she turns into after her first defeat, similar to what was done for a different AP's final boss.

** spoiler omitted **

This new form would likely be fighting the party all alone, so updating her level to 24 and giving her some different abilities could spice things up without just giving her another full set of health and the elite adjustments. It would also make sense to tie-in the rebirths of the other Twilight Four members, having her abilities also tied to some sort of unholy reincarnation as a daemon.

Oh I like this! The Agents originally see Terimor in her normal form, but then she morphs to her drider-esque form through Norgorber's dark hand. Give her a web, venom, etc.