Aaron Shanks wrote:
Are there any rules that expand on hexploration or surviving during harsh weather?
TRDG wrote:
Pray tell, what are the first 3 playable undead? I am putting a new Deadlands campaign on hold (using Pathfinder 2e now that we have Guns& Gears) just so one of the characters can play a walking dead.
Anyone got their pdf already? Can they comment if the Clockwork Assassin stayed as is from the Agents of Edgewatch adventure or there are changes to it? http://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=1004 I am hoping the latter in particular to the Thievery check. It works clunkily in combat, where it is either useless or you just inactivate the opponent completely. Was hoping for something like applying a Clumsy condition instead.
Spamotron wrote:
No problem and thanks. My original plan was to post all 3 sessions with screenshots from our VTT but my enthusiasm died as I saw there was not much reaction. For what it's worth, here are my thoughts from the Gunslinger PCs and NPCs: Way of the Drifter: Sounds good, doesn't work. The rewards for going into melee and attacking with - 2 compared to your firearms attack bonus are simply not worth it. Way of the Pistolero: PC played with dual pistols. No way to reload. He could only pull off the paired shots action like once per 3 rounds, considering he often had to Step to avoid AoO. Way of the Sniper. The only build that worked in practice. Also the most boring. The player did Running Reload and Shooter's Aim almost every round Firearms:Has been discussed to death in other parts of the forum.
In my 3rd playtest session, I house ruled crossbows and guns to have +1 die size. Dueling pistol became 1d8, arquebus became 1d10. It all worked out fine, really. The ranged characters still dealt less damage than the melee characters of the group, without being nearly irrelevant unless the crit-fish. Paizo needs to balance firearms against bows, not crossbows. Ideally crossbows get a soft errata, like a crossbow-only rune that brings them up to par with bows.
Session 1 Part 2: The PCs grab the head of the group that ambushed them. They soon realize the thugs have nothing to do with the murders; they just wanted to mug them for their gear. However, the rat-folk does remember one of his contacts mentioned seeing two weird, cloaked figures entering an abandoned workshop with rapiers dripping blood. The PCs visit the abandoned workshop, only to be ambushed by 2 clockwork assassins. Encounter 2: Encounter 2 Ground LvL Screenshot
2 Level 11 Clockwork Assassins. Encounter Cost: 144 XP The players where lucky to spot the Assassin on top of the machinery at the Ground level. The fight was very tough and nearly resulted in a wipe. I brought the Damage Resistance of the Assassins to 5 (from 10 at level 13) because none of the group had adamantine to bypass it. The firearm wielders dealt minimal damage on normal hits and the assassins having high AC resulted in a crit range of natural 19-20. The fighter lost time running up the stairs to chase the sniping assassin (hide+projectile launcher sneak attacks) only to have the assassin drop down to the ground floor. They managed to kill one assassin and the second one run away. The session ended with the inventor analysing the body of the clockwork assassins and finding out his internal parts are laced with a strange purple crystal. Impressions after Session 1 Firearms felt flimsy. Very low damage compared to the Fighter and the Inventor. On the other hand, the Inventor felt very powerful, with overdrive plus his companions attacks making him the higher damage dealer of the party. He also had many options at any given round (tamper, command companion, strike, raise shield, heal, etc) making him a very fun character to play. Unstable was too limiting, but this has been addressed already.
Plot Summary: Seemingly random people are murdered in the poorer areas of Alkenstar city. It turns out that a bored noble and his enamored investor have thought of a new, sickening way to entertain themselves. By adding some rare crystals to clockwork assassins, they are able not only to pilot them remotely but also "feel" like they are them and enjoy their kills. The PCs are hired to investigate, are ambushed by clockwork assassins too. They discover the crystals from the body of an assassin they manage to defeat. They follow the trail of the crystals through the mana wastes, find out what is happening in the dangerous mine where the crystals can be mined and return to Alkenstar to confront the noble and his inventor partner in his skyscraper apartment. Team Composition: Team Screenshot Zak: Human Gunslinger with the Way of the Drifter
Notes We are playing with the no-level to proficiency variant rules. Also, like our usual campaigns, I am designing the sessions to be cinematic, setpiece affairs. Meaning, all of our encounters are complex encounters with high difficulty. 95% of the encounters we play are XP 120 and above. Session 1 Part 1:Storyboard Episode 1 Screenshot 1 The PCs are hired to investigate and start by randomly patrolling the streets at night hoping to be targeted. After a few nights with no results, they are ambushed by a local gang. Encounter 1:Encounter 1 Screenshot. List of Enemies:
Total Encounter Cost: 126 XP
Hello all, I am wondering what is the final roll for a Heightened Heal spell cast as a 2 action spell. Upon reading it might read to be extra 1d8+8 per extra level. But back when we started playing we found it a huge amount of healing (it severely outpaces spell damage scaling which is usually 2d6 per extra level) so we changed our reading of it. We now read it to be as +1d8 if it is 1 action and +8 if it is a 2 action. But I am not sure anymore. So what is it, illustrating with an example: A. A 5th level heal cast as 2 actions heals 5d8+40 hp
Mark Seifter wrote: I'm not surprised you couldn't get him to take a risk on unstable. As mentioned in the welcome thread, the version that's in the file was a mistake and will not be the final version; you won't have to gamble your turn like that during an encounter. If there's a gamble, it'll be for the consequences that happen to you after. Hi Mark, that is great to hear. The player in my group who built and played an Inventor in our playtest session was lamenting how over-restricted the Unreliable keyword is. It becomes even more obvious at higher levels (we played at 8) where you simply skip Unstable feats because they are subpar options (but are so cool). Any chance we get an update of the playtest document rather than wait till the end? Also, a fix on making a dual pistolero solve their reload problem would be appreciated.
CorvusMask wrote:
I see your point, but Champion is a Martial, with the highest armor proficiency progression to boot. Champion still easily gets 3 focus points. Basically, the more focus Feats you get the more you build up your capacity. With Unstable you peak at 1 making taking more than one Unstable feat undesirable. Which is a pity because all of them are super cool.
I find the Unstable keyword a really interesting mechanic but unnecessarily underpowered. It is basically spending a feat to gain once per battle action (nobody is going to go for or make DC 17) to get the rough equivalent of a weak focus spell. With focus spells you can quickly scale up to 2 and 3 focus points. But the Inventor gets no such capability. Focus points are also more easily replenished at 10+ level but the Inventor needs to reach level 14 to get the ability to use Unstable twice before a 10 minute rest. Or am I missing something. Fingers crossed that the DC 17 is a typo.
Any news on the Errata front? I really look forward to errata on shields (not the basic rules but the very high hardness of sturdy shields and the extremely low hardness of all other shields) as well as some spells that can be encounter breaking (such as Repulsion). Hoping for some alchemist love too.
Hi all, this is my first post in these forums! I see pages upon pages of discussion on the temperature table; I am surprised however that none addressed the very high Save bonuses the monsters have. The level 1 Naiad has a +8 in her Will save! How is that possible with such a low Wis modifier? The Legion Archon's saves are shockingly high as well, with a +17 Fort at Level 7. I heard several times that monster saves will be lowered in the final version but it seems this is not the case. Me (as a GM) and my team were disappointed with the high DCs in the playtest rules, because effect-inflicting spells rarely took hold. This promotes the blaster type of caster (where even a failed save will result in some damage output) and makes fewer tactical options viable. On a similar note I also see the skill modifiers being very high. The level 7 Archon has a +15 in Perception! |