Ravingdork's page

Wow. The new troop rules are WAY more complicated than I thought.

Aren't they supposed to be easier to manage than multiple individual creatures? The more I read about them, the less that seems to be the case.

I deal with the issue by never using precious materials in Pathfinder 2nd Edition.

This is us too.

I like to think of them as non-mutually-exclusive traits.

Attack, interacts with MAP
Roll, requires a d20 roll
Melee, reach range, probably uses strength
Ranged, longer range, probably uses dexterity
Spell, uses casting modifier

Mix and match.

Why aren't you EAing the target(s) for 40 while the eidolon Strikes for 23.5?

Last I checked 63.5 is better than either 23.5 or 40.

The Raven Black wrote:

And it does not protect the Kineticist.

This is debatable, to put it kindly.

*Reads two posts above this one*

LOL. I guess you were right.

Depends on the fight. Against mindless enemies that don't have any real way to understand what is going on, it absolutely trivializes them.

I mean, so does figment or most any other spell whose trickery they are unable to comprehend. So what?

It's the same way a dire bear is trivialized by anyone with flight and ranged attacks. It doesn't take much sometimes.

And that's fine. Heroes should feel heroic from time to time.

Would Gaze Sharpe as Steel stack with Rogues precision damage with a dual class rogue/Exemplar.

If all the appropriate conditions were met, then yes. To my knowledge there is no rule stating that like damages do not stack.

I have a Large awakened giant spider rogue that wields Medium bolas, nets, and slings to great effect with the setae on her legs.

It hasn't caused any issues whatsoever.

There's no reason she should need a Large weapon, basic crafting book, or potion to get use out of them.

I agree that armor and many other worn items should be Large though.

Just use your best judgement and don't worry about the rest.

Immanence is a +1 status AC in 15ft, yes

To everyone, not just the exemplar?

Does the mirrored aegis immanence grant allies in the aura the +1 status bonus to AC?

Or is the reference to protecting your allies just referring to the transcendence effect from Raise the Walls?

People are comparing with inventor, thaumaturge, swashbuckler or the like, but not barbarian here? It seems like an obvious thing to do with strength exemplar.

If you're wanting to compare martial prowess and combat damage, the barbarian does make a bit more sense.

However, if you're comparing all the red tape, hoops, and actions classes have to do before being allowed to perform their primary shtick appropriately and effectively, then the other classes make more sense.

It's all in the context.

I don't know of many other things with similar wording, because PF2 has few things that are actually this strong at what it does: no possibility of failure regardless of DC, and x4/8/16/32 multiplier to the result based on your proficiency.

I was focusing on the "If you get result A, it increases to result B. When you get result B, benefit C happens."

Interpretation 1: I fail to get result B. I get result B anyways. I do not get benefit C as I did not roll result B.

Interpretation 2: I fail to get result B. I get result B anyways. I get benefit C since I got upgraded to result B.

I've seen similar worded abilities (though I don't recall where) that wouldn't make much sense, or even be totally bonkers, if you got benefit C even if you didn't naturally roll B.

I hope that made sense. :P

Ofcourse, one thing that needs to be mentioned is that you still need to meet the minimum threshold for the area they want to subsist in, So you arent going to pick this at level 2 and then instantly be able to sustain yourself in the most inhospitable of deserts, glaciers, oceans or planar environments. Not that most players would run into that issue, and there are spells that litterary conjures food, or something like cornucopia where you can create the equivalence of one square meal every 30 minutes starting at level 3.

But yeah, the feat makes survival real easy provided you have a minimum of 8 hours a day where you can just forage, which again.. real easy in kingmaker provided you arent doing group activities like travel.

Are you referring to proficiency gating like "must be Master to succeed" in a place like the Mana Wastes or the Plane of Fire?

I'd sure like to see a rules citation for that. If true, it would be impossible for anything weak or low level to survive no matter how well adapted to the environment it is described as being.

What simple weapons are there, that are not deific favored weapons?

I want a rarely picked simple weapon so my exemplar can make it more advanced. ;)

I just want to highlight what has already been mentioned, but in different words: The exemplar very much requires the person playing one to embrace the PF2e paradigm of not doing the exact same thing each round. It is basically the "anti-D&D 3.x/PF1e" class in this respect.

Trying to play an exemplar that "just hits things" will likely cause frustration because the class is designed to switch between different action sequences each round (usually; you can spend an action to shift immanence at the start of each round if you want to keep sparking transcendence from the same ikon [Mortal Harvest, for example]).

And yet the most common advice I see online regarding the exemplar is to find your ikon-based routine and stick to it nearly every round.

The feat says, "While using Survival to Subsist, if you roll any result worse than a success, you get a success. On a success, you can provide subsistence living for yourself and four additional creatures..."

Does this mean that rolling a failure always allows me to provide sustenance for myself and four others?

And if so, are there other abilities with similar wording that might be adversely affected if the same logic is applied to them?

Not only does the reader need to be seriously savvy with the pf2 system to be able to anticipate those pitfalls, but they also need to be able to sus out which few options are diamonds in the rough.

I wonder if this is one of the reasons why it is a Rare class. Lord knows I've looked over the class details a dozen times, have attempted making several characters, and still haven't found anything that felt complete, viable, or didn't suffer a major pitfall halfway through its creation.

It is a tricky beast to be sure. In my case, part of the problem is all the seriously verbose names that trip me up. My brain just can't seem to hold them in mind while I look for other synergetic abilities with their own verbose names.

It makes it harder for enemies to conceal themselves from you with the Stealth skill.

If they attempt to Hide or Sneak, their Stealth check needs to beat your higher-than-normal Perception DC (which is normally 10 + your Perception modifier).

Another way of looking at it is you get better at passively spotting hidden enemies. It won't help you when Seeking (where you just roll Perception against someone's Stealth DC or other set DC), but it will help you at other times.

It probably helps against pick pockets and the like as well. Remember, except for Initiative, there are no opposed rolls in Pathfinder 2nd Edition; a check is always compared to a DC, not to another roll.

In the remaster, it was made explicit that they can do this, in the last paragraph of the Heightened Spontaneous Spells heading.

Quite right.

It was arguably true pre-Remaster as well (and I often did argue that it was back in the day), though it was, admittedly, far less clear/explicit than it is today. Now with the clarifying rules verbiage, there can be no doubt post-Remaster.

Let's work through some examples.

A spontaneous caster has fireball, haste, and lightning bolt in their repertoire and 4 slots of 3rd rank in which to cast from.

In a given day they could cast 4 fireballs; OR 4 lightning bolts; OR 4 hastes; OR 2 freballs, 1 lightning bolt, and 1 haste; or any other combination of 4 castings.

If fireball was their signature spell, and they could cast up to 5th rank spells, then they could cast fireball additional times each day, at higher damage, using their 4th and 5th rank spell slots.

Even if it wasn't a signature spell, they could still cast it additional times a day with higher rank slots. However, it would not gain any of the heightened benefits and would still be treated as a 3rd-rank fireball.

A prepared caster needs to decide which slots are going to use which spells at the start of the day, and with a few exceptions it is set until their next daily preparations.

So a wizard with four 3rd-rank slots and two 4th-ranks slots could prepare fireball (×2), haste, and lightning bolt in their 3rd-rank slots and heightened fireball (8d6, ×2) in their 4th-rank slots. Unlike a spontaneous caster, they would NOT need to learn fireball at multiple ranks, or make it a signature spell, in order to do this.

Throughout the day, said wizard could cast four fireballs and one each of haste and lightning bolt. They cannot mix and match in the middle of the day, only at the start.

A big benefit to prepared casters is that they don't need signature spells, or to learn spells at a higher rank, in order to heighten them. If they want to heighten a spell they know, they merely need to plug it into a higher ranked slot during daily preparation.

Many prepared casters also either know all the common spells of their tradition (clerics and druids, for example) or have the capacity to expand their known spells via resource expenditure (witches and wizards, for example ample).

Many spontaneous casters(such as bards and sorcerers), on the other hand, will only ever know the spells they gain upon leveling up.

So prepared casters have a greater breadth of spell knowledge whereas spontaneous casters have a narrower focus, but greater moment to moment flexibility.

Someone with the Flexible Spellcaster archetype gets the best of both worlds, but lacks longevity and staying power due to having far fewer daily spell slots to work with.

I hope that helps.

If a player brought it to my attention, I'd just consider such characters acclimated, per the feat's "You can breathe even in hazardous or sparse air."

Seems like prohibiting it would do more harm than good to my players' trust in me and their enjoyment of my game. It's just not worth it to be pedantic and overly rules strict in this case.

The feat is rarely taken in my experience, and even when it is, situations in which it shines rarely come up. Allow the players to have some fun by letting them celebrate their choices.

Magical ammunition says "Once you activate the ammunition, you must shoot it before the end of your turn. Otherwise, it deactivates (but it isn't consumed) and you must activate it again before you can use it."

However, I can find no such limitation for alchemical ammunition, such as with elemental ammunition.

Does this mean I could fill each of my slide pistol barrels with different elemental ammunition, activate them all right away, and then keep them activated and ready to fire for a rainy day?

If the rule exists, can you help me find it?

I've attempted to make several exemplar characters since the class' release, and I've found that in almost every instance, another class does it better.

Exemplar with a rifle? Gunslinger has better action economy and raw numbers.
Exemplar archer? Ranger does it better.
Melee exemplar? Barbarian and fighter topple it easily.
Bag of tricks exemplar? Bard and rogue have WAY more options available.

Every concept (more than those shown above) that I've come up with has failed to find a niche that some other class didn't fulfill better in almost every way.

So, what then, is the exemplar class supposed to be doing? It has a strong conceptual niche, but it's mechanical niche--whatever that's supposed to be--seems more and more lacking to me.

What are your thoughts on the class' role and abilities?

Hmmm...I just realized that I can't use A Moment Unending (from Gaze Sharp as Steel) and Arrow Splits Arrow (from Unfailing Bow) in the same round due to the 1/round limitation on Spark Trascendence.

That makes ranged reload builds terribly difficult to manage properly. I would have to end my previous round with Gaze Sharo As Steel then use Arrow Splits Arrow on my next turn (assuming I even get a good roll I want to mirror). That effectively cuts my bonus damage dice in half unless I'm willing to pretend my other ikon doesn't exist! Super lame!

Starting to think I should just make him a gunslinger.

Also, also, all NPCs and monsters have an effective maximum Dying Value of 1 since they always expire when reduced to 0 HP (except with attacks bearing the nonlethal trait).

LOL. Quite right!

The Raven Black wrote:

Primal dragon with link to metal and "spark".

Lightning rod dragon

Galvanic dragon? Actinic dragon?

God I hope they're more creative than that.

What equipment might be appropriate for such a character? I've got the armor and weapon figured out, but don't know what else would be suitable for a rifleman / Mana Waste guide.

For the moment, the character is to be 7th-level and has 358gp left using lump sum.

Does feel really weird that you can just carry a whip to grant reach flanking, even though you're not proficient with it.

I guess it doesn't take much training to look threatening with it.

I'm trying to build a cut-above-the-rest mana waste mutant (mutated fleshwarp exemplar) that wields a two-handed firearm to devastating effect.

However, I'm having trouble deciding on what Exemplar options to take. Does anyone have any advice on how to make an effective ranged Exemplar build?

Ooh. As a designer and former web developer, I can't wait to see the website's "under construction" placeholder.

Hoping it's not the purple goblin in the PC case.

Ah, I see now that I misread the OP's question. Totally missed the "unless he's adjacent to the opponent" somehow. Totally changes the question. Sorry. I thought you were asking about being able to flank unarmed, or with nothing but elemental blasts.

You would be incorrect. Everyone has unarmed fist attacks or equivalent in PF2e. Everyone can flank or contribute to flanking so long as they are capable of making attacks (that is, not tied up, paralyzed, stunned for a duration, lacking reach, or something similar).

You can find the official rules for flanking here. Note that threatened areas never come up. That terminology does not exist as a mechanical term in this game insofar as I'm aware.

If an unnarmed kineticist made a melee attack while flanking, his target would be off-guard against the attack, barring some special defense.

Note that an elemental blast is considered a melee or ranged impulse attack. If the melee option is used--with or without Weapon Infusion--the kineticist can benefit from flanking just as readily as a spellcaster making a melee spell attack.

I find it difficult to believe that weapon size is interfering with believability when you're perfectly willing to accept some 10 ton dragon that can breathe fire can be fought by some 200 to 250 lb. warrior with a steel longsword toe to toe.

Especially when you consider that such a creature in reality couldn't even support its own body weight, much less fly.

Give this new link a try and let me know how it goes.

OneDrive recently updated its terms of service. Perhaps that might have something to do with the recent problems.

Wulcrath, to answer your question, there should be 211 PDF character sheets within the 1st Edition gallery at my last count.

Imalsome, thank you for reaching out to me via PM and letting me know there was a problem.

I do not allow things like Assurance to trigger things that require rolls, since there is no roll, in my games.

Hasbro is a toy company that owns and operates Wizards of the Coast (which in turn publishes Dungeons and Dragons products). A couple years ago, they tried to destroy tabletop roleplaying as we know it by manipulating longstanding legal agreements. They hoped to build a monopoly on the corpses of other game companies that were already barely managing to stay afloat against their existing monopolism.

Rovagug is a mythical god-being that threatened to devour all the gods and the universe of the Pathfinder setting.

Your GM is probably likening them to one another as evil consumptive entities for which there is no redemption.

Ravingdork wrote:

If you don't have the proper amount of hands on it, you can't use it (at least not for its intended purpose). Pretty clear cut.

Correct, but this does *not* mean that an item's ongoing effects suddenly blink off because it is no longer in-hand.

For the lanterns, I agree that it needs to be wielded in 1H before you are able to "use" it; adjust the shutter, light it, extinguish it, load w/ oil, etc.

But I will more confidently state that I see no RaW reason for the lantern to extinguish if it's on a backpack hook, the ground, etc.

There is a difference between "using" an item, and that item passively providing an ongoing effect.

A number of items operate exactly as a lantern does, where you "use" it to initiate a timed effect.
Sparklers, Glow Rods, etc all work the same way: they required a wielded action to initiate a change in the item itself with a timed duration. There is no target an effect is applied upon.

It is erroneous and more than a little silly to try to claim that all items of this type spontaneously end their ongoing effects when no longer wielded in hand.

Good points all. I agree.

Munitions Master: Other people are allowed to fire your Mortar, while most other Innovations are not usable by anyone else (they lack Proficiency or the ability to command).

Familiar: Pet currently only locks out Strike, not all Attack actions.

Together that means your Familiar can fire your light Mortar.

Edit: On closer inspection, it would not get your DC: "When you Launch your light mortar, the Reflex save is equal to your class DC." However Familiars can still fire it and Aim/Reload it.

Why would you want anyone else to operate it in your stead? Munitions Master has so much action compression working towards it that it would be a steep loss of action economy to have anyone else attempt to operate the mortar.

Also, since it has a Crew of 1, you can't have your familiar or other PCs or NPCs help you to operate it. Literally only one person is permitted to deploy it, aim it, reload it, and fire it.

Christopher#2411504 wrote:

Is there some rule chain saying it's entry of 1-H actually disables the light when not in-hand?

That logic would cause a lot of problems elsewhere. For starters, the lanterns would have the exact same issue where putting it on a pack's hook would no longer be in-hand.

I do not think that is explicitly stated anywhere that equipment must be in hand in the way you describe.

The best I can see is that the hands entry is to know when you are *wielding* the item. Wielding is a requirement to use any specific actions, but in this case, we are talking about passive light emission.

Quote:

Some abilities require you to wield an item, typically a weapon. You’re wielding an item any time you’re holding it in the number of hands needed to use it effectively. When wielding an item, you’re not just carrying it around—you’re ready to use it. Other abilities might require you to be wearing the item, to be holding it, or simply to have it.

https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2143

Hands

If you don't have the proper amount of hands on it, you can't use it (at least not for its intended purpose). Pretty clear cut.

Don't forget that everyone gets fresh hero points at the start of every session.

It might be the only thing that keeps anyone from dying once you resume.

gesalt wrote:

Do tell me about drowning though. Not something I've given much thought to outside of the monk suffocation combo.

Spells like Aqueous Orb, Wall of Water, and Pillar of Water can instantly put foes underwater, and rely on them getting out of the water to avoid drowning.

If you combo a water spell with some form of holding the foe in place, they can drown pretty quick.

Pillar of Water has an up to 15ft radius, meaning that there's rooms in APs like Abomination Vaults that if door-blocked, can become drowning traps filled with water.

I'm pretty sure devils need to breathe by default, so uh... yeah.

I have a swamp-themed summoner who has used all of those water spells to amazing effect.

Janet's staff has the flaming rune--magic staves can't have property runes (GM Core page 278, or here: https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=3211)

Ah, yes, I had forgotten about that. She had a flaming morningstar originally, but I thought why not just use her staff?

Completely forgot about that last line. I'll get it fixed up. Thanks for pointing it out.

Man! I really liked the idea of her adding scrolls to the staff by appearing to cast them into the flames.

Not sure about Osiriani being "Common" in Geb, although it may be the most commonly spoken language there. GM choice, maybe.

I believe it is mentioned in the Bloodlords Player's Guide that all Gebbite players begin with Common (Osirioni) rather than Common (Taldane).

Nice characters! I like 'em both. Very minor nit: her Pathbuilder array list's Janet's sex as male. And a question: having been born in the Mwangi Expanse, shouldn't Janet have Mwangi as a language?

Yeah, I cycled through a couple ideas before settling on the current version of the character. The original 1e Paegin was a male gnoll NPC. I decided to take the character on a different, more PC friendly route this time around. I actually forgot to change the sex on the character sheet as well. About a day passed before I spotted it and corrected it. Can't believe I didn't think to check the About tab on Pathbuilder as well. I'll be sure to adjust it.

Also, good catch on the language. Is it established in the game the Common in the Mwangi expanse if Mwangi?

I much prefer the Harnmaster way of dealing with languages: you have a native language (the one you were born into) and may have others depending on your background. So Janet would have Kholo as her native language, Mwangi as probably her first secondary language, Taldane as the next one (based on her move to Cheliax), and then others. Of course, Pathfinder's approach is different, but the abstraction level leads to problems. Is "Common" actually a group of languages, and someone who speaks "Common" speaks whatever the common language is where she is? If she moves (Mwangi Expanse to Cheliax for example) does she automatically learn the new "common"? Most people won't care about this, just picking languages sort of at random based on INT mod, and otherwise basically ignoring linguistics and languages as an aspect of the world. And so do I, perforce, when playing this game. But, as they say, I don't have to like it. :-)

I don't think "Common" covers all the languages like you describe--a character can't take Common, then speak two languages for the price of one just because they're well-traveled. I think you have Common (Taldane), Common (Tien), Common (Mwangi), Common (Osirion), or some other language based on your region, then if you want one of the other "common languages" you spend a language slot (or a feat or similar ability) to get it.

Thanks to various world guides and some adventure paths I know Taldane (Inner Sea), Tien (Tian Xia), Mwangi (Mwangi expanse) (probably), and Osirion (Geb) are all established Common languages.

Added: Also, nobody calls the language they speak "Common". It's Taldane, or Mwangi, or Tien, or whatever.

You're probably right about that! XD

Ravingdork wrote:

{. . .} Janet Paegin {. . .}

The “tyranny” she practices is bureaucratic rather than brutal: a relentless insistence that all knowledge be cataloged, protected, and preserved from ignorance. {. . .}

I can see that sooner or later, she's going to run afoul of the Order of the Rack.

That would make for one hell of a plot hook.

NEW CHARACTER!

Janet Paegin, acclaimed diabolic scholar (Female witch kholo acolyte sorcerer 10) - Pathbuilder Array

“Every rule is a kindness to those who would otherwise be lost.”

Janet Paegin was born among the Kholo clans of the Mwangi Expanse, where her sharp intellect and soft-spoken nature marked her as an anomaly. While her kin found purpose in the hunt, Janet was captivated by the written word--especially the meticulous logic of law, language, and the contracts that bind word to deed. Her curiosity eventually led her north to Cheliax, where she became an unlikely favorite among scholars and magistrates alike, her quiet composure belying the infernal magic coursing through her blood.

Unlike many diabolists, Janet does not seek dominion or cruelty for its own sake. She venerates Asmodeus not as a god of torment, but as the ultimate patron of structure. To her, the Prince of Darkness represents the ideal of a perfectly ordered world--one where every rule, every soul, and every syllable has its rightful place. Within the vaulted archives she tends, silence is sacred and discipline divine. The “tyranny” she practices is bureaucratic rather than brutal: a relentless insistence that all knowledge be cataloged, protected, and preserved from ignorance.
Janet’s infernal heritage manifests not in fire and fury, but in an unshakable authority that smolders beneath her calm exterior. Her words carry weight, her presence demands respect, and her commands are rarely ignored. Yet she is genuinely kind to those who honor the sanctity of study. Her assistants whisper that the warm tea she brews for weary scholars may be enchanted to soothe the mind, though none dare ask outright.

Her early years in Cheliax earned her a reputation for precision and reliability, if not warmth. Her mastery of infernal jurisprudence soon drew the attention of Riva Sarjenka, the famed Dragon Sage and founder of Allania, a rising city-state in the Stolen Lands. Invited to assist in drafting the legal frameworks of Riva’s grand library and its affiliated societies, Janet quickly proved indispensable. Where Riva’s genius burned bright and untamed, Janet’s measured patience and sense of order provided balance. In time, she was entrusted with overseeing the library’s daily operations, ensuring that even chaos itself bowed to her system of classification. Occasionally, she was also tasked with watching over Riva’s little-ball-of-chaos daughter, Tarka Firefang.

Today, Janet divides her time between her secluded library-estate in the Stolen Lands, her correspondence with Chelaxian colleges that sponsor her work, and her occasional lectures at the Magaambya, where she is both admired and quietly distrusted. A woman of contradictions, she is pious to a devil yet sincerely kind; feared for her power, yet beloved for her fairness. In her heart, she believes she serves the greater good by preserving order in a world forever slipping toward chaos.

That orderly life of catalogues and candlelight ended the day Tarka fled the township in search of her missing mother. When Janet, serving as an impromptu babysitter at the time, discovered the child’s diary--scrawled across pages torn from one of her valued tomes--it revealed a perilous journey west into the wild swamps. Reluctantly, Janet left her desk behind to pursue the child, compelled less by affection than by duty. Yet the farther she ventured from civilization, the more her infernal magic became a lantern in the dark, and the laws she once enforced on parchment began shaping destinies instead.

Tactics: In combat, Janet Paegin excels as a measured battlefield controller and punisher. She opens fights by establishing control--using fear, suggestion, or wave of despair to sap morale and limit movement, then reinforces her authority through diabolic edict, rewarding obedience and punishing defiance. Against powerful foes, she relies on banishment or vampiric maiden to remove threats outright, while hellfire plume devastates clustered enemies with infernal precision. Her blood vendetta reaction ensures that any who harm her face immediate retribution, often leaving attackers bleeding.

When battle turns against her or her allies, Janet seamlessly shifts into a supportive role. Bless (in conjunction with malediction), guidance, and heal bolster companions to swing the tide, while embrace the pit grants her the durability to briefly hold position if cornered. Her Reach Spell and wand of shrouded step allow her to keep herself safely distant, using concealment and positioning to dictate the flow of combat. Calm, commanding, and unshaken, she wages war as she keeps her library--quietly, efficiently, and with no tolerance for disorder.

Inspiration:

= Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter) =

A perfect model for Janet’s measured authority and quiet compassion. McGonagall’s stern, no-nonsense demeanor hides genuine care for her students--much like Janet’s bureaucratic “kindness through order.” Her sharp wit, restraint, and refusal to tolerate chaos make her an excellent behavioral reference.

= Inara Serra (Firefly) =

Inara embodies a similar elegant composure and moral strength beneath a veneer of diplomacy. Her grace, control over her environment, and ability to assert quiet dominance through presence rather than force mirror Janet’s Asmodean poise.

= Ra’s al Ghul (Batman mythos) =

A lawful villain archetype who, like Janet, believes discipline and control are the purest forms of compassion. Drawing lightly from his philosophy--not his ruthlessness--can help you channel Janet’s view of Asmodeus as a god of structure rather than cruelty.

= Lady Melisandre (Game of Thrones) =

While more overtly fanatical, Melisandre’s serene conviction in her faith and mastery of divine fire magic parallel Janet’s infernal lineage and calm, prophetic demeanor. She demonstrates how belief can fuel quiet certainty even amid horrific surroundings.

= Delenn (Babylon 5) =

An especially apt comparison. Delenn’s diplomatic restraint, moral clarity, and deep spiritual authority embody Janet’s best traits. She is lawful without cruelty, kind without weakness, and inspires loyalty through intellect and principle rather than fear.

= The Archivist or Librarian Archetype (e.g., Cassandra Pentaghast, Dragon Age; Yennefer, The Witcher) =

Like Janet, these characters wield knowledge as power. They command respect through intellect and self-discipline, often walking the line between scholar and enforcer. Yennefer’s pragmatic morality and Cassandra’s firm devotion both map well to Janet’s internal balance between control and compassion.

In short:
Think of Janet as a blend of McGonagall’s discipline, Delenn’s faith, and Inara’s quiet authority, with just a touch of infernal gravitas from Melisandre. She’s not a zealot or a villain--she’s a scholar who believes that order is the truest kindness in a chaotic world.

You’ve researched many faiths enough to recognize notions about them that are unlikely to be true. If you roll a critical failure at a Religion check to Decipher Writing of a religious nature or to Recall Knowledge about the tenets of faiths, you get a failure instead. When attempting to Recall Knowledge about the tenets of your own faith, if you roll a failure, you get a success instead, and if you roll a success, you get a critical success instead.

If I have, say, Asmodeus Lore, Devil Lore, Hell Lore, or some similar lore of a religious nature, do I benefit from the last sentence of Student of the Canon when making said lore checks? Unlike the second sentence, the third and final sentence has no qualifiers such as using the Religion skill.

Most of the 'but it's RAW' troll rulings would fall into this.

And I really thought we'd be seeing more of them by now.

...then surely you wouldn't mind if my ghoul got satiated by using Consume Flesh on an earth elemental, or a fire wisp? /rhetorical

What other game elements clearly break down in a bad way or clearly deviate from developer intent when descriptive elements are ignored?

If you want to share how things can fall apart when putting too much focus on descriptive rules, go right on ahead, but please create a separate thread for it.

Just picked up the rogue feat, Light Step, on my Large awakened spider rogue a couple games ago and my goodness is it amazing!

So many things in PF2e are treated as Difficult Terrain. WAY more than I would have thought.

Difficult Terrain? Ignored.
Greater Difficult Terrain? Reduced.
Balancing movement penalty? Ignored.
Blindness movement penalty? Ignored.
Moving through tight spaces? Ignored.
Tumble Through movement penalty? Ignored.

As well as a numerous creature abilities (such as spider webs) and spells (such as solid fog) that have their effects severely reduced in effectiveness.

Now that I've seen what it can do, and just how often it comes up (especially as a Large character), I highly advise it for anybody with a love for mobility, even over the popular Gang Up feat.

What other situations are there for it to really shine?

Hot Take: We should just give all the spells to the Arcane tradition except those with the Healing and Vitality traits.

If that seems too much, then leave the lists as is, but then give wizards an ability that lets them freely pick non-healing/Vitality spells from other tradition lists and cast them as arcane spells.

Maybe every six levels they pick a tradition that they've studied enough to master, so they get full access nearly all spells by level 18.

It would fit the theme of arcanists being the studious masters of all magic.

Can anyone help me rebuild my 1e transmuter, Haylannar, as a 2e Remaster character? It's something I've been meaning to do for a while, but I'm not really sure where to begin, or how best to go about it.

He's supposed to be a powerful merchant wizard who accidentally absorbed some of the powers of an artifact when it was absorbed into his very being while using polymorph magic.

In 1e this was accomplished by increasing his polymorph forms' Base Attack Bonus to far greater heights than even fighters. Then he would simply tear his enemies apart with as many powerful natural attacks as possible.