Saashaa's page

A young adult human male stands from his table with a parchment in his gauntleted hand. He clears his throat,

"We gather now here
amidst ally and peer
To recover and rest
and beseech poet best
With a judge most fowl
a wise and fabulous owl
In a place to refresh
food and drink a-mesh
Now we must focus...
on our creations...our opus...
such that we may display
a verbal ballet
to say
we may
belay
the grey
that describes our years
of happies and fears
so that it instead provides color
to inspire another.
I bid you all good luck
that you stand out amid the ruck.
Adeu...
to you."

With a proud smile, he sits back down and takes a swig from his tankard.

Something I haven't seen mentioned is the change to Magical Shorthand. The change is huge for wizards. It is a very solid upgrade.

Leaving it to the GM is not a good solution.

I disagree completely. It is a fine solution.

Also, I'll add, how fantastically insignificant allowing a spell be a part of a school list is. I mean, the unified theory school is the best example of the point.

Also, also, how many complaints are still liable to be leveled regardless of the effort by paizo to put together more spells for schools.

"What do you mean Dispel Magic isn't on the Battle Magic list! Obviously it should be!"

Instead, they just gave an example and said, go for it. I, as a player and GM, have the mental capacity to put 2 and 2 together. Or even, dare I say it, improvise..

Would Dispel Magic make sense as an Ars Grammatica? Yes (it is also in the book as such). But what about as a Battle Magic school spell? Certainly. Boundary? Maybe not. Mentalism? An argument could certainly be made.

While I kind of understand where the argument comes from, it just seems like a weirdly trivial problem to complain about.

We buy books because we want an impartial 3rd party determination of what is fair and balanced.

Speak for yourself. I buy books because I don't want to have to make an entire ttprg system on my own. Is it perfect? No. Is it usable? Incredibly so. Is it balanced? More than many of the other 20+ ttrpg systems I've played.

And lastly, on the school spell list issue, I predict that even pfs will have a 'house rule' on this before long. And if they can do it...

As a passionate wizard player, I am fine with the remaster wizard.

While the school spells are limited, such limitations only really affect pfs. If your GM won't make spell allowances to your school, that is a GM problem, not a system problem. Though, also it is still not pfs and, as such, the GM can just allow the previous schools and that stuff. So, no major problem.

Simple weapon proficiency is awesome. I may be very biased because this greatly benefits one of my characters. This is also coupled with the awesomeness of the Weapon Proficiency feat now scaling at 11, with their class weapon proficiency progression.

There are some neat new class feats. The greatest one (in my eyes) is Spellbook Prodigy. (Also because of the changes made to Magical Shorthand.)

I'm a little disappointed that the wizard's save proficiencies weren't improved even a little bit. (Their 1st master save proficiency at 17? That still seems a little rough)

Also, the overall change to spell attack and DC proficiency, I think, is great for wizards. Spell Substitution and Spell Blending still do not specify only interacting with wizard spells. Staff Nexus can also benefit from other caster class archetypes, given prereqs for activation. Also, Drain Bonded Item, similarly doesn't specify wizard spells only.

All-in-all, I'm very content with the changes. They are not all awesome beyond all conception, but it certainly doesn't seem to fit into any category of "bad" changes.

I would also point out that many buff durations are 1-10 minutes. This is one of the things that also shows that it is built around the 10 minute rests.

Oh, to be clear, I wasn't trying to make the argument that HatH is strong in and of itself. But, when looking for power creep, one needs to look at the most powerful build option.

Honestly, my throwing dagger build wasn't even the best build I could think of. HatH coupled with gb can allow for two attacks with a greatsword at 15ft.
(+14 to hit for 2d12+10) + (+12 to hit for 2d12+10)

Chakram
(+14 to hit for 2d8+10) + (+12 to hit for 2d8+10) at 30ft [though, no melee option]

I'm not claiming 'super op', I'm just pointing out the power.

I played an exemplar with gleaming blade and hurl at the horizon with a throwing dagger ikon. It was...effective. To be fair, I did put a returning rune on it. That said, being a switch hitter out to 30ft with the same action economy worked very well.

I played at level 5. My to-hit was +14 and my damage with the weapon was 2d6+10 (+2 from ss, +4 from str, +4 from gb). If I didn't have to put a returning rune on that I could easily add a damage boosting rune, which would mean that it would be even stronger, which feels a bit too strong. Too strong, not because of the raw damage output, but due to the range versatility.

Flavor-wise it was really fun. I had imagined a really cool dagger weilder that had control over the trajectory of the daggers. But, then, one of my buddies brought up the image of Yondu and his whistle weapon. That is what stuck for the rest of the game.

Desseer leans away from the presented scorpion slightly. "Oohh..," he says with some hesitant enthusiasm. "Hello Jimmy..what lovely..mandibles you have.."

He turns to Inennarra, thankfully remembering that she had asked him a question. He then quickly also remembers what she had asked him. "I..uhh..," he stumbles, trying to think of a way to change the subject. "No..uhh..it's fine. We can..worry about that later." An idea then occurs to him. "Inennarra! Look at Jimmy! Isn't Jimmy adorable!?" he asks enthusiastically while gesturing at the presented scorpion.

After Inennarra begins giving attention to the Jimmy situation, Desseer is able to collect himself and another thought occurs to him.

"Fyr, I think I have an illusion ability that may be useful. It is up to you." Desseer gives Fyr a warm, charming smile, "That is not to say that you should cover up your radiant beauty. But such extreme beauty is certainly more than some can handle." He places one of his hands gently on his chest, "I can only imagine how lesser men would struggle." He gives a wink and adds, "I mean, legs for days."

I have consumed most of RoE. I have yet to run across anything that cannot be played seamlessly with pf2.0. The differences thus far are words and names. (Vitality instead of positive energy, spell rank instead of spell level, etc..)

If you are going to pitch it, say that "from the GMs perspective, he will not even notice a difference because the player can easily change the difference in wording to match what the GM is familiar with."

"Can you see empty and completely transparent atmosphere?" is on the same level as asking "A tree falls in the woods and there is no living creature to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Personally, I'd say no to both.

1) I (and just about anyone else) can roundabout pinpoint a location a set amount from a reference point. Conversely, using visible reference points, I (and just about everyone else) can identify a point in space (or empty air). Therefore it is wholly within reason that a character (whose world operates similar to our own) can target a point in the open air.

2) Sound is not defined by the sense of hearing. It is a mechanical wave that is a transfer of energy through a medium.

I stand corrected DF, thank you for the correcting.

Maybe my position would be better represented with this: there isn't a problem, there is a dislike.

And, while I can understand the dislike, it doesn't rise to the level of 'needs changing' in my book.

The monk and fighter are very much different chassis with very different feat selections. The names given to them and what concepts placed on them are as relevant as any other whimsy.

Why not make a big deal about barbarians not getting legendary in 2h weapons? Or rogues in finesse weapons? Or rangers in bows? Alchemists in bombs? Warpriests and champions in their deities favored weapons? Swashbucklers in rapiers? Etc..

Leomund "Leo" Velinznrarikovich wrote:

This stems from honest confusion, why is it a problem that if you want an unarmed master (with a complete focus on unarmed attacks) you start with base fighter?

Because we have an entire Class in the CRB who is completely built around the concept and theme of being Unarmed and Unarmored whereas the entire concept and theme of the Fighter revolves around Weapon mastery and fighting styles.

The issue isn't so much that the Fighter gets Unarmed Unarmed prof and Weapon Spec so much as it is that the Monk does NOT get it, it completely ruins the mental image and consistency. Gimli should NOT be better at performing Unarmed Attacks than Goku or Ryu, PERIOD.

The monk being unarmed and unarmored is fulfilled (as well as a whole host of other things). The fighter is good at attacking..end. The fighter is more focused. As such, it is better at that which it is more focused on.

How is that simplicity flawed?

This stems from honest confusion, why is it a problem that if you want an unarmed master (with a complete focus on unarmed attacks) you start with base fighter?

"...Opening a door that bypasses normal space, you instantly transport yourself...from your current space to a clear space within range you can see...

If "the air" is a clear space within range you can see, you totally can.

I would support an artless PDF. Aside from phobia avoidance, it can help with less powerful computers loading an AP or such.

Leomund "Leo" Velinznrarikovich wrote:

That said, the spells granted by your conscious mind are simply added to your repertoire. Once a part of your repertoire, they are like every other spell in your repertoire. As such they can be swapped via the "swapping spells in your repertoire".

So, you can swap the granted spells via the class ability, but not retraining. (RAW)

I don't read it like that at all.

The collection of spells you can cast is called your spell repertoire...Your choice of conscious mind also grants you additional spells in your repertoire, starting with an additional 1st-level spell and two cantrips listed in your conscious mind, which you cast as psi cantrips (see below)...You add to this spell repertoire as you increase in level. Each time you get a spell slot (see Table 2), you add a spell to your spell repertoire of the same level...Your conscious mind also adds additional spells to your repertoire as you gain spells of higher levels...

As you gain new spells in your repertoire, you might want to replace some of the spells you previously learned. Each time you gain a level and learn new spells, you can swap out one of your old spells for a different spell of the same level. This spell can be a cantrip. You can also swap out spells by retraining during downtime.

I'm not saying that it makes 100% sense that you can just switch out granted spells. However, to be fair, Psychics have a very limited number of spells known at each level. So, it ranges very far from "TGTBT".

For me, it is RAW and it hardly breaks the game in any way. Therefore it falls into my category of 'why not?'

That said, the spells granted by your conscious mind are simply added to your repertoire. Once a part of your repertoire, they are like every other spell in your repertoire. As such they can be swapped via the "swapping spells in your repertoire".

So, you can swap the granted spells via the class ability, but not retraining. (RAW)

Retraining wouldn't work, because of this clause in the retraining rules:

CRB p. 481 wrote:

When retraining, you generally can’t make choices you couldn’t make when you selected the original option.

This is a misleading quote by Ascalaphus. The full paragraph is as follows:

When retraining, you generally can’t make choices you couldn’t make when you selected the original option. For instance, you can’t exchange a 2nd-level skill feat for a 4th-level one, or for one that requires prerequisites you didn’t meet at the time you took the original feat. If you don’t remember whether you met the prerequisites at the time, ask your GM to make the call. If you cease to meet the prerequisites for an ability due to retraining, you can’t use that ability. You might need to retrain several abilities in sequence in order to get all the abilities you want.

The better quote would be from a couple paragraphs earlier..

Retraining offers a way to alter some of your character choices, which is helpful when you want to take your character in a new direction or change decisions that didn’t meet your expectations. You can retrain feats, skills, and some selectable class features. You can’t retrain your ancestry, heritage, background, class, or ability scores. You can’t perform other downtime activities while retraining.

It is pretty clear that retraining is intended to be for choices made. Granted spells individually are not choices made. They are part of the chosen conscious mind. You want different granted spells? The choice you can change would be a different conscious mind.

It’s possible to have resistance to all damage. When an effect deals damage of multiple types and you have resistance to all damage, apply the resistance to each type of damage separately. If an attack would deal 7 slashing damage and 4 fire damage, resistance 5 to all damage would reduce the slashing damage to 2 and negate the fire damage entirely.

The problem with attempting to balance with spellcasting is that you've got spells like echoing weapon and wall of stone. I have used wall of stone to nullify 2/3 of a very difficult combat, changing it into an easy encounter. How do you balance with that?

The Raven Black wrote:

Using Wild Shape, for a Druid, is a tactical choice. The idea is not for it to be always the best choice.

In a way, I feel it is similar to raging for an Animal Barbarian. Sometimes it is the best first action. Sometimes it is better to wait. And some fights, you do not even rage at all because there was always something better to do in that specific encounter.

This idea would hold far more water if wild shape didn't require this many feat investment to stay usefull the whole level range. When half of your class feat are dedicated to a single feature, the feature should be worth it and better not be something you only do once every few fights.

I have a tough time with this perspective because regardless of how many class feats are spent, the druid doesn't lose any of their spell slots. Their spell attack and DC doesn't ever go down. They still get the maximum spell level. They lose nothing.

My main problem with the battle form spells is that they don't have full heightening effects per spell level.

1: We are level 11 now, flight has been becoming a thing for far longer than the 1 min in dragonform be it the spell, ancestries, or otherwise

2: Given my prompt was a draconic sorcerer you'd be limited to the type you chose though again level 11 you've had means to get resistance to things long before be it magic, items, ancestries, etc
3: The former is easily done better by a 2 level spell as well as again easily obtained long before level 11 be it ancestry, feats, items, etc
4: The only contention point and it is a decent blasting option...every other round on average and again only in the one element if a draconic sorcer. You know what else are decent blasting options every round, your spells 6th and lower.
5:Again so-so melee that while on par to hit of a barbarian or the like, still less than fighter but who isn't you only get a measly +6 to damage so anything worth its salt will have more riders to their attacks than the measly 6.
6:Once again a weak amount of temp hp, comparable to what barb has had since level 1. On that note you can have a dragon instinct barb that could cast spells with the proper feat or even do a lot of what this form does, all the time every rage.
7:Really skill feats or in the case of barbarian a single class feat? This is a 6th level spell you are level 11 at this point and that's a major boon?

....huh...

1: Fly gives flight for 2 actions and a speed of....? The answer is not 100 ft in case you were curious. Fly, or other similar flight spells, also don't give you an AC that is comparable to a martial. Also doesn't give you melee attacks with a bonus to attacks comparable to a martial. Also doesn't give you damage with the attacks it doesn't give you comparable to a martial.
2: So..how many actions before you can fly, have resistance, get melee attacks, have a decent aoe, get a decent AC...oh, and how many spell slots did you use up?
3: refer back to 2
4: refer back to 2
5: If you want to play a martial, then play a martial
6: If you want to play a barbarian, then play a barbarian
7: How many wizards are rocking Athletics? How many martials have swim speeds? Burrow speeds?

Your counters just sound silly to me given that you can get all of the things dragon form can give you for...2 actions. Only 2 actions!

Some Stats comparison at level 11
....DF..vs..avg martial
AC 29 vs 29
Attk +22 vs +22
Dmg 3d10+6 vs 2d10+2d6+7
HP low vs high
Athletics +23 vs +23

Jom, having taken his time putting his clothes back on, is quickly unshirted once more and pointing to the scars around his shoulder. "These are from a massive, chameleon-lizard-thing that almost took off my arm. It nabbed me with it's tongue, yanked me next to it's cage, and bit down hard. I almost lost my arm!"

"I cut it's tongue off and it was madder than a chelaxian noble from Sargava...true story."

After a few more (very necessary) flexes, Jom begins putting his shirt and armor on once more.

After considering it for a few hours, CR, and while I avoid GMing as much as possible, I'll GM a short PbP for you. I want to give you an opportunity.

Shoot me a message if you are interested.

My main reason for preferring pf2e:
I can't really make a broken character, no matter how hard I try.

PF1 : so many ways/builds

Dark Heresy : sniping

FF Star Wars : pressure points

Shadow Run : Sniping

DnD 5e : dex focus, wild shaping druid (or bear barian)

Catalyst: reinforce

DnD 3.5-3.0 : Cleave shenanigans

Those are the systems I remember playing, and breaking.

I listed that as an example for outside of PFS. Of course PFS isn’t going to let you meet your witch patron, at least not in play

I talked about how I thought the rules prevent witches from meeting with their patron throughout a home non-pfs campaign

And then I also talked about how we should be allowed, as part of our character’s backstory, had our character meet face to face with their patron in order to make the pact… so basically meeting their patron in their backstory before they became an adventurer and as such not during any actual sessions

Look bud, you are in the Organized Play section of the forums. These topics are specifically unrelated.

Secondly, and I do not mean this maliciously, a vast majority of people in PFS couldn't care less what your character's backstory is. There are simply too many characters to care about. Also, there is not enough time in the average slot to delve into it every time. It is possible a GM will make the random backstory you created matter, but very unlikely. This is also a nature of PFS, degrees of impersonalality.

Yet again, I am lead to believe that organized play may not suit the style of play you are looking for.

If someone says that, just change the story so that it fits into the silly ruling and behaves the same.

Maybe technically your kobold witch's patron is unknown to your kobold. However, your kobold is completely convinced it is Apsu. They act as though their patron is Apsu. They continue to receive power. Thus, confirming the kobold's assumption. The patron could even be Apsu, but technically the kobold doesn't know.

These are loophole ways to circumvent silly rulings, because there will be silly rulings every so often. It is the nature of organized play and a campaign with a multitude of GMs. I use these backstory loopholes all the time.

I have a kobold flames oracle who was definitely not cursed by Dahak because in PFS he cannot have been cursed by Dahak. He was definitely cursed by Sarenrae. But, he worships Apsu because he thinks Apsu is the one that "over gifted" him with the power.

Thus going back to, if you want to play in society, then do. If the 'restrictions' bother you too much, then don't. It is up to you.

...are so popular I think that warrants making them free...

Here is where I disagree. Popularity is of minimal importance.

If you want to play pfs, then play.

If you don't like the restrictions, then don't play.

I'm failing to see another option.

The argument of "...but that makes me and some other people not want to join/play..." is not really compelling to me. This whole thing doesn't need an ever expanding playerbase, it just needs enough. There are currently plenty of people that play. We don't need you to join. It would be neat if you did join. But, I certainly won't lose sleep over it if you don't. To me, it seems you are over estimating the weight of your opinion.

Yeah, I'm not sure society is ideal for what you want out of the game. "Role play heavy" is very much not what you are likely to experience in society play. It has happened with me on rare occasions, but far from regularly. I think you may be looking for something that society is very unlikely to give you.

1) You are correct, resist all and resist all (except ...) would reduce the damage of disintegrate.

2)Actually, Breath of Life oddly helps answer that question. The trigger of BoL is "A living creature within range would die." Therefore the effect of disintegrate reducing a creature to 0 would cause it to die. Otherwise the text in BoL would be pointless when it calls out disintegrate.

I see no issues with disintegrate.

As a GM, I'd rather change which stat a class keys off of than go with the newly declared alternate system. I agree with the point that ancestries should be distinct.

It sounds like you don't know what you want, except for the dwelf. So start from dwelf. Stop thinking about that for the moment.

It sounds like you like the Haunting Vision background. Go for that. It gives you training in Religion (could be significant) and Dahak Lore. You're probably not going to worship Dahak, so why do you have Dahak Lore? You don't have to answer that now. But keep it in the background thoughts. Lastly, it gives you student of the canon. That skill feat makes reference to being faithful to a specific faith. So, what faith is that?

You want to at least use a sword. Noted.

You want to use Crystal Keeper. Okay, the prereqs are trained in society (nothing particularly special about that) and elven lore (not necessarily significant, but it could be). The archetype heavily implies a scholar type character. It also leans heavily on Yuelral. Looks like you just answered the faith question, Yuelral.

So what do we have so far?
A dwelf that worships Yuelral, wields a weapon, and is probably a scholar of sorts. What classes fit with this concept? Cleric is a big one. The visions are not necessarily from Dahak. It could be that the visions are from your deity to push you toward where you were chosen to be.

Your method seems to be to draw lines wildly between options. I would instead suggest finding aspects of the character that you want to be the case, for symbolic reasons or not, and then figure out how they can be made to fit together. Utilize the aspects of the options that you want to guide you.

Mathmuse, I appreciate the reply. However, my message was specifically intended for the OP. I'm familiar with symbolism. Problems can rarely be sufficiently understood with a single sentence. I'm looking for more clarity as to what the OP is experiencing.

What do you mean by 'rich symbolic meaning'?

Scales of the Dragon has an item bonus of +2 and dex cap of +3.

Drakeheart Mutagen is a variable item bonus with a max dex of +2.

Content does not necessarily mean options.

Yes.

Though, they can also use staves, scrolls, etc.. for spellstrike.

Yeah, I don't really see a situation where someone builds to sneak attack with HotA and no other spells. Especially since rogues don't get focus points by default.

- The attack trait and its interaction with the multi-attack penalty. In particular, this affects athletics maneuvers: grapple, trip, shove, and disarm.

It is relevant to note that the Escape action also has the attack trait. Like if you were escaping from a grapple.

4) I say yes for 3 reasons. One, the language of HotA says as if you had made a successful strike. Sneak Attack adds extra damage, thus could easily qualify as weapon damage. Two, Sneak Attack requires an agile or finesse weapon, so there are limitations as to what can be used to sneak attack with. And three, HotA has a cost, so it cannot be done over and over again.

1) So, is the title combo "Too good to be true?"

2) Does the extra wording in Invoke the Crimson Oath separate it from HOTA?

3) Were the forums wrong about the Rogue combo?

4) Does HOTA work with Sneak Attack(Without the need to take Magical Trickster)?

1) No, it is not. With a multispell wind-up, and one if the spells dependent upon your focus points, it has a cost. Also, it is a spell attack roll.

2) ItCO does not include the language "Strike", therefore it does not work with sneak attack. HotA does, so it does work.

3) Yes, they were wrong.

4) Yes

As a person who looks sideways at paid GMing, I feel compelled to say 'not my horse, not my race'. I may find it odd and maybe even concerning, but I don't think it is my place to say that other people (who choose this) should not be doing it.

I actually have a bigger problem with Leo's wizard's theses assesment. I don't think spell replacement and blending between classes should work at least RAI, but I'm not sure. But here:

Leomund "Leo" Velinznrarikovich wrote:

3) Arcane Thesis. The thesis are the most interesting aspects of the wizard because none of them, except metamagic, only interact with your wizard spells.

Yes, metamagic definitely works for everything once you get it (unless there are some specific weird interactions). So everyone could get and use Silent Spell on all their spells after spending a whole lot of their class feats on Wizard dedication. Though yes, how this would interact with Psychic for example I'm not sure. Need to read the rules.

Sure...though it is not the thesis that is working with other spellcasting. The only thing the thesis is doing is allowing the gaining of a free wizard feat. Which is why I said what I did. Of course metamagic feats work with any spellcasting.

Honestly, I really don't see a strong argument that can be made for RAI 'wizard thesis only work with wizard stuffs' as a blanket thing. To be fair, I also don't completely think an opposite RAI argument could be made either. Which is why I addressed the RAW and said 'why not?' (basically making a counter too-good-to-be-true argument).

I tend to prefer one or two word incantations. I tend to go for Latin, but not always.

Shield
"Aegis"

Fireball
"Ignis fragor"

Protection (vs evil)
"Repellum malum"

Disrupt Undead
"Ruinos inmort"

I don’t think anyone is happy to lose their actions just so the enemy gets a -4/-5 to their attack.

I would do this in a heartbeat.

Leomund "Leo" Velinznrarikovich wrote:

YuriP wrote:

Also don't work if the grabbed was a critical.

If you have been critically grabbed, that means that the enemy used an action and contributed to their MAP in order to do that. It also only lasts until the end of their next turn, unless they spend another action and crit succeed again.

If the enemy is going to waste MAP and an action just to keep me restrained, I could do nothing on my turn and I'd still be meaningfully contributing to the combat.

Such a situation is so incredibly unlikely, I feel no need to plan for it.

I'd carry around a scroll of blink, just in case.

It also means you are unable to do anything but attempt to escape. It sounds like the enemy is winning this contest to me.

That certainly would be the case if it was just 1 v 1. But in theory you have a team. If the enemy is spending its best action not doing damage and just restraining you, the enemy is certainly not winning that situation. That you can do nothing but attempt to escape is of ancillary importance.

I know DC 5 flat check isn't huge but it is definitely notable

It is less notable if you have a hero point.

The 20% chance moves down to a 4% chance

Leomund "Leo" Velinznrarikovich wrote:

Oh, I certainly do. Also, as was shown, some people bring out rules I didn't notice.

I guess I can't help but be curious, you said "using the core rules as they are known to operate", would you not allow Spell Blending or DBI to work on dedication spell slots? If not why not?

DBI? Not sure what that is.

I would probably allow Spell Blending as it has no limitations on how you prepare spells. Seems if you have it, you can use it. It doesn't even seem to indicate as part of the same tradition, so you could trade other spell lists for wizard spells or vice versa. Pretty wide open.

Drain Bonded Item