Seisho's page

Came recently up in my campaign. One of the party members is a geniekin and theorized they might go to the elemental planes after they die instead of the 'regular' afterlife.
Which honestly would surprise me, but made me think.

So what happens if elementally hypercharged beings or straightup elementals dies?

a) they go to pharasma like everybody else
b) they go to the elemental planes and become (re-)incarnated as an elemental
c) something else that nobody at my table thought about

With the last errata pass the Magus can finally use non-attack spells for their Spellstrike. (with the AoE effects and the like put behind Expansive Spellstrike)
But the enemy still has to save regulary against the attack.

IMO
that just does not go far enough
This detracts from the dynamic use of Spellstrike and makes the save spells not very fun to use it with the spellstrike.

You still use two actions for the spell and one for the attack, you only can upgrade the whole process with a focus point - and you don't always have the conflux spell at hand that would be best suited for the situation.

One loses range and the advantage of making an attack roll spellstrike while having to contend with the lower saving throw *AND* making the class more MAD. Not everybody wants their magus to be intelligent, with the reduced number of attack spells they now have to contend with lower saving throw *and* having only a secondary attribute for the spells.

Considering all that I suggest: The Magus should treat saving throw spells as attack spells.
Critically hitting the enemy, acts as the critical failure of the saving throw
regular hitting, makes the spell as if the saving throw is regulary failed
Regular hit - well, either the spell goes poof (which would be a tradeoff I am willing to pay) or it acts as if the enemy was successful at the saving throw
which incidently would lessen the pain of just having wasted up to 3 actions without getting anything for it. (The decision between that I would rather leave up to discussion)

My first look at the class, I really do like it, probably won't get an opportunity to see them in play before the playtest ends, so that is a bummer

based on my experience and impressions and what I read in other threads I still feel like sharing thoughts and making suggestions

1) making the class an occult caster slightly surprised me at first, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. Having Int as key attribute seems fitting, but slightly dissonant with the theme of the dirge and the described performance flavor for the spells - maybe we should get an attribute choice? Although I would not tie that to the fascinations, that would only create an artifical barrier for playstyles

2) I really like create thrall, a flexible spell with a lot of utility and great action economy. The thralls are interesting and I love metamagic keying off them - there should be more thrall spellshape feats (more powerful widen spell if you use a thrall at its point of origin, gaining bonus damage per spell rank when sacrificing a thrall next to the enemy, etc)

3) I see the flexibility problem of thralls some people mentioned. The easiest way to adress it would probably be to add a line in create thrall akin to 'instead of creating a thrall, you can order one of your existing thralls to move 15ft'

4) while there are some options to use thalls outside of focus spells, focus spells seem to be the main focus, which especially in the early game where you need 2 actions to recharge a focus point once per combat with consume thrall, causes for periods of not many possibilities of what to do
I think adding another early focus cantrip (and generally adding a cantrip or two) and increasing the starting focus pool point to 2 might both alleviate this problem

5) there are some skills supporting wading into melee and being the worst nightmare of your enemies (weapon familiarity, ostea armaments, draining strike, desperate surge) but those feel a bit like trap options
bind heroic spirit is a good substitute for heroism but comes online rather late
the familiarity is mostly for strength weapons, but the class can only wear light armor
I would suggest giving medium armor proficiency and a way earlier (likely tiered) bind heroic spirit
maybe add a focus cantrip 'undead might - sacrifice up to X thralls to gain +X to attacks until the end of your turn'

5.1) speaking of ostea armaments, starting level 10 the lvl 8 feat scales perfectly to level, but before that it gives you an 'underleveled' weapon? only a minor nitpick but I think the feat should probably come online on level 4 or 6
I know the weapon is not technically underleveled, but for a feat that seems so flexible and potentially important to some builds, lvl 8 seems to be late

Based on the thread by mellored and some answers there,
let's see if subclasses are a valid idea for the guardian

Based on the ideas there I propose 3+ subclasses
They should probably get a little boost to their main schtick and the other ones specials can be learned with a feat

Protagonist: The hero of his own story, loud and boastful - uses the taunt as his main ability (unique improvement: more range? dc penalty for already struck enemies?=

Stalwart: 'You Shall not pass!' Hampering strikes as their key feature to shut down enemy movement (unique improvement: ac/saves bonus when not moving?)

Bodyguard: getting in harms way to protect their charge - intercept strike is their game (unique improvement: extra reaction for intercepting? more reach?)

And I think a shield focused subclass would fit well too, maybe with something that passively increases a shields durability like the shield spirit from champion or the magus subclass

On Page 327 in the upper right corner I spied today a little box with the title 'monster core dragons'

First off: The dragons there all sound really cool and I am looking forward to them :D

As well as to the new Dragon Sorcerer Bloodline - and that one got me thinking.

We are going to have a lot of new dragons, probably steadily increasing in number. We also have already in the core new dragons of every magic tradition

So where does that leave the sorcerer and the dragon bloodline?

Currently we have the Draconic and the wymrblessed Bloodline, which share focus spells and are differing in their tradition and their spells

So I want to put in a little suggestion while I am babbling on:

We have a sidebar with 'usually prepared spells' for the dragons in the pf2 bestiary

make those sidebars for what the Dragon bloodline grants instead! (or add it to the sidebar)

The dragon bloodline references to the bestiary monster core and says 'you get the breath weapon, magic tradition, resistance and the spells of a dragon of your chosing'

Like that the bloodline would be automatically future proofed and with minimal extra effort (or slightly changed effort rather) get an individual spell list for every type of dragon, which would in turn make the choice of dragon notibly more meaningful

Inspired by the discussion about subtle spells I've gotten curious how your spellcasters to their gestures.

Most expect wide movements that Draw magical shapes into their Air from wizards, more dance and esoteric routines from witches, etc.

But of course it doesn't have to, I Imagine especially dorceres having a Lot of freedom in what they do and every Religion having possibly multiple forms

I could perfectly imagine some eastern spell schools working with Finger signs, Akin to what er know from Naruto

And while He was especially non-magical, Reign Arataka from Mob psycho 100 had certainly some Flair in his flashy gestures and Hand poses He used to underline his more or less profound speeches

So, the Nephilim in the Player core say something to the effect of 'we feature on what was once known as tieflings and aasimars but this is the umbrella Term for all outer Planes scions' even going as far as mentioning aphorites, ganzi and iirc or friends from the voneyard too

So...should we just treat all of their feats as Nephilim feats now? Because those are a lot and would make Nephilim the truely versatile heritage

Two words: Style weapons

gives us one (or multiple) feats that enable the combination of different styles with fitting/archetypical weapons

like allowing to use the weapon or the style traits and either damage profile while using the designated wepaons(s) ot just let the weapons count as monk weapons as long as the style is used

Examples:
Crane Style could use fans or Hook Swords (possibly one of each) for a increades variaty of damage types and traits (backstabber, deadly, ... )

Tiger Style is the obvious candidate for cat claws and similar weapons

Lashing Branch Style using Bo-Staffs, possibly tonfas

Mountain stance and ironblood stance are excellent candidates for the meteor hammer

cobra stance could use daggers to allow a throwing style

I am sure there are enough possibilities to give most styles at least one weapon (and if some dont get one...well, that happens)

In one of the books, can't remember which, there's a picture of two Kobolds sharing a Beetle moung in a patrol

There's also quite a number of mounts which are strong and bulky, as Well as possibilities to make them (temporarily) larger

But I have not found any rulese on the subject (or am too dumb to find them)

So - are there rulesefor a Rider and a 'pessenger' on one mount? And how would you handle it If there aren't?

Now that we got all the planar scions packed into a single heritage s!%#'s gonna be weird :D

I am curious and inspired by the 'whats your [class] character Threads let me ask you all:

Now that you can hogwild, what Kind of Nephilim are you going to make? Bonus points for discription of their looks

As some of you know I am a big Fan of dual classing

With the new Kineticist out I quickly noticed that the class is very self contained and very mad, which makes multiclassing a bit harder

So my first impression of classes for multiclassing and synergies:

Fighter, Swahsbuckler, Thaumaturgist,Monk, gunslinger: No combination possible, the special abilities just don't interact If you don't allow the Impulse to become your 'weapon'

Any full caster: now one has combined limited and unlimited spells and ist incredibly mad, No good vibes Here either as it kinda defeats the purpose

Rogue: has a Lot to gain in Mobility and versatility. In top of that it would not be unfeasable to homebrew a Impuls variation of spell trickster - it would probably end Up a really powerful combination though

Champion: an interesting case, at first it looks like the Champion Vlad in Armor of Stone, rust or hardwood is impressive, until you realize that ist has No Advantages over wearing traditional Armor and you got No place to Put your divine Ally - one could Put it into the summoned shields of the Armor Impulses which is probably stretching the Rules a bit

Barbarian: obvious choice but locks you into a single element, you also won't get the sweet rage damage bonus RAW

Magus: this one is interesting because you could either argue, both with homebrewing and GM permission of course, to allow Impulses to Work as either your weapon or your spell
The weapon slightly increases your damage and Chance to Hit in the Long Run, one needs to watch Ränge compatibility of course
If impulses become your spells you will need expanded spellstrike and the regular one becomes barely an Economy enhancer anymore as Impulses in the Long Run are not really made to compete with Cantrips

Ranger: now this one has enough synergy that ist might be op
Precision Rangers add additional damage to their Impulses which make the semi-mandatory use of them very powerful while the flurry Ranger can just Pelz the enemy easily (ten thousand needles or something) which would maybe even make the abhorent Chainblast an actual viable move

Alchemist and inventor:They just do their own thing in the side with little Interactions with the class

I was really happy when I first heard Warpriest gets Master Weapon Proficiency (nice)
It was a little dampened when I heard 'Deities Weapon only' (well...understandable)
But Hearing it was level 19 only...

That changes nothing for most campaigns
What is the Point of Master Profiecency and (if I heard that correctly) some Martial support feats if you are behind every other character half of the campaign anyway?

In that vein I don't exactly have high hopes for the Warrior Muse Bard either tbh

So here is my suggestion to deal with it:
Make Warpriests and Bards who follow the Warrior Muse Wave Casters

Warpriests are supposed to get more Martial support and they will retain their divine font, so they are certainly not without magic options

Bards stil have their composition spells

they both still have a lot to do when they have reduced spell slots, but they both will be able to make more out of their Newly found proficiency with this and enable some new playstyles which, so far, were only be possible with lots of archetype feat investment or dual class optional rule

I think this would redefine the subclasses identity and strenghten it, making them more unique and being able to do their own thing - which is strongly in line with what their name implies anyway

I dare say that making the eldritch trickster rogue also a wave caster would elevate it from being the imo (and I believe several other people agree) worst rogue racket to pick to its own thing, even if that would mean giving up on some stuff like additional skill feats/points

The focus of Pathfinder will as we all know by now shift a little away from the classical chromatic and metallic dragons

But their imprint is still strong with their diminutive cousins

I personally love Kobolds and I know many of you do too

So I've been wondering - what will happen to them?

Will Kobolds stay the same (in mostly the five chromatic colors and sometimes their metallic counterparts)

Or will Kobolds be reinvented, maybe even renamed, to go away from OGL and reflect their possible new relatives?

And will we get at that opportunity maybe the chance to get new Kobolds who have a link to other dragonkin like primal and imperial dragons?

I would love to see our little scaley friends go proud into the future with maybe a little makeover and a new coat of scales! :D

First off, got to say I really love it. Gives quite a few option and works well for my group to realize most of the stuff they are planning on.

So I wanna share a bit about your experiences with dual classing and what additional rules and limits you set and add and maybe inspire each other.

I usually run it with the base assumption that one can not combine two martial classes (exceptions can be made). This rules out most of the munchkin stuff anyway - no flurry ranger with legendary progression, no legendary progression + full sneak attack, no flurry thaumaturge etc.

For spellcasters I am not ruling out having two since they usually run similar saves, similar hp pools and while they got more spellslots the additional spells don't get more effective or anything.

Some things I try to be cautious about:
-If the player wants to combine anything with monk it's to be carefully considered
Is it powerful? yes, but if they want to lean into it they can get flurry by level 10 either way
-Should I let them combine Magus with a spellcaster? Combining it with a martial would also be nasty but that guy could go nova multiple times as long

And a few things I like to add:
If the players want to combine any sort of (animal) companion with a summoner I give them the option for a custom feat that, instead of giving them an (animal) companion, lets the eidolon profit from the class specific boni that the companion usually would benefit from (focus spells, rangers edge, etc.)
the counterpoint being that the character usually wont be able to pick up the companion upgrad feats (that would certainly end up to strong)

Also a fun little thing one can add - make custom class names for your combinations

Fighting Class + Bard (especially with sarenrae focus) = Dervish
Monk + Spellcaster = Mystic Adept
Swashbuckler + Gunslinger = Musketeer (duh)

A while ago I had the idea of coming up with one weapon of each category - for each ancestry.

I kind of got stuck after a while (and am currently playing other TTRPGs), as you can imagine it's a big load of work.

I still want to share what I thought up so far

Ancestral Weapons expanded

I tried to keep the general balance of the game in mind as well as the flavor of the different ancestries - and also the ancestral weaponry feats that are imo rarely worth picking up (hence theres a big number of advanced weapons)

I'd love to hear some feedback and what kind of weapons you would add

My Party decided on an adventurers guild as a setup for the campaing. I really like the idea, enables some easy questing with occassional oddball quests in between.

We soon came to talk about fees for the guild and we are all not sure avout how to go about it.

Skilled hirelings are half a gold a day, which is not a lot for the average adventurer

the next more expansive service starts at 4 gold a day which in turn seems quite expansive

So, question to all gamemasters - how would you go on about assigning fees for your guilds customers and rewards for your campaigns heroes?

My party had an encounter with Centaurs.
One of the players rolled rather good for nature and discussins details we all noticed again what a pile of horsecrap centaur anatomy is.

So we started wondering.

Where do Centaurs on Golarion come from? Are they created, a natural species or a magical accident?

And we wondered how many...redundant parts they actually have.

We all would love to learn more about centaurs on golarion in the long run (and I am personally also intrigued about them as a player option at some point)

...or is the 'magical attack' of the wand implement really horrible?

It needs the same ammount of actions as a spell but deals half as much damage as an average cantrip

I suppose it is not bad for weaknesses...but if the enemy has weaknesses why not use the Antothesis and whack them with a d12 weapon? or shoot them with a d8 weapon? you are using their weakness either way

The complication is mostly for the players - imagine following scenario

You've got an Lawful evil Spellcaster that has just completed the ritual to create a phylactery and become a lich. Instead of hiding it in some dank cavern the phylactery gets an additional enchantment hiding it's magical aura or letting it look like a different school of magic and then goes to:

a) The vault of the local Abadar temple. The Lich (still looking human at this point) makes a legetimate business with the temple and pays money to them to safekeep the item in their vault. Now and then he might has to renew the contract posing as his own descendent with a simple disguise spell.

b) A nearby Museum with good security measures. The Lich dupes the Museum staff into believing that this is an exotic and valueble artifact (not wrong, technically) Now it is on display for the whole world to see and at the same time under high security

Now the players have to deal not with the lich but with either part of the abadar priesthood or the museum staff

The question that came to me while making this up was the following - I've read at some point that liches if they continue eating and drinking (and sleeping?) properly basically keep their looks and don't start to decay as that comes from neglecting the body and relying on the necromantic energy to keep you alive
I am just not sure anymore if that was pathfinder or another fantasy system

Inspired by a comment in another Thread

Warpriest
1st Level: You're trained in light and medium armor and in martial weapons. You gain the shield block general feat and if your deities weapon is simple the Deadly Simplicity lvl 1 feat.
You reduce your spell progression to the Bounded Spellcasting Progression (as Magus). The highest Level for your divine font is equal to your highest Spell Level. The number of Charges for the divine font is equal to your charisma modifier.
5th Level You gain Weapon Expertise
7th Level You gain Weapon Specialisation and unlock the critical specialisation for your deities favoured weapon
11th Level You gain Medium Armor Expertise, your gain expert rank in divine spell dcs and attack rolls
13th Level You gain Weapon Mastery
15th Level You gain the Juggernaut and greater Weapon Specialisation Class features
17th Level You gain Medium Armor Mastery
19th Level You gain Master Spellcasting

Additional Feats:
Arsenal of the Righteous
Prereq: Warpriest Doctrine, Level 6
You have trained in more weapons then just the one of your deity and know how to get an edge with them. You can use the critical specialisation effects with all Weapons you are at least Expert with.

Smite Good/Smite Evil
Prereq: Following a Deity of the opposed Alignment; Warpriest Doctrine
effect as Champion

Warrior Muse
1st Level: You gain the Martial Performance feat. You add Fear to your spell repertoire.
You reduce your spell progression to the Bounded Spellcasting Progression (as Magus).
5th Level You gain Weapon Expertise. You gain one 1st level Spellslot to cast fear with.
7th Level You gain Weapon Specialisation and unlock the critical specialisation for simple and martial weapon
11th Level You gain Light Armor Expertise, your gain expert rank in occult spell dcs and attack rolls. You gain a third level spell slot
13th Level You gain Weapon Mastery
15th Level You gain the greater Weapon Specialisation Class features
17th Level You gain Light Armor Mastery
19th Level You gain Master Spellcasting

Eldritch Trickster Racket
1st Level: You gain access to bounded spellcasting of one tradition of your choice. You may choose a different key ability score based on your tradition. Wisdom if you choose divine or primal, Intelligence of you pick Arcane or Occult, Charisma if you pick arcane or Primal.
You do not gain a skill feat. Instead you gain a skill feat the 2nd Level and every 2 levels thereafter like other classes.
2nd Level: You do not gain a skill increase, instead you gain your first skill increase on level 3 and every second level thereafter. You gain access to the Magical Trickster Class feat instead of on Level 4.
If you choose Minor Magic you gain 2 additional cantrips from the same tradition as your chosen one..
11th Level: You gain expert Spellcasting
19th Level: You gain Master Spellcasting

sidenote: this is an admittedly rather swiftly made conversion and as I progressed in writing it so did my tiredness.
I still think these should be fairly balanced (rough estimation without playtesting) and would love to hear some feedback and ideas how to possibly improve on them

...I really, really do love your products.
Pathfinder is by far my favourite PnP.

but...

The last minute change of the SoM release date...

I am not even mad about the delay. Things like that can happen, it happens all the time. Especially the last and this year for reasons we are all aware of.

But you KNEW that the date could not be kept. Appearently for a week or more.

People are planning around these things. I planned something with my friends for a pnp session. I know others who have planned around it.
I cleared my schedule to be able to read enough properly to be ready for the weekend.
I took a dang day off and waited till last second to get it because I was thinking to myself 'it is so close to the release date, they surely won't change it'

On top of that people knew. Who knew? The people who subscribe. I have not casually the money to spare to buy a big book and GET IT SHIPPED OVERSEAS on top of that.
I have no good local retailer to buy the book either.

I just had the dang street date NO ONE BOTHERED TO UPDATE TILL IT WAS TO LATE TO CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT MY SCHEDULING.

GIVE PEOPLE TIME TO REACT AND PROPERLY INFORM THEM

The bad communication here is what bothers me the most.

rant over...just had to vent...

One of my players wanted to make a Shadow Bloodline Sorcerer and since Dexterity was not the top score with the build we looked into the Multiclass Archetypes. They were at first thrilled about getting light armor from rogue to help a little in that department, however the enthusiasm quickly deflated when they noticed that, like many other Archetype prophiciences, it does not scale. Unlike the weapon prophiciency of figther not even with a feat.
The campaign starts a few levels higher and the realisation that at level 13 they would be better off just stripping the armor (they probably would've invested some recources in at that point)

So I wonder again, why does the prophiciency with weapons and armor granted by multiclass archetypes not scale?
I mean, it can't be balance reasons, among other things sentinel grants scaling armor prophiciency, archer grants scaling prophiciency with bows and mauler grants scaling prophiciency with all weapons which are two handed or have the two handed trait

I kind of opt just for giving all those archetypes just scaling coupled to their own. The multiclass archetypes are in comparison often subpar either way (the non-caster ones anyway)

I recently made on order which was declined because of insufficient funds (whoops), by now that problem is solved but when I want to place the order for Lost Omens Mwangi expanse pdf nothing happens.
There is a short loading circle when I click 'Place your Order' and nothing happens
I tried to update the billing adress once (and got no pending transactions of any kind that I can see)

One of my players wants to make a character that is part Kami, basically the same degree an Aasimar is a celestial.
Since Kami are good natured spirits I advised them (for the start) to pick Aasimar Versatile heritage, but I am not entirely sure about it.

So how would you pull it of (without homebrewing)

Aasimar? Aphorite? Ganzi? Maybe even Changeling or Geniekin?

Every Deity has a favored Weapon and of course for several characters (mostly clerics, some paladins) they are a good choice while for many more characters they are at least flavorwise a good choice.

The Problem is - often new Weapons pop up which might be even better for some deities then their assigned Weapon.

Or some deities get a specific favoured Weapon and later theres a new weapon that is very similar style wise and fits for your character so much better.

Examples:
-Hei Feng, Tengu God, has the Nine rings Broadsword, by now we got a Tengu Gale Blade
-Nethys, Isis and some other Gods have a Staff as Weapon, would a Bo Staff be okay? what about a Khakkara?
-Shizuru uses a Katana, should their Priests be allowed to wield a Wakizashi instead (or should they maybe even dual wield them?)
-Sarenrae has the Scimitar, a Cutlass might show up in Guns and Gears.

How do you handle things like that?

I wanted to share my first thoughts about firearms and in the mean time invite to talk more about specificly those.
(Partially because there don't seem to be very many threads focussing solely on the firearms and they are usually linked to other stuff.

So without further waiting, step by step my personal impressions with little side notes

Traits
-Fatal: I love this. I was always for Firearms having fatal as trait. It just hits the right spot.

-Versatile: Makes perfectly sense. Makes me wonder a little why PF2 removed the ability to deal two types of damage at once. Easier calculations?

The New Traits
-Scatter: Seems largely a solid trait. It seems a little niche, more like a sidearm trait to me. Admittedly I could never warm up to scatter weapons in anything but an actual FPS

-Sniper: The ranged variation of Backstabber. It is literally the same trait in all but name. As with backstabber I think it is rather weak. The worth is still higher since it levels the field to propulsive weapons. It could be something on Future bows and crossbows. (Advanced Elven bow *eyebrow wiggle*)

-Unsteady: Now this is a harsh one. -2 hit penalty if you don't spend an extra action on an either way action starved weapon. Either every round or with a tripod that probably ruins your mobility. Historically Arquebus had a fork rest which seems way simpler and more mobile. Considering the ammount of incredible dangerous and fast beasts out there it seems almost like a must to have something better then a tripod.

The Simple Guns
-Flintlock Musket: I really like this one. It seems to be roughly at the level of a light crossbow but I can already feel the glee in critically hitting an enemy to mess them up really good. (at the cost of averagely 1-4 points of base damage) I have the strong feeling this could be at the moment the go-to firearm for two-handed firearm users

-Flintlock Musket: I have very mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand I love it for the same reasons as Musket. On the other hand...oh do I despise d4s...

-Hand Cannon: I find the concept of a gun you can just shove scrap in and shoot it around very amusing. It should maybe have cheaper ammo or special rules for scrounging shot? powder of course still has to be paid

The Martial Guns
-Arquebus: The most brutal Firearm. In damage as well as ooportunity cost.
At least you won't get into trouble for wanting to reload it while dual wielding. But seriously, you have to invest an extra action every turn if you want to be able to use running reload or you are just sitting in place. Most of my problems with this weapon admittedly stem from my problems with unsteady

-Blunderbuss: It feels a little like the damage type should also be modular. Blunderbuss are the archetypical 'shove something in and fire it' Weapons. (And I think the gm should feel free to give or take weird properties if you stuff...stuff into it)

-Dueling Pistol: It's a friggin onehanded musket you can hide in your pocket (they are not just happy to see me :P ) for the cost of 10 range.
Probably the go-to Weapon for one-handed or dual wielding...oh wait...
well for gunslinger who use only onehanded firearms.

The big Missed Opportunity
Firearms with Magazines.
Even a Pistol or Musket with two barrels (or three, or four) would have been a great opportunity to test how this influences the whole action economy.

The big Winners
-Ranger should be excellent with Firearms right out of the gate. Their Precision Edge and Running Reload work perfectly for a Sniper fighting style.

-Fighter is also in a good spot, but they probably need a little Multiclass support to really make it work action wise (or just use the Firearm as devastating backup weapon)

-Investigator: Stratagem with a ranged fatal weapon? Yes please! where do I sign up?

-Bastion: Since they learn how to have a hand free with their shield strapped they get a new level of tactical options.

The big Loser
-Wizards: because they can't shoot at all.
I wonder if there will be a new version of that wizard sniper archetype (maybe as Arcane thesis? that would actually be cool)
At least with the new misfire mechanics there wont be a flat 5% chance of exploding every turn.

The feat Ancestal Weaponry first seemed really cool to me. Kind of the thing I would have wished existed from day one, the link between ancestral weapons and the monastic weaponry just seemed so natural.

I can totally get behind why it is only melee weapons, makes perfectly sense balance wise.

I can also totally get behind the idea that the weapons have to have either agile or finesse. Obviously without that you would open up to some really strong weapons that you can flurry around like a mad-man(orc/elf/etc)

But that the weapon also needs the ancestry trait...

This leaves us with following options (leaving out ancestries without weapon feats):

Catfolk: Claw Blade

Dwarf: Clan Dagger

Elf: Curve Blade

Gnome: no Weapons

Goblin: Dogslicer

Halfling: Filchers Fork

Hobgoblin: no Weapons

Orc: Knuckle Dagger

Tengu: Gale Blade

that last one totally deflated the value of the feat. You need 3 feats to learn how to effectively use ONE weapon.

There might be more weapons in the future, true...but still, it has...very weak returns for what it might have been.
And while some of those weapons are in itself interesting and open up option, I think it's still way to few to validify the investment of two class feats AND a racial feat

Inspired by the Final Fantasy (14) Dark Knight and for everyone who likes the evil champions options but doesn't want to be a dick

Dark Knight first Draft

We play in a small group and have dual classes and I decided to play a Monk/Sorcerer with the intend of combining monastic Archery with the Eldritch Archer later on

Before I get all confused about different interactions of class features / feats /bloodline magic I wanted to ask what happens under certain circumstances

1. Bloodline Magic: Works with focus spells and regular spells from your bloodine but not the other spells from spell slots? What happens if you cast a bloodline Spell heightened to another spell slot?

2. Bespell Weapon: Does it work after a focus spell? Does it work after Eldritch Shot?

3. Do mystic Strikes interact with bows (while in monastic archer stance) ?

bonus: is it just me or is Magic Arrow... a bit underwhelming?

You gain the basic spellcasting benefits (page 150). Each time

you gain a spell slot of a new level from this archetype, add a
spell of the appropriate spell level to your repertoire, either a
common spell of your chosen tradition or another spell of that
tradition you have learned or discovered.

So ... you gain 1 spellslot and 2 spells known per 'milestone' ?

Currently working on a big Jailbreak in Nidal for my players and designed a Velstrac epecifically to guard jails and similar things

The Velstrac Custodian

I am curious about opinions and maybe hints on making it more interesting (or for monster balance)

...are d4 REALLY unsatisfying to roll?

My current character is a Redeemer of Desna and is using a Starknife.
But honestly, I would kick two of it's trait out of the window to have it up to d6. I kind of hoped it would be better once I have the rune of striking.
And then, seeing two pyramids slide on the table to show me that I did 5 damage (including Strength modifier) is just no fun...

Some might remember that I have a (slower then I would like to admit) running personal project for an ancient greek inspired setting. And of course Ancient greek would be nothing without their monsters.
But we also know that humans (and other races if pc) are thirsty af and hump everything if given chance. So here a little test for 2 ancenstries based on pc races hooking up with 2 well known monstrous species.

I tried to make them fitting and flavorful but am not sure about the balance though

Demi-Cyclops
One of your parents was a cyclops. You have a single large eye instead of two smaller ones.
Other possible telltale signs of your heritage are above-average size, a bald head or a horn growing from your forehead. You gain Low-Light Vision and access to Demi-Cyclops Feats.

1st Level

Ferocity (Reflex)
Frequency: once per day; Trigger: You would be reduced to 0 Hit Points but not immediately killed.
Effect
Fierceness in battle runs through your blood, and you refuse to
fall from your injuries. You avoid being knocked out and remain
at 1 Hit Point, and your wounded condition increases by 1.

Flash of Insight (free Action)
Frequency: once per day; Trigger: You are about to roll a d20
Effect
Your natural insight allows you a glimpse of possible outcomes, you gain a success (but not a critical success) on the roll instead of rolling.

Cyclopean Throwing Techniqe
Cyclopean Warriors are infamous for their ability to throw rocks with enormous precision at their Prey. You have learned to adapt these techniqes for yourself and become adept in throwing whatever you can get in your hands. Objects count as weapon when you throw them, the damage type depending on their shape and damage based on their size.
Palmable Objects (coins, pebbles and other small trinkets) deal 1d4 damage and get the agile trait while bigger objects (mugs, rocks, small furniture items) deal d6 damage. They all have the thrown trait and a range increment of 10ft.

5th Level

Cyclopean Throwing Expertise
Prerequisities: Cyclopean Throwing Techniqe
Effect
You trained your Throwing Technique to be more versatile and dangerous.
Thrown Objects you use profit from the fundemental runes of Handwraps of Mighty Blows. Learn also how to chug bigger objects. You can throw large Objects (tables, crates) at your enemies. They are considered two-handed throwing weapons and deal d8 damage. Furthermore your throwing range increment increases by 5ft.

Powerful throw
Prerequisities: Cyclopean Throwing Technique
Effect
You increase the damage die of all thrown Objects by one step.

Adept Seer
Prerequisities: Flash of Insight
Effect
You learn how to focus your abilities of insight. You gain Read Omens as Innate Occult Spell. You can use this once per week. Beginning at 10th Level you can use it once per day. If you have not used the ability for one week you might gain an insight in a random event determined by the gamemaster that might or might not concern you and your comrades. This insight might happen in an instant or cause you to fall into trance in a non-threatening (but still possibly disadvantegeous) situation.

9th Level

Flash of Brutality (free Action)
Frequency: oncer per day, recharges when ferocity is used. Trigger: you are about to succeed an attack. Prerequisities: Ferocity
Effect
Your Attack becomes a critical success.

Cyclopean Throwing Mastery
Prereqisities: Cycplopean Throwing Expertise
Effect
You further increase the range increment of your thrown objects by 5ft. Furthermore your thrown objects profit from property runes on your Handwraps of Mighty Blows and you learn the 'take aim' special Action.
Take Aim (1 Action)
Frequency: once per turn, after you thrown you can't take aim for 1d4-1 turns.
Your deep connection to your heritage allows you to make incredible throws. You double your throwing range increments for the next object thrown and ignore cover of your target as long as you can throw over said cover.

___________________________________________________________________________ _

Demi-Medusa
Your Mother was a Medusa, you are most likely an outsider in your Society. Your skin has a tint related to the snakes your monstrous parent is close to, it might even be scaly. You have snakes instead of hair that grant you the Snake Fangs natural weapon which deals 1d4 damage and has the agile and finesse traits. You gain access to Demi-Medusa traits.

1st Level

Venomous Serpents
The variety of Snakes you are related to is highly poisonous. The target of you Snake Fangs weapon has to save against the Serpent Venom. The Save is based on Fortitude and your class DC. A Critical Failure results in the Target beeing affected by the poison at stage 2.
Serpent Venom (Poison) Saving Throw Class DC Fortitude Maximum Duration 6 Rounds Stage 1 1d4 Poison Damage and enfeebled 1 (1 round) Stage 2 2d4 Poison Damage and enfeebled 2 (1)round
Special: You can only choose this feat at first level.

Paralyzing Gaze
You gain Tanglefoot as innate Primal Spell you can cast at will. It has only concentration components and does not launch a projectile at enemies but instead lets their limbs grow stiff.

5th Level

Medusas Many Eyes
You learn to use the optical capabilities of the snakes on your head. You gain Darkvision and All-Around Vision. Furthermore you can use the snakes on your head to carefully peek around corners.

Dangerous Poison
Prerequisities: Venomous Serpents
Your personal Snake Poison has become more dangerous. You increase the damage of Stage 1 to 1d6 and from stage 2 to 2d6. Furthermore you can decide to cause your enemy to become clumsy instead of enfeebled.

9th Level

Mind Numbing Poison
Prerequisities: Dangeous Poison
Your Snakes can create even more varied Poison. You can now decide to cause Stupefied instead of enfeebled or clumsy.

Poison Coating (2 Actions)
Prerequisities: Venomous Serpents
You carefully apply the Poison of your serpents to whatever Weapon or Missle you are holding. The next attack with the Weapon you are wielding appliest the Poison of your Serpents.

13th Level

Petrifying Gaze
Prerequisities: Paralyzing Gaze
You fully unlocked the potential of the Lethal Gaze your ancestors are feared for. You gain Flesh to Stone as innate Primal Spell. You can cast this spell twice per day and it has only concentration components.

De-Petryfing Gaze
Prerequisities: Petryfing Gaze
You learned the finer arts of your innate Gaze and are now able to reverse the effect. You can use your casts of Flesh to Stone to instead cast Stone to Flesh.

two questions about the interaction of those

1. Can Metamagic be applied to focus spells as usual?

2. Can Metamagic be applied cross-class if you learn it via Dedication or as Dual-Class hero?

My first instinct says yes to both but I am not quite sure about it.

Magic Archer Dedication - Feat 2, Uncommon, Archetype, Dedication
Req: Trained in Bows, Ability to cast Spells
Access: You are from an elven country or have the opportunity to train with a magical archer.
You become trained in acrobatics or the to your tradition corresponding knowledge skill (arcana, occult, nature or religion) and Elven Lore.

Imbue Arrow - Feat 4, Archetype, Flourish
The Archer gains the ability to place an area spell on an arrow. The arrow is fired as part of the spellcasting action. The spells area of effect is centered where the arrow lands, even if it could usually only be centered on the Caster. This allows the Caster to use the bows range instead of the spell range. The spell can still be fired on a target using your usual ranged modifier, if hit the target gets no save from the spell itself. The spells use their usual spellcasting dc.

Seeker Arrow - Feat 4, Archetpye
This grants the Seeker Arrow Focus Spell. If you don't have a focus Pool you gain a Focus pool of 1.

Bow Mastery - Feat 6
You increase your training with weapons in the bow group to expert. If it is already expert or would later increase, increase it to master.

Archers Secret - Feat 6
Pick a 1st or 2nd level feat of any class that can be used with a weapon of the bow group.

Greater Imbued Arrow - Feat 8
Req: Imbue Arrow
You improve your ability to imbue Arrows with spells. You can now deliver touch spells and regular ranges spells with your arrows. You use your ranged modifier to hit. If the Spell would usually require a save dc treat the outcome of your enemy as one step worse (two steps if you critically hit) or better if you deliver a friendly spell to an ally.

Phase Arrow - Feat 8
Req: Seeker Arrow
You gain the Phase Arrow Focus Spell. You increase your focus pool by one up to a maximum of three

Archers Deeper Secret - Feat 10
Pick any feat of any class that can be used for the bows weapon group. Your effective class level for Qualifing for that feat is half your level
You can pick this feat multiple times, choosing a new feat every time.

Seeker Arrow - Focus 4
Uncommon, Transmutation, Magic Archer
Cast: 1 A Somatic
Your Arrow flies around corners and in seemingly impossible angles searching for its target. After you cast this spell your next arrow ignore cover and concealment but otherwise roll a normal attack. The path the arrow flies has to be tracable to the target and is susceptable to the usual modifiers of range.

Phase Arrow - Focus 8
Uncommon, Transmutation, Force, Magic Archer
Cast: 1 A Somatic
Your Arrow phases through solid matter. After you cast this spell your next arrow ignores, cover, concealment and shields as well as any nonmagical barriers along its path. Otherwise the attack is rolled normally

Well, did this out of boredom while watching repeated unskippable cutscenes in an mmo :P

Tell me that you think - this should certainly open up some possibilities for a number of casters (although it is probably not great with bards which want to play their music all the time)

Okay I am not sure if it's just me but I stumbled across the Elven Chain entry between the Precious Material Armor

So it says that it is specifically a chain shirt

5gp | 2 Ac | +3 Dex | -1 Check Penalty | no speed penalty | Str 12 | Bulk 1 | Flexible, Noisy (Crafting Costs Negligible)

made out of mithril

1760 gp | 2Ac | +3 Dex | -1 Check Penalty | no speed penalty | Str 10 | Bulk L | Flexible, Noisy (crafting costs 220 gp, which is really really cheap compared to buying it)

but modified to this:

2500gp | 2 Ac | +3 Dex | 0 Check Penalty | no speed penalty | Str 10 | Bulk 1 | Flexible (Crafting Costs: at least 3125gp)

Is that correct? Does that really look as strange as it is? Or did I misinterpret something about the entry

here the entry again

I am currently working on my own supplement for PF2 with a little Island setting heavily influnced by ancient greece.
You will in the next weeks probably read a bit more about it in the homebrew section, so you if you curious keep your eyes peeled.

As a little start I want to share the first Archetype that will be part of the Setting. Unfortunately I don't exactly have a crowd to playtest it, so - I would appreaciate feedback and help in balancing the whole thing.

The Phalanx Archetype has a heavy Emphasis on Formation, Teamwork and Protecting your allies. It should be a Natural addition for Fighters and Paladins, but can probably work for most Martials who focus either on Shields or Spears

Phalanx Dedication – Feat 2
Prerequisities: Shield Block General Feat
You become trained in Athletics and Warfare Lore. If you were already Trained, you become Expert instead. You also gain the Reactive Shield Fighter Feat.

Shield Wall – Feat 4
Your coordination while using a shield allows you to protect your allies.
Whenever you raise your shield your adjecent allies gain a +1 shield bonus to AC. If they use the raise shield action, they instead increase the shield bonus they gain by 1.

Spear Wall – Feat 4
You have learned to keep the enemy always on the edge and look how to spot openings when they are distracted.
When an enemy is in Melee range of you and an adjecent ally it counts as flat footed for you. If your adjecent ally also has the spear wall feat the enemy is flat footed as long as it stays within your Melee range.

Stabilization – Feat 4
Requirements: You are wearing a shield.
You know how to balance Long Weapons while still keeping your defense up.
While you are wielding a Shield you consider all two-handed Weapons of the Spear group as one-handed.

Stay in Formation – Feat 6
Staying in the close formation of a Phalanx may decide between life and death.
Reaction – Trigger: An adjecent ally is moving.
You may move up to your speed as long as the movement ends in a square adjecent to the moving ally. You may only use this Feat once per turn, no matter how many reactions you possess.

Advance- Feat 6
You gain the Shielded Stride Fighter Feat.

Bulwark – Feat 8
You, and allies who benefit of Shield Wall, gain their Shield bonus as Item Bonus on Reflex and Will Saves of Harmful Spells.

Always Prepared – Feat 8
You gain an additional Reaction. You may use this Reaction for an additional Shield Block. You also may use this Reaction for the Stay in Formation Movement.

Not sure if it's an error but RAW the only thing you got from heightening Continual Flame are increased material component costs...is that all?

I am going to play PF2 most likely on a playtable with all people having German as their primary language, some unfortunately struggle with the English language.

So my question: If I buy the pdf, is there a possibility of getting the translated pdf without buying it again?

I have to admit that the Kineticist was flavor wise one of my favorite classes - if not the favorite class. (Yeah I am an Avatar fan, so what? :P )
Not just because it was cool but also because there were some really cool combinations with other classes that actually made a halfway decend (and concept wise really cool) character.

But I agree with people that the burn mechanic is pretty much...not so much fun.
(Also, since my group mostly played mythic it was kind of uncool to get not support whatsoever but thats a different topic)

Looking at how things work in Pathfinder 2 with action economy, focus points etc I think this class has great potential for the second edition.

The focus caster seems to be a good starting point and the kinetic blasts would probably be class specific infusions.
One could start with the blasts beeing actually weaker then other skills action and an option to increase damage (maybe a little like heal spells with inbuild option to make more when using more actions)

Of course there had to be something to spare oneself from using focus points for every modification on the blasts whatsoever - the gather power action comes to mind which can be more flexible with the new action economy

But there would be one more thing I wish from Paizo: do not use burn again. It was a very unfun mechanic
(Luckily, considering the new nonlethal damage mechanics burn seems unlikely either way)

Okay first I want to say I really like the new Multiclassing. It opens lots of possibilities and lots of options.
There are still some issues I want to discuss here.

1.) Spellcasting Feats
I mean I get that you don't want multiclass characters have just fine the same spellcasting as the core classes...but you have to get 4 feats after dedication? that makes you overall half class feats - or almost all your class feats if you are a sorcerer and want some stuff more

I think there should be either spellcasting access in only 2 feats (3 feats for 8 grade spells seems a bit much) or the second spell slot should be given by default - or both

2) Rogue
First off - dedication gives thievery - why not stealth? It seems a way more logical access skill and signature skill to get from the dedication
Secong: 1d4 sneak attack that becomes 1d6? I mean okay, sneak attack is now only 4d6 max but for 1d6 sneak attack I don't want to invest 2 feats, that feels pretty wasted
maybe make it more d4 or give it at least a second d6 so it actually pays off giving stuff up for it

I've looked over the new table and...what the heck? I can't make heads or tails about it

Most by now probably have seen the leaked(?) pictures of the PF2 Character sheet. As far as I've seen it it looks pretty good. But there are still two things I'd like to request/give to the paizo team to consider:

-The Lore Skills: We got two slots to fill in everything that fits under craft, lore and profession...I am pretty sure that is not enough for many many players (also considering that one slot is basically locked in through your background)
My players tend to fill all of those slots (ot at least most of them) and the adittional slots we got on our character sheet. Only two slots for all that stuff from which every category is nearly endless big is way to few. I would propose at least 4, maybe even more.

-A digital sheet: I know of course Paizo is not a computer company, but it would be an immense help to have day 1 character sheet pdfs that can be filled using your pc and easily edited.
I play mostly online and for tracking of data etc we use digital sheets we exchange regulary. Up to now there were always fan/custom made sheets, which (aside from minor bugs) always worked well. But I believe that digital sheets for everyone from day 1 would be an immense help for many players and even more gms.

-Weapon Prophiciencies: It looks like there are basically 2 slots, simple, martial and a specific one. I think there should be at least one other, maybe more specific ones, but this is as I see it only a minor issue.

Also feel free to add more ideas how the character sheet could be better.

I know we have not exactly had an Archetype blog or something but while posting I noticed that some of the old class (and prestige class) concepts really would work well for class agnostic archetypes.
Let me get a few examples:

Gunslinger: Firearm Prophiciency and Grit options as additional class feats. So you could do a Ranger or Rogue Sniper, a Gunslinging frontline Fighter or a cleric with a gun and blessed bullets.

Swashbuckler: More options mith light weapons. Would work for dex-based fighters, rogues, followers of Cayden Cailean and many more.

Arcane Archer: Got Magic skills and bow prophiciency? Upgrade it!

Brawler: Unarmed options for everyone!

Arcanist: Vary your vancian casting and get the exploits as additional options for your wizard - alternately make your sorcerer more flexible. (The start feat would probably be to alter the casting of your character to give you either more flexibility or more options in the long run)

Master Spy: Why lose class related stuff? It is much easier to pretend something if you got all options.

Dragon Disciple: Well it would be more like a Dragon Scion Archetype but I think there could be some pretty neat builds and option.

Hellknight: I am sure this one would be a class-agnostic archetype either way

And I am sure this works with a LOT of archetypes that some classes now have, heck -> some of the archetypes we got now are basically that with a bit configuration for the individual class

We already heard that mondays post is going to be about monsters and probably how to build them and...stuff

Now what I really hope and wish for:

Monster creation rules in Core

I know it takes a few probably important pages but this would make the core rulebook really all on NEEDS to play.

In SF I was kind of bummed to find out that I had to wait for the bestiary to build mobs and encounters. COnverting was an option...but imo not a good one...

We all know that several classic spells return (Fireball, Magic Missle, Scorching Ray, most likely charm)

But there is also the opportunity for new spells and some doubt about what spells will also return.

So I start with a wish for a spell I have seen in dnd5e and really think with the new cantrips should be a thing here:

Vicious Mockery

I never played dnd5e up to now and so had never the opportunity to use it but heard more then enough hilarious stories about it to know that I really want it.

And while we are at it:
Do you agree? And what spells do you wish for? Feel free to make some up too, maybe someone at paizo feels inspired :P

For everyone who wants to add a Shoulder mounted Weapon for his character.

Item Level 2; 1000C

This mod enables you to Mount a Weapon on your armor, usually on the shoulder, enabling the weapon to be operated without using hands.
The Weapon mounted gains the Unwieldy property, loses the analog property and needs a certain Strength to efectively be wielded. (12 for Longarm, 14 for Heavy lvl 1-10, 16 for heavy 11-20). Reloading the Weapon needs a standard action. Reloading a (by defalt) unwieldy weapon needs a full round action.
If you use multiple mounts increase the Str needed by one for every mount.
If you add the mount to your armor you qualify for the automated loader, although it holds maximum 1 Bulk of ammunition.

Additional Feat:
Shoulder Mount training
Req: Longarm Prophiciency
Effect: Mounted Weapons lose the unwieldy property (they don't lose it if they are by default unwieldy). Reduce the Str needed for effectively using a weapon mount by 1.
When you make a full attack using the shoulder mount and a weapon in your hand(s) reduce the Multi attack penalty by 1.

I think this gives potentially a lot of new options without upsetting the game balance too much. Had the spontanous idea today and thought it would be cool to have the option.
Hope you like it.