StarlingSweeter's page

Awesome to see some love for AOA and the Beginner Box

right, and you usually can't attack attended weapons.

"usually" is lost here because the weapon has been effectively immobilized and can't be pulled out of my attack path.

in case it wasn't clear, all the stuff i have been talking about has been specifically referencing attacking maneufactured weapons with the grapple and reach trait, not normal day to day usage. (monsters grappling you from range have already been addressed)

Understood, what I was trying to pivot away from was trying to interpret whether players COULD do this or not (depending on your interpretation of the rules) but whether you SHOULD let players do this.

Since Gill Hooks will most likely be found on PCs (infact I can't recall any creatures with reach, grapple, weapons off the top of my head) they will most likely use them to grapple monsters with the extended reach. If monsters can destroy their weapons they actively put one of their only ways of dealing damage at risk every time they use this strategy.

Infact I would argue, at a certain point in the game, the grapple trait would become useless because creatures would just destroy your weapon everytime you grapple them with it. Not to mention if the runes get destroyed with it.

Weapons are notoriously fragile, sure when the PC breaks the enemy creature's unstated gill-hook it may be no problem. But when the BBEG destroys the PC's +2 Greater Striking Flaming Holy gill hook with one strike I'm sure the tune will change quickly.

To keep it fair from both sides of the table I don't allow strikes against attended weapons unless you (or the creature) have a special ability that says otherwise.

Very proud of every player in the TTRPG community for fighting against corporate greed. I hope we can continue to unite this way in the future.

Corpse Stitch Gloves (modified Healer's Gloves)
These rugged leather gloves are thoroughly stained with substances better left unmentioned. They give you a +1 item bonus to medicine checks.

Activate Interact; Frequency once per day; Effect You stitch the flesh of an adjacent undead back together, restoring 2d6+7 Hit Points to it. This is a negative healing effect but you cannot harm living creatures with this healing.

Eventually you get the statistics for the actual poison and shadow ash which gives a very potent buff to dead animated with it as a catalyst.

It’s repeatedly stated that the ash is extreme hard to get in the quantity that Kemnebi needs but for personal use it may be easier.

Books 4 and 5 have this info I think and I would hold off on giving them access to this stuff until then. The downtime activities in books 4 may prove to be perfect for this sort of thing.

AFAIK the whole point of the plot is that it doesn't really effect undead. However, the consequences of this decision are far reaching. Killing all the quick will leave the hungry dead with nothing to eat. It will destabilize the entire system. Geb has a good quote on this from Book of the Dead.

These puerile fools believe it’s a moral imperative to target my feeding facilities and free the mortals within. Being short-lived mortals themselves, they fail to realize that a stable and orderly supply chain is much safer for everyone in the long term than wandering hordes of hungry and erratic undead.

If you look forward to Book 2: Graveclaw there's a good example of what happens when a poisoning attempt is successful. Despite the towns death and mass reanimation, Pagked is falling apart. Barely able to keep itself running.

As for why undead PCs may care about the overarching plot to poison neighboring countries, Geb cannot afford to go to war with all of its former trade partners at once nor does it want to. The Adventure Path states that it is in Geb's best interest to maintain its economy and station amongst its piers and the mass poison plot goes directly against this goal.

The adventure path solidly recommends more lawful leaning characters and the mass poisoning is solidly a very chaotic evil move. Personally I don't think I will have to change anything with the plot but everyone has a different version of Geb.

So something I've noticed for any GMs who eventually get to this module is that several traps have misprinted stealth DCs/modifiers and I believe got accidentally inflated. For example the Avian Rage trap on pg 11 has a stealth bonus of +45 which means the DC to find it would be a DC 55 check which is way above even an Extreme DC for a trap of that level. I believe the author meant a DC 45 check to spot so a +35 modifier which is much more in line with hazard building rules.

This repeats with the unstable fiendcage on page 50 which has a +48 or 58DC to spot. And the Keystone trap on page 52 which has a whopping +51 or 61DC to spot. Even a rogue with fully invested 20 WIS and legendary perception cannot physically spot any of these traps.

Keep an eye out when running and drop the modifiers and DCs by 10.

I play a champion of Sarenrae in a Agents of Edgewatch campaign and I manage to get by okay. The power of silence is not to be underestimated. Most of the time where true deception is needed I can hand over the spotlight to a fellow player who can take the lead.

Edicts and Anathema should always be geared to better follow your god. If you lie to protect the innocent or to help someone along their path to redemption then personally I would not see why Sarenrae would punish you.

However, it is up to you to work closely with your GM to find out where the lines and veils are regarding your service to your god. The above advice has helped my group but may not be the same for you. If your commandment to not lie frequently disrupts play in an unenjoyable way then it may be time to lax the rules or compromise.

Interestingly several NPCs in this book have different levels compared to similar entries in Lost Omens: Impossible Lands. Since Impossible Lands is the book directly about the setting I would assume its the most accurate as the author of Ghost's revenge may not have been privy to the information before its release. It would nice to get confirmation though.

When targeting a wall of force with a strike do you need to make a DC 11 flat check? Its an invisible effect and nothing in the wording seems like it would exclude it from the invisible rules.

It would add a lot of durability to an already decent spell and I was wondering peoples thoughts.

Does a PC actually want to fail against a Grave Hag's Grave Impressions? On a success you become paralyzed for 1 round, which sucks, you lose all your actions and reactions for 1 round. But if you fail you fall unconscious which is...not that bad?

There are 4 separate ways to wake up in combat including a flat check to automatically wake up at the start of your turn. Hell if an ally goes after the hag they can just nudge you awake with 1 action.

Martials that need to pick up their weapons and stand may find it annoying but her behavior describes her specifically targeting casters who can, once awake, stand and start blasting again.

Has anyone run this encounter that can tell me how it went?
Would you swap the success and failure condition?

This AP seems interesting but I am just on the cusp on being fully sold.

Do we know of there are any uses or ties for Reputation in this book? I was hoping the AP would have more political intrigue but even the reputation system has had little impact in the AP so far.

I think I would be sorely disappointed if that system didnt get used for 50% of the story.

Should "Heat Metal" work on Iron Taviah's claws?

RAW I don't believe it can as her nails are not "objects" and do not make up a significant portion of her body enough to say she's primarily made of metal.

However, its a niche enough spell to prepare (especially when travelling through the woods) that I would reward a cast of it on her by allowing it to treat her nails as objects. Taviah could "release" them as described in the spell by ripping out her nails as a free action (very hag like). This would remove the cold iron trait from her iron claws attack and cause it to deal bludgeoning instead of slashing for the rest of the fight.

I'm not a huge fan of most of the amp feats. Sort of feels like a lot of them are stuck in the playtest paradigm of having an almost endless font of focus points... but with so many naturally useful amps simply coming from your class features it's hard to justify investing in more.

Like a lot of them feel like options that would be neat to have sometimes, but not options that are so amazing I'm willing to spend a feat and give up my normal spell amp in order to use it.

I agree, the feat cost just doesn't end up being worth it except with Remove Presence.

Being able to just completely erase yourself from an enemy's perception for a focus point may be the best defense a squishy caster could ever hope for. Also depending on what is considered a hostile action you may still be able to do things like heal or buff while completely untargetable.

Thanks everyone for the input! I think overall I'll take the advice and either write something homebrew from scratch (maybe using the upcoming kingdom building rules) or shift things in another direction all together.

Its pretty interesting to hear how easier it is to shift an AP cross-world then it is to do inter-setting. I have always been a big fan of using and leaning into monsters, set pieces, and lore from the place the AP takes place in so drag and dropping was never going to work in hindsight.

I appreciate everyone's help and Il be sure to post again if I end up making something to fill this space :-)

So with the coming of Kingmaker this October and my AOA group slowly moving their way towards the final books I've been looking for the next adventure on our horizon. I find myself in the lucky position to be in groups that are running EC, AOE, SOT, and soon to be OoA so all thoes are out which means that kingmaker is a pretty good bet for me.

That being said I have absolutely fallen in love with Mwangi Expanse, from its culture to its people to the setting. So much so that I dont think SOT will satiate my desire to play in that region. Simply the overwhelming joy I feel being able to look at NPCs and see some that look like me brings me more happiness then I can describe. Since we already have an adventure and an AP set in the region I don't foresee too much more content being put out which is why I was wondering if Kingmaker could make the switch.
I'm not too big on the River Kingdoms and I've heard that the AP's encounters and combats are more slot as-you-go which may make it easier then some APs with region specific plot (like Bloodlords haha). Maybe someone whos played through the original could spread some light on how easy or impossible it would be to convert. I plan to purchase the 2e version coming in the fall so it isn't really a question of mechanics and more of a question of story.

I was thinking something perhaps along the lines of creating a kingdom on the legacy of the Shory empire, bringing flying cities back to the expanse. Or dealing with diplomatic negotiations with the likes of Mizali, Nantambu, and the Nine Walls. The entire concept seems cool but without first hand knowledge of the AP its impossible to know for sure. For example I know the first book is all about clearing out bandits and savage inhabitants of the River Kingdoms. Something which has...controversial history with the Mwangi to say the least. Maybe replace them with demons akin to the White City or Charau'ka?

Thank you for reading my long post and ramble and I'm eager to hear any and all suggestions! Even if they are "No its not possible find another adventure".

Adding the appropriate template to a monster is a great idea and one I've seen echoed on the reddit by a few. While not all tables would be willing to make such changes on the fly I think mine would.

However, that only addresses half the issue with the other half being the incredible rareness of CL-4 enemies to apply the adjustment too. It honestly feels like the ability was written without having looked at published content. If the solution is to apply adjustment stat blocks to enemies you kill its still not helpful if you never fight CL-4 creatures.

But if we use Alastar's suggestion of targeting any creature (so more viable uses) and using any relevant skeleton/zombie stat block -4 we are back into the issue of there just not being enough printed creatures to use.

I think there's a good amount of room here for player made content obviously. A few stat blocks or even a CL-X change would make this ability much more usable. But the idea that an ability was released like this, seemingly not taking into account actual play is frustrating. Especially being the "capstone" of an archetype that at least I was really looking forward too.

I posted this to reddit and thought I would post it here too.

So, The Reanimator archetype from Book of the Dead is the pinnacle of necromancy that I’m sure many of us have been waiting for. However, much like many other player options provided by the book it has been met by mixed receptions. While many of its abilities are strong or at least workable (the definition of “appropriate corpse” being the subject of many future debates I’m sure when there isn’t a single word in the zombie monster definition which defines them as humanoid) I think there is one feat that doesn’t work as intended even with the most generous interpretation of its wording.
So this is going to be a small deep dive in to the wording and balance of Shambling Horror.

Disclaimer: Most of this review is based in the idea that you want an on-level minion (your level – 4) to follow you around and have the most combat efficient chance of hitting and being relevant. It also only takes into account the common skeletons and zombies found on AON and not any adventure path specific enemies.

TLDR: Shambling Horror is a spell that fails to deliver on the one thing it meant to do. Summon a competitive undead minion. Its size and level restrictions make it extremely difficult to find a target and straight up can’t be usable in some published content. Even if you stick to enemies and summons far below your level the chance you encounter them during published AP content is slim to none. While its uncommon rarity does give GMs and players a warning I don’t think that this level of mechanical blindness when creating an ability meets the standard of what paizo produces.

Level: 6 (gained at 12), Level isn’t terribly important but it does come in towards the last 50% of the gameplay. This means that the spell has less time to shine in your adventure should be judged a little harsher accordingly (not to mention its competition with class feats).
Casting Time: 3a MSV, not a big deal at first glance but poses a small issue combined with its range making it a bit awkward to use in combat.
Range: Touch, okay so using this in combat most of the time will take two rounds unless you’re hasted. Unless they died next to you as a caster you need 1 round to stride to the fallen body and 1 round to animate it.

Duration: 10 minutes, not the worst! Unlike most summoning spells this one you can take in between encounters. However, if you need to take a break to heal, refocus, or any other common 10-minute activity this spell will drop and you’ll have to cast it again. You can refocus while you have the spell up effectively allowing you to instantly up it again but that limits you entirely to what the GM will let you do while you refocus.

Targets: 1 corpse of a Gargantuan or smaller creature that has a level no greater than your level – 4 and has died since the last sunrise. So, this is where most of my problems with the spell begins. Does anyone know how rare -4 enemies are? Well, I took a look, in the entirety of the AP I run (age of ashes) from lvl 12 onwards and from the moment you get this feat until the end of the entire adventure path there are 3 level appropriate enemies to use Shambling Horror on and all of them are within book 4. However! Also consider the fact that at higher levels you’ll be fighting a wide array of creatures who don’t even necessarily drop corpses on death such as undead, elementals, and constructs and you narrow that number down to 1 single encounter that you can use this ability. Funnily enough, in the example from AOA you can’t even use it to summon an on-level undead as the creature is level 10/large and the closest undead to it is the level 8 drake skeleton. That you can now summon at level 14.

Text: So the text of shambling horror reads as follows.

The reanimated creature is an undead skeleton or zombie. Choose a skeleton or zombie stat block of the same size as the original creature and of a level no higher than the creature's original level. The shambling horror keeps Speeds it had in life, as well as melee Strikes that deal only physical damage. These attacks use the highest attack modifier from the skeleton or zombie you choose. Some of the skeleton's or zombie's abilities might not make sense for the shambling horror, and some abilities the creature had in life might not persist in undeath; the GM makes the final choice of what abilities the horror has.

This is awesome! In theory. Being able to resurrect a creature and force it to use the abilities it had it life is awesome and probably the reason you’re a necromancer. The cons are everything else. The skeleton and zombie stat block is a staggeringly restrictive list of creatures, most of which don’t even go past lvl 11 with only 1 skeleton being level 13 and gargantuan. I put together a small Table of creatures that you can summon to put it better into picture. At every level you use this ability you will strain to find CL-4 opponents and will strain even harder to find them of the right size category. However, no matter what you do or how you manage you suddenly stop having valid targets after 17th level when skeleton titan is no longer best in slot.

The second half of the text reads

A shambling horror has the minion trait. You can't control more than one shambling horror at the same time—if you create a new one while one is already under your control, you must choose one to release, causing it to lose the minion trait. Shambling horrors that have been released expire when the spell duration does. After the duration expires, you can cast shambling horror again on the same corpse to animate it once more. However, after the next sunrise, you can no longer animate the corpse as a shambling horror.

This makes this ability even harder to use! If you thought that you could go out and find a proper undead minion to use this ability with well, you’re wrong! Along with the staggeringly small list of creatures this ability applies to and the difficulty one might have locating a proper one for reanimation the fact your pool of bodies resets every sunrise guarantees that the only way you can get a useful summon is if the GM pity throws one your way.

So, what does this all mean? Well, it’s more complicated then I first thought. The spell by itself isn’t too bad. The fact it doesn’t require sustaining and last between combats means that you can (in theory) have a nice undead minion around with you sustained by a renewable resource. My biggest issue with this spell is the incredibly restrictive size and level rules making it nearly impossible to find a target during adventure. Compounded by the fact that it is limited in another really unfun way, the lack of published content. If we had Skeletons and Zombies of every size from levels 8-16 this would be a better focus spell and, despite all its restrictions, I would encourage any reanimator to pick it up but until that happens it feels like a trap option to me.

I am really hoping I missed something or mis-interpreted some text but I don’t think I have. I am really interested in hearing in what the community has to say and maybe give some feedback/context I haven’t seen.

I missed that, where was it?

And I agree that its powerful, but I thought all the content in that section was considered 'Rare', thus required GM permission inherently.

Its in the section titled "Running a Game with Undead PCs" under "Unleashing Undead".

The paragraph describes rules for handing out stronger benefits (like immunities) and rules for destroying undead PCs at 0hp. Both of which are under GM fiat and make certain encounter trivial or extremely deadly.

I get that the decision was made for balance sake, but I just cannot get on board with the decision that Undead characters don't get poison and disease immunity. Its immersion breaking to me, honestly.

I like the monster archetypes concept, and think they'll work great on many other monsters, but I don't think it really works with undead if this was the balance trade off.

There is an optional variant that gives immunity instead of the +1 bonuses but that is GM opt in.

Considering how powerful straight up immunity would be on an archetype I can understand why they wouldn't let that be the default for players to just pick and show up to a table with.

I'm still astonished that the APG errata didn't give swashbuckler auto scaling skill training in anything, when it's a class that requires 2 maxed skills.

I agree with the topic of OP. With the exception of Summoner, basically everything is so under par it's not funny. Running an AP with an inventor and a magus as the strikers had a startlingly low damage output.

It really goes to show you that no perception of the game is absolute. I'm in an AP (EC) with an inventor striker and they routinely out damage the swashbuckler and champion frontliners. Has very much been the MVP in several combats and most of us are overwhelmingly in favor of the class (the build set up isn't even optimal either).

Though I do agree (as that swashbuckler) some auto scaling on acrobatics would be nice. If tumble through is my reliable options (like an inventor's crafting) it should auto scale like it.

Nefreet wrote:

Yeah Slowed/Quickened Minions is top on my list of Core questions I'd like Paizo to address some day (the other being the list of Wild Shape clarifications).

Gaming online, I've encountered quite the spectrum of interpretations. It bothers me when the same GM rules that one Minion can be Slowed, but another can't be Quickened.

Minions should either be affected by both, or not affected by both. The conditions use the same language.

Not exactly.

Slowed explicitly mentions the moment at the start of your turn when you regain actions ("When you regain your actions at the start of your turn, reduce the number of actions you regain by your slowed value."), while Quickened does not ("You gain 1 additional action at the start of your turn each round.").

So, GM decides if the "additional" in Quicken means it happens in this same step as Slowed.

Note that the Minion trait does not mention gaining actions : "A creature with this trait can use only 2 actions per turn."

So, the Minion gains its actions normally (3 usually, 4 if Quickened, 2 if Slowed 1, 1 if Slowed 2) but can only use 2 of them at most per turn anyway.

So, Quickened and Slowed 1 change nothing.

Slowed 2 would give the minion a single action to use per turn, as it would anyone else

Wow that is an amazing grab Raven. I never realized that technically minions do have 3 actions but can only use 2 per turn. That perfectly put into words why zombies still have 2 actions instead of 1.

The follow up from Sanity also explains why Quickened in that specific wording works. Wow this clears a lot of stuff up for me.

Now can we get the wonderful human behind Exorcist's Guide to Summoning to take a look at this lol. Their summoning guide on Zenith is a great resource for me but all the Zombie rankings got tanked after this came out. It was what originally prompted my search into this.

I think my initial confusion is that in Animal Companions it states that, when commanded, they "gains 2 actions during your turn if you use the Command an Animal action to command it". However summons don't gain 2 actions they gain 3 and can only use 2 since it doesn't specify like animal companion does. Two completely different minions that work differently.

So with book of the dead on the way (with many subscribers already having their hands on the PDF) I think its safe to say that visions of necromancer characters are in the near future. I was brushing up on my summoning/necromancer knowledge when I realized that because of the slowed 1 condition all zombies have wouldn't that make them simply unviable summons? No matter what abilities it has the whole point of having a minion is that you trade 1 for 2 actions, 1 for 1 is just not playable imo.

There used to be a debate with whether a minion could be effected by slowed/quickened but that debate seems to have be put to rest with the Poppet's Spark of Independance.

Maybe there's a balancing point I'm missing but it seems kind of immersion breaking to play a necromancer that doesn't summon 1 of the most classic undead monsters in the game. I do plan on homebrewing this at my table regardless of RAW but I also like to dable in PFS so I would love to know if there's been any more clarification on this (or maybe even in BOtD).

(Specifically this has to do with the Animate Dead spell which pulls statblocks from the bestiaries not any zombies Animal Companions from BOtD as I assume the rules are different)

I am loving the Recommended Options table. Its a fantastic boon that I really hope is implemented in every player guide from now on.

One of the APs currently being ran at my table is running into some rough ground due to some character choices that don't mesh well with the campaign. Not only does this serve to inform the players on how to make great characters that fit the story but it does so in a way that relieves the GM of the burden of having to do so.

Kasoh wrote:

We haven't seen the the order of the Torrent appear in second edition publication yet as far as I know. So maybe after all that, Sabinus left the order and took a civil position in Kintargo. Or something else.

The Order of the Torrent got a one-sentence mention in LO: Character Guide, so it still exits.

I don't own "Tomorrow Must Burn" so I don't know if it gets a mention there.

I am currently running Tommorow Must Burn and it states something similar. That the Order of the Torrent while small is still very much alive. They are stationed in castle Kintargo and help keep the peace when they can.

Would have loved a little more involvement in the AP given the context, could've really let LG Hellknights shine. But I suppose that's what GMs are for ;).

Currently, Counterspell doesn't require you to recognize the spell. Identify Magic takes 10 minutes, so that is usable outside of combat. The only in-combat method that I am aware of is Recognize Spell.

I think they're referring to Identifying Spells in the CRB pg 305.

"If you want to identify a spell but don’t have it prepared or in your repertoire, you must spend an action on your turn to attempt to identify it using Recall Knowledge. You typically notice a spell being cast by seeing its visual manifestations or hearing its verbal casting components"

The Identify Magic exploration activity is for effects you didn't get to see cast and/or were long in-place when you found them.

I honestly don't think that any of these suggestions are actually appropriate, stealing in combat is supposed to be 100% impossible so as to prevent trivializing encounters and this is honestly just an especially egregious example of just how bad it could be abused if allowed given that it absolutely tanks the Redcaps ability to functionally contribute to combat.

Isn't this possible to accomplish with the pickpocket skill feat? A creature with master proficiency can steal something off a creature even in combat even if it closely guarded. The action cost is doubled and you take a -5 penalty but saying its Impossible seems a bit of a stretch.

While that is a class agnostic suggestion. The two class feats Stella's Stab and Snag (6) and Mug (4) both let you steal in combat.

If someone wanted to pull this maneuver off impromptu I would agree that it would be much harder to neigh impossible to pull off but if OP wanted some suggestions to base a fast and loose ruling on it then that would be the best place to start.

Urgathoa is not only my favorite deity in pathfinder but she was one of the factors that got me hooked into the system. Very excited to draft up a ghoul cleric in her service and if possible, go down the lich route (if opened up to divine casters).

I would trade away my first born for a deep dive into Fey and the First world.
Following that Dragons, if only because I love 3.5's Draconomicon and haven't really had a book that's came close since.

These are genuine pleasure to watch! Probably the highest quality lore videos on Golarion that I've seen yet

I would love to see an Animal Companion based barbarian! Currently its very hard to swing due to rage and the concentrate trait of command an animal.

Inventor has proven that a rage-like ability along with an animal companion can certainly work.

aobst128 wrote:

With hasted assault for a focus point, you can enter your stance, move and strike.

That's 4 actions. Hasted Assault extra action only starts at the next round.

I personally think Arcane Cascade should only be used if you have to exploit Weaknesses. Otherwise, just ignore it unless you have an action that you don't know how to use.

I think the exception would be for Twisting Tree magus and Sparkling Targe. Both of which receive much higher benefits from being in arcade cascade and are much more likely to spend that action earlier in combat.

Ask your GM if using exploration activites like detect magic and repeat spell will allow you to use your first action in combat to arcade cascade.

My group is starting this AP friday and I am really excited about my character!
I am playing a Taralu Dwarf Summoner named Baku Gokel of Clan Zyphyrie. Born the middle child of 3 sibling his journey starts when he makes the Aspirant Migration along with his family. Starting at the top of the shattered range they make their way to Tanninshroud. The journey is long and treacherous but he is saved thanks to the many talents of his brothers and sisters. Feeling frustrated at his lack of talent he bemoans his situation but in his silence he also hears a call. One that grows louder as they near the Mausoleum. When they arrive at Tanninshroud the clouds part and lightning strikes the grave. Appearing before them is an aspect of Tannin themselves who has heard Baku's prayers and has used them as a conduit to manifest on the material plane.

Together they pledge themselves to each other and clan. Going to the Magaambya to further discover what this magical bond might bring.

My GM has opened the free archetype to encompass any archetype that gives basic spellcasting benefits for primal/arcane so Baku will be splashing the Elemental Sorcerer (Air) archetype.

Alternative title: PF2e guide to writing guides

So pathfinder 2nd edition has a handful of really informative guides. They go into detail on how to play/build certain classes while also helping you avoid weaker options you might not have noticed at first. I’ve been getting the ich to make a guide lately (on gunslinger or PFS character building) but am kind of struggling on where to start. So given that I kind of wanted to “poll” the community in what they think makes a good class guide!

Does it matter to you if the author has a lot of first-hand experience with the class or is knowing the class in theory fine? Do you prefer lots of math in your guides or do you prefer it more on gameplay feel/roleplay? Are equipment loadouts/character build examples useful to you? Do you like it when guides go through all published character options (like ancestries and backgrounds) or do you prefer they give some generalizations to keep it readable? Also formatting, is there a particular method of presenting information you find most efficient? I guess anything is better then a wall of text but its a subtle aspect of writing that I think helps in the long run.

I think those are some of my core questions but feel free to throw in extras! Thanks for the help in the responses ahead of time incase I can’t keep up.

What's wrong with Pathfinder Society?!

In all seriousness, probably not. It sounds like a higher-level adventure than PFS does, and I doubt think the Bull-Man wants his favorite villian to be confined to a PFS season.

PFS does have plot hooks involving the Blakros' and Razmiran seperately, but still no.

Since this is Bulmahn's baby, I'd say we're more likely to get more Razmir content than other stuff, but who knows. Given NotGD, maybe high-level Standalone Adventure?

For the high-level starstone stuff I had my bets on the Ashen Man. He was foreshadowed in the copyright text of an early AP and now his name is showing up a few times in the Absalom book.

Thank you everyone for responding! Work has been swamped as of late but I am glad to hear I am on the right track.

Thank you in particular to @Rysky for that tale on Shyka, thoroughly enjoyed a little bit of iron-y in my diet.

I have my eyes glued to the pathfinder Kingmaker release slated this year.

So recently my partner and I have fallen in love with the fey demi gods of the Eldest. Their character (a tricksy theif rogue) worships the Lantern King and ever since we started including them in our stories it seems like fey and fey deities keep cropping up more and more.

Ragadahn became the center of worship for my dragon inspired kobold instead of the more popular Apsu. The Lost Prince made an iconic figure for a gnome struggling through the effects of loss and the bleaching. A Lore Oracle who was cursed by Magdh after they drank from her Pools of Reflection.

The Eldest have been a lot of fun to build characters around but I find myself craving more resources and advice to properly portray them. Currently my bible is First World Realm of the Fey and it has been a great help for providing structure and context for a lot of the Eldest and how they interact with the world.

Are there an short stories, scenarios, or APs that are worth looking into to further flesh out this pantheon. I have heard that the later parts of Kingmaker (video game) feature the lantern king himself! Is that worth purchasing and looking into?

Thank you anyone who responds to help and thank you James Sutter (and all the writers and editors who helped) for making such a wonderful cast of gods!

I do a mix of take-backs and consequences. In this scenario for example I would allow the players to “turn back time” and cast feather fall. However, since the PC hesitated, possibly rushing the incantation. The falling PC would still take some damage and break an arm or a leg as their descend slows.

This way the falling PC still lives and my players dont need to feel guilty. But the consequences of their actions would still be apparent and they would need to adjust their current adventuring plans to care for the injured player over downtime. (Or press forward with the injured PC having only 1 arm to use during combat).

So this was an interesting story to read and a welcome one. I did like the style used here as poetry is not a normal format for these stories it was a welcome change of pace. The fact that it was an there is always a bigger fish story between an Eldest and an actual god was something that I enjoyed the most because it is sometimes hard for me to fully grasp from a story perspective the power difference between gods and demigods. So, seeing Fafnheir this CR 24 guy look at a manifestation according to the people who posted before me of a god and be like "nope I am going to my panic room and never leaving." really showed to me how utterly above the gods are to us.

I think the Windsong Testaments is my favourite series regarding web fiction here because it allows us to see these gods in a more personal way that cannot always be done in a campaign book or AP article. I do hope we get a similar series when Starfinders Galactic Magic comes out though I would fully understand if the writers wanted to focus more on how the mortals do worship in the far future.

For this next point I will say I am no lore master so this might be old news but I did find the mention of Fafnheirs brother interesting. The fact that Fafnheir is doing penance for hurting him which kind of gives me the idea that he joined the Eldest later or wasn't considered a part of that group for a while. The fact that he also didn't claim some sort of kinship with Dahak was also something that caught my attention considering Linnorms are considered to be the progenitors of dragons to my understanding.

I think you are talking about two different Linnorms here no? Isn't Ragadahn the eldest of linnorms, the one who banished Fafnheir from the First World in the first place? With Fafnheir never returning or having limited connection with the eldest asides from their violent relationship.

To be fair one of them is called "The Father of Dragons" (Ragadahn) and the other is called "The Father of Linnorms" (Fafnheir) so its easy to mix them up. Either that or I have my lore confused.

Thanks everyone whos responded so far! I really appreciate the different opinions and perspectives. I think overall universalist is pretty important to the flavor I am gunning for so despite Blue's sound advice I think Il be pressing forward with Universalist + Bond Conservation.

That being said I really appreciate the insight to wands vs scrolls. I think Il save some gold by buying some scrolls of each spell I would have in a wand and use the saved gold to get spell catalysts and tattoos i have had my eye on. The math works out that to get my return on investment I would need to use the wand 10-13 times.

As for Spell blending vs Substitution I really like both. Initially I really liked Substitution since I get anxiety worrying about preparing the wrong spell list. Substitution allows me to prepare things like veil/invisibility if we wanted to do some subterfuge or even suggestion/charm in high slots if we wanted to influence. Also while being able to swap out to to after-combat assessment. Since I am able to prepare my halcyon spells in wizard slots it gives me a lot of versatility especially with things like restoration and heal. Gives me 10 minutes and I can cure any debuff in the game.

Though I hadn't taken a hard look at spell blending before this though. Could I use it with halcyon slots to get more halcyon 4th and 5th levels? Would it still be worth taking if I went Universalist Spellblender or would the extra slots from schools be too valuable to pass up? (Assuming my GM lets me blend them that it).

A scroll of energy aegis is DEFINITLY going on my list.

Two small things.

1. Where is the bonus feat for the familiar coming from? I'm just curious, and making sure it's not coming from the 1st-level feat that wizards used to have, because that was an error and has since been removed via errata.

2. You may want to consider swapping from leather armor to robes. Your 20 in Dex means that you are better-protected in robes, which are at Expert proficiency, than with your armor, which as far as I can tell you aren't trained in at all, though I'm assuming you'd pick up Armor Proficiency with your general feat pick. Even then, you are better-protected in robes because they are a tier higher.

1. Universalist Wizards get a first level wizard feat :-)!

2. You’re right about the wizard robes! Il do a quick change around to get my character in better armor/clothing.

Hi all!
So my GM has decided to run Night of the Gray death for my group in a few weeks. Its very exciting to play at high level, something that I've never gotten the chance to do throughout all my TTRPG experience (across 5e and 2e lol). Of course I threw myself into the most complicated high level build I could think of. I would love the communities feedback to see if there's any really good option I missed (particularly in items and spells as those are really hard to parse single handedly). Huge shoutouts to Grotle and Tarondor's spell and wizard guides respectfully. Really helped me get a starting place in the 16 levels of content to sift through. The adventure runs from levels 16-18 and there is no Free Archetype.

Build: Halcyon Universalist Wizard

Ancestry: Human, Half-Orc
1- Natural Ambition (Reach Spell)
5- Orc Superstition
9- Pervasive superstition
13- Spell Devourer

Class: Universalist Wizard
Thesis: Spell Substitution
Bonus Feat- Familiar
2- Magaambyan Attendant
4- Enhanced familiar
6- Halcyon Speaker Dedication
8- Bond Conservation
10- Halcyon Spellcasting Initiate
12- Flexible Halcyon Spellcasting
14- Cascade Bearer Spellcasting
16- Halcyon Spellcasting Adept

Stats and Saves:
AC: 37
10 str 20 dex 18 con 20 int 18 wis 12 cha
+26 Fort +27 Reflex +26 Will (+1 to all saves against magic)

Notable Items:
+2 Greater Resilient Deathless Leather Armor
Staff of Divination Major
Hat of the Magi (Greater)
Endless Grimoire (Major)
Wands (2nd Longstrider, 4th false life, Menace of Mind, Ocular Overload)
Bag of Holding Type 1

As for my actual wizards spells I'm fairly certain there's over 50 or so since I spent a chunk of my extra gold padding out my spell list. I would love to hear any spells you guys think are MUST haves on the arcane spell list or maybe just ones you think are unassuming but you had a good time with!

Thanks everyone in advance!

So I have a new group starting up an extinction curse game this saturday and I want to play a gunslinger. Personally I love the idea of the Way of the Drifter. In and out of combat maneuvering sounds awesome. However looking at my damage numbers Im pretty dissapointed.

Since im restricted to 1H weapons (finesse for melee) both my gun and my sword are d6’s for damage. Since my main fantasy is obviously using my gun it feels wired that it only does 1d6+1 at the best of times. This feels like really low damage to me but I have never played a ranged character before.

On the other hand I was thinking maybe going a different way would be a better idea if I wanted to deal damage with guns? Something 2H like arquebus or dwarven scattergun whos flat bonuses make rolling feel good (though scatter at low levels feels like it could take out some party members).

Any tips on how I can improve my damage?

This is probably way to early but I got my copy yesterday surprisingly. Those of you who have a copy or PDF Know what to do. I'll start.

Gunslinger weapon legend incorrectly increases martial weapons and advanced firearms and crossbows to "expert" instead of master.

I'm pretty sure this is intentional. At level 5 you get master in firearms and crossbows while upgrading martial weapons from trained -> expert and advanced firearms from trained -> expert.

The progression seems normal for the proficiencies you get at level 1.

I get the sense from this post that a lot of people feel a disconnect between their characters when they fail at skill checks. As a person who's experience in society play regarding this topic has nearly only been positive I have a question.

Does introducing a sense of scale help with that feeling of lame non-heroicness?

For example a druid in a 1-4 may have a 50/50 chance to navigate a mundane mountain range.
But in a 7-10 may have a 50/50 chance to navigate a hellish forest fire.

Both of these have the 50/50 chance but have a completely different context to possible success and failure. Playing my lvl 7 Barbarian I failed at an athletics check during an exploration scene to clear snow. I didn't feel bad because previously there were struggling to scale slightly mountainous terrain but now they are struggling to trudge through uncharted wilderness with mountains of snow bigger then they are.

Another question I have is if Assurance helps if being reliably successful in scenarios is something make or break to you?

I've had entire adventures where I've been able to take assurance and automatically succeed on checks acting like an "anchor" for the group. Is this an outlier experience or should people take assurance on their main skill more often?

The text of Implement Empowerment states you need a free hand when you strike to add a small bonus to damage on your attacks. Since bows are 1+ I am assuming you cannot add this damage to your strikes with them? As you do have a free hand but its occupied while you are striking.

If so this may mean that crossbows and guns may be the favoured weapons of a ranged Thaumaturge.

So the new Mwangi Expanse book introduced the Wyrmblessed bloodline for sorcerers which brought us 10 new dragon types. The imperial and primal dragons offer a new slew of flavorful options and interesting combinations of breath weapons and damage types. This is pretty exciting for caster folks but I was wondering if dragon instinct barbarians can choose from this new list as well?

Each listing comes with a corresponding element and AOE shape so it doesn't seem too far fetched to fill in the mechanical requirements for Dragon Instinct rage. But as far as I know there is no wording to RAW allow Dragon Instincts to choose from these options.

Am I right in my thinking or is there a chance I could play a Cloud Dragon Instinct M'beke dwarf any time soon?

Thanks everyone for the advice!
I've decided to go Champion's Reaction (Retributive Strike) and a Polarm for now. Everyone's opinion really helped me make an informed decision and shoutout to NECR0G1ANT who convinced me that the sword and board playing style was worth keeping as a backup. Thanks to a lifting belt I'm managing to fit all my weapons and gear on my person.

As for AoO I'm gonna keep it in the back of my mind incase Retributive Strike doesn't pop off the way I expect it too. Retraining is only a week after all.

Thanks again!

Unconventional Weaponry (Human Ancestry feat) Gnome Flickmace will keep up your damage amd give you more reach if you still want a shield.

You get reach from Giants Stature, so I assume you have that. If not retrain and get it. Sword and Board is still a valid option because of this.

Armor Proficiency (General Feat ) for Heavy Armour is good till level 13 and will get you an extra point of AC if you want to go for a polearm. But you are already a Champion so you already have it.

At level 8 you can take Renewed Vigour as a sort of shield replacement. It can make you feel more comfortable getting hit.

Barbarians get hit a lot. Stand near a Champion or Cleric. Stay at reach range.

Thanks for your reply Gortle! Your guide has been a great reference for this character. Unfortunately they are a goblin which means no flick mace for me (but If I had to min max this character it would definitely be my weapon of choice). I hadn't looked at renewed vigor and Il definitely keep an eye on it!