Tactical Drongo's page

Berselius wrote:

Quick question somewhat related to the original question: Has any Demon Lord stepped up to replace Nocticula as the Demon Queen of Lust and Succubi?

Shamira might be the next in line, but we haven't done much to expand on this yet.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed that she was not listed in Divine Mysteries.

Tactical Drongo wrote:

My bigest worry about the reprint of magus is that spellstrike will not be updated *enough*

interaction with save spells is awkward and we have a notibly diminished number of attack spells

I advocated for it before, but I will do so again:
I think a successful (critical) hit with a spellstrike should cause the corresponding (critical) failure in a save spell

I dont mind if the spell just goes kaputt in case of a missed attack, that would be the disadvantage of the otherwise improved action economy

(If that wont be the case I will certainly homebrew it for my tables, but the current state of spellstrike feels just awkward)

I think the problem there is that it would allow much higher rates of applying the game's nastiest effects- things like Dominate or Slow, where a critical failure means being more or less out of the fight or worse.

Then they need to make some other limitation on top

there are ways to work around it
some more efficient then others, but I am sure one could come up with *something*

My bigest worry about the reprint of magus is that spellstrike will not be updated *enough*

interaction with save spells is awkward and we have a notibly diminished number of attack spells

I advocated for it before, but I will do so again:
I think a successful (critical) hit with a spellstrike should cause the corresponding (critical) failure in a save spell

I dont mind if the spell just goes kaputt in case of a missed attack, that would be the disadvantage of the otherwise improved action economy

(If that wont be the case I will certainly homebrew it for my tables, but the current state of spellstrike feels just awkward)

the big advantage good has over evil
while azata, agathion and angels dont neccessarily agree on their methods, their ultimate goals are similar so they can often enough set their differences (sometimes grudgingly) aside

while demons, daemons, devils and qlippoths is just a battle royale

Okay, my view on things as someone who loves to experiment with builds and gamemasters a lot

1) Medium armor is good, light also, if your campaign goes high level, picking up heavy armor with a feat is a misinvestment as heavy gives you +1 ac over medium, -5ft movementspeed but your proficiency lacks behind by -2

1.1) Light armor has the advantage of being cheaper in the early levels and giving a better saving throw, heavy armors can compensate for that but you need an archetype to really use them properly

2) as said before, tower shields and similar are too action intensive (and possibly slow you down), you are going to be action starved anyway and likely have to use your focus spell for shield raising (or at least want to do that as often as possible for the action economy)
Thhe best shield for most characters is the standard steel shield

3) imaginary weapon is arguibly the strongest spell you can regulary use for your spellstrike, in fact is so good that there are people forbidding the archetype for your class wwith houserules and there are rumors of possible spell nerfs

4) Spellstrike is build with attack spells in mind, we do have enough of those but just in case you should check with your gm on how he rules expansive spellstrike in particular, using the spellstrike to deliver a saving throw spell is not quite as effective in the current ruling, but the system has a certain leaning towards those

5) I would advise against the guardian archetype *except* you get specifically the shield raise taunt
the taunt is a great teamwork skill, but as magus you have no need for dozens of alternate options, one or two are good, but you still have cantrips, a shield to raise and other stuff to do, so many players I know try to avoid getting to many extra action options, since we rarely have the actions anyway

I guess the easiest way to use it actually would be to reflavor some free hand simple d4 weapon as hoof attachment which of course would not really be an advantage for steelhooves
but the contrarian is technically right that unarmed attacks are not weapons

I'm relatively new to the Pathfinder universe and I've been doing a lot of research on Nocticula and Shelyn for an upcoming campaign since they overlap as patrons of art/artist and just curious what others may think. It seems to me like Shelyn's focus is more on technical perfection and conventional beauty when it comes to art and Nocticula focuses more on the artists themselves and on unconventional artworks. So I guess my question is more on the nuances between the two and what might be considered under whose purview since art is so subjective. I also haven't seen much on the relationship between these two given this overlap.

Two deities having similar or even the same areas of concern is not a rarity

or two major sun deities (Desna in Avistan, Shizuru in the Dragon empires)

Overlaps can happen even for big things - it is more that they are linked to the underlying concept of those things, enabling them to tap into the power (via domains, for example)

There are also deities and fiends who are worshipped on differnt planets
their domains certainly dont give them unique authority in those places too

In universe, the divine energies are complicated aligned, so the most surprising things can be either unique, or be around multiple times as area of concern for multiple gods

(which also in turn makes it easy to think up your own homebrew gods and inject them into the setting)

consider also this: the high grade of duskwood is probably the heartwood, so to be able to cut a tree you need to get a tool with at least 8, possibly more hardness
which leaves mostly skymetals and high quality alloys where an ingot of 1 bulk (possibly the heft of a lumberaxe head) costs between 6000 and 9000 gold and which are often hard to work or have downsides using them

so to get that on a 'big scale', which is still restricted to mostly 1 big forest on 1 continent in the whole world, which on top is guarded by fey, werewolves, (magical) beasts and other stuff
you need to invest tens of thousands of gold, just for the tools
then pay the guards that deal with the creatues
possibly get silver and cold iron equipment for them which also costs a ton of money
and then you still need to find a market for that stuff which relies on a likely limited number of craftspeople who can even work those materials and likely need those skymetal tools for themselves too, so likely veterans of the business or people who inherited presttigious workshops

the terming of extracting duskwood on a 'big scale' must be weighed carefully
the upfront investment alone makes it a business that, even with such prices, needs a while to pay back
every tree taken from the duskwood takes probably hours on an end before even transport

Dragon disciple is back? neat

now I can put more dragon in my dragon by playing a Kobold with Dragonblood heritate, picking additional draconic kobold feats, be a draconic sorcerer with draconic acolyte archetype
with ancestral paragon I can take up even more draconic racial feats
with dual classing or free archetype I can take up a dragonstyle monk or draconic barbarian
and I am sure I will find some sort of dragon worshipper background

make way dnd, if I go dungeoneering I am fitting in more dragon per square cube then you ever could

why would it be an aura otherwise?

the transcendence specifically states 'one ally within 15ft.' not referencing the aura
and with the aura being irrelevant for transendence it must be for the immanence which also states that allies are protected

yeah, the whole party needs a change up of tactics or they need to somehow add a frontliner of sorts

letting the thaumaturge tank is a mediocre idea on a good day
subpar on an average

the new shield implement *can* offset that to *some* degree
but I see it more as additional survivability for a frontliner, not as straightup tank qualifier

of course, one can build around it but as many martials have better life, less MAD and potentially more armor class (the champion and the new guardian sporting all three of those) it is not exactly a big focus core

especiall since OP obviously is no big fan of tank rotation

There was an item card set for Guns and Gears, which is out only insight into what Air Repeaters look like. Maybe it has the combination weapons too?

Girardoni air Rifle this was the real life inspiration for air repeaters

Okay lets analyze the homebrew with my (limited) knowledge of actual shinobi, my fictional shinobi knowledge and my gm experience

This looks to me like it should either be a general or a class archetype
as class archetype it would likely be for rogue replacing the regular racket

While Shinobi were at times bodyguards, they were mostly spies, good at blending in, taking on roles, sometimes waiting for months to get a job only to stand in the background serving tea when important people talked

that being said, there are of course classical infiltrators and occassional assassins among the shinobi

bodyguard is rather rare for that

so let me analyze what you wrote and maybe channel it into something else

Requirements:
Trained in: Deception, Stealth, and Thievery
Recommended also trained in: Acrobatics, Society, and Intimidation

this looks like a setup for an archetype?

Shinobi wear only cloth armor. A typical outfit conceals them completely including their face, hands and even covers their shoes.
They are trained in several weapons that may be considered illegal.
Blowgun, Hand crossbow, Ninja-to sword, Shuriken, Hidden spear, Caltrops, and poisons.
(note you need Nature skill to know ingredients and Crafting: Poisons to actually make them yourself)

Shinobi wear whatever armor is best to do the job they are currently add :P

- Terrifying appearance – dressed in all black cloth, face, hands, and even shoes concealed you are the stuff of stories, gain +4 to all intimidation rolls.

+4 to intimidation rolls is *severe* this one would have to go

- Know your Protectee – You are aware of the person you are protecting as long as they are within 30 feet of you even if they are concealed, hidden, or invisible. (Bodyguard)

I still wonder about the bodyguard part, but this could be like a mini rutial that you pick a ward during your daily preperations and get the effect of status on them

- Language: Thieves Cant – you can read the special symbols, know the hand codes, and otherwise are able to understand cyphers that are used by your particular Boss

thieves cant is something that imo is missing from the edition, a feat like this is very storyteller depending though. Instead of this vague training, the character could get an autoscaling lore

- Hold breath - character can now hold their breathing three times as long as normal (useful when walking through poison gas, or underwater, ect)

pure suggestion: instead of being able to hold the breath longer, the spell adapt self as a ki spell has a lot of potential, otherwise I would increase the duration even further

- Avoid creaking floors – You can move at normal speed while searching for traps such as: noisy floors, crickets, and regular traps. Note this does not let you move OVER the trap just lets you move at normal pace until you perceive a trap.

Trapfinding rogue feat, maybe a circumstancial stealth bonus

- Ceiling crawl – Using acrobatics and special claws on gloves and shoes you can crawl along a ceiling at 1/4th your normal rate.

Specificly the ceiling is a bit niche, maybe instead grant the character a small climb speed (10ft)

- Propelling shove – Someone needs to move, you shove the offender 20 feet if they are the same size as you. (bodyguard)

the bodyguard thing still surprises me, 20ft shove is also a lot

- Smoke Bomb disappearance – you toss a smoke bomb on your own square, causing you to be hidden (temporarily) You may make a stealth check to leave your location, hopefully without being noticed.

smoke bombs are a low level alchemical item, base alchemist benefits would cover this and some more options

- Walk on water- Character can move across water and even stand on it.

I would check comparable feats that already exist for level, maybe it could be a scaling feat - only moving and ending the turn on dry land or sink, mid level you need to keep moving, high level you can stand on water

- Cloud Fall - Character can now fall 30ft without any damage (athletics roll needed to roll out of the jump though, even if fail no damage but the character is stunned one)

falling leaf monk feat would make a great replacer for this

- Backstab – character can now backstab like a rogue does (see rogue)

you never get to backstab like a rogue if you are not a rogue, the level for this feat is too high I think, you would start with a d4 which auto-scales to d6, see assassin and rogue archetype

- Clear the way! – Intimidation affects all creatures withing a 20ft radius of character, this effects animals, mobile plants, all who can move. {critical success all move 3 actions, success move one action away, critical failure all others are now interested as to why they were told to move) (Bodyguard)

needs more clarification

- Walk through wall (Dimension door) – takes three actions, 2 to concentrate, one to move, if at the end of the movement the character is not through the wall.. they are trapped inside it.

people trapped in stuff in 2e usually get forcefully ejected instead, dimension door is not a spell on the list anyway

Save them! – character can carry/haul the individual they are protecting at full speed. (Bodyguard)

very, *very* niche

Wall Walk – Characters can climb walls at normal movement speed

Monk has a wall walk feat, check that one out for reference - and going by what came before you potentially got climbing speed already

Tree flight, If any trees (or bamboo) is within 20 feet of each other- Character can move from tree to tree like a squirrel. Note: You can not sneak doing this movement, because the trees shake

this looks like something between a fourth level jump with a dash of wall run and climbing speed, but only for forests

- Improved Sneaking – When sneaking the character casts no shadow, Emits no odor and is all but invisible with the advantages of having no shadow.

this looks like another ki spell to me, but the discription is oddly specific in parts, invisibility while sticking to shadows would likely be a good ki-spell effect. Maybe take also a look at the old shadow dancer archetype, has a lot of ninja flavor

- Missile deflection- If someone shoots missiles at your Protectee you can block them regardless of the number of missiles, the character can still get hit, but you block the Protectee (Bodyguard)

this looks like a core feat, the level is *WAY* to high, there are a number of low level feats to block missles, block for others etc

- Pass without Trace – It is impossible to track your movements when using this feat. Note: You move at half speed, because you are raking/ covering your tracks.

this is again oddly specific described, one could easily make a feat to move at full speed with stealth and not leaving traces if opting for half speed - but again the level would be notibly lower

- Float – With one action concentration the character can float in the air at their present altitude. They are subject to winds but as long as concentration is maintained they can either keep their altitude or descend at half movement, you can NOT float up!

There are ki spells from the monk that have similar effects (not identical) those are again lower level then this is and offer more

Asmodeus Champions can be mostly lawful (there is a Infernalist philosophy in cheliax which was listed as completely lawful)
Also: Asmodeus champions are certainly among the evil characters that *can* work with good characters
They gonna be exsaperated at the goody-two-shoes all the time but if they manage to work towards their ultimate goal and/or collect some souls, broker some contracts in the mean time they are still good to go

the jump from asmodeus to calistria strikes me as wild

I dont know the details of the character but maybe take another look at abadar (or tell us some more character nuances)

forbid everyone from using phones between the turns

you said you dont want that but that seems to be the biggest culprit

they should make a quick sheet for important stuff around their character, the gm should know the ohter stuff
the only one with unlimted time to look stuff up should be the gm

the players *should* know what their characters can do
there *should* be no need to have the phone in hand outside of the turn

watching what actually happens in the combat is rather important to make good tactical decisions and planning your turn during your allies and enemies turns can speed up the process by a lot

I am usually gm and I have an iron rule of no phones during the sessions
there are players with tablets for pdfs, but that is only character sheets and rule related stuff
I drill my players in the rules, making them remember the stuff that is important (for their characters, everything else is bonus)

of course I dont collect phones before the sessions, theres always reasons for breaks, research and of course emergency calls
but during the session as long as the party is not split (which I also avoid whenever possible) No phone

it is the biggest distraction that can be around and even if you want to use it just for rules, people tend to drift off as soon as they got it in their hands

for people who want to have a summary

Ronald the rules lawyer has madde an analysis and talks about his thoughts

the first thing you miss: this is an optional rule, you are technically in homebrew territorry so RaW and RaI are all a bit malleable

but as someone who plays dual class regulary I would say if a feat is from one specific class, ot uses that class' dc

as a counterpoint, there are feats which let you choose 'your class or spell dc whichever is higher', those are an exception, but not necessarily one that shuts down the argument

in the end its all gm fiat

Honestly, I don't think it makes as much sense for the Impossible playtest to actually be about the Impossible Lands, mostly because we just got an Impossible Lands Lost Omens book not long ago.

More realistically, I lean on it being a book on magic in genera; and a successor toward Secrets of Magic. And the addition of Necromancer leaves room for it to include a lot of Book of the Dead content.

this ispretty much what I expect for the impossible magic reveal

Tridus wrote:

Start recording every d20 roll he makes to see if it's actually this bad. If it is, change dice.

I can suggest "The Dark Eye", "Das Schwarze Auge" in German - you have to roll low to succeed there.

We sometimes "promoted" D&D-dice to DSA-dice or vice versa - sometimes even threatening to do so helped!

Don't suggest that xD

the fifth edition suffers from gameyfication, the fourth is a slog to work through and if you are even remotely getting used to the dynamic three action system from pathfinder the combat will be a slog too

and people who complain that blaster casters are not very good or lasting in pathfinder, never had to manage their mp (or AsP - Astral Points) in DSA :P

Oh I agree but flavor is what's holding him down. He wants to punch fire which is very niche and generally not that great. However long term the problem is just the fact he can not roll above a 10 reliably. Our DM checked his rolls in the last 3 sessions. Also our sustainability might not be that great but I was building to have some healing capability The Radiant Epithet and potentially Oracle Nudge the Scales is very useful to keep this party alive.

As for the speed, I have no idea why he wants to move more then 50ft per movement action. I suppose though with his insane speed he even makes Sudden Charge less impactful lol.

that sounds like he needs a new dice

otherwise I think his setup does actually sound not that bad, its not the strongest instinct but still does decent damage and the difference to the strong ones shouldnt make that much of a difference in feeling
of course, with the stance he technically trades down damage, while its still a very good stance the d8 is ... well, many barbarians do d10 or even d12
but then it is again not so much that it makes a huge difference

maybe also tell your gm that he should throw him a bone
make a chase, make enemies that take cover in bigger distance where he has to cqc fight somewhere

but if it really comes down to his 'bad luck' with dice, well then there is never anything that will change it because of the system balance
someone really ought to make a balance change for the dice to be sure

I really wonder what he wants to achieve with being that fast

and I am also a bit worried about the sutainability of the group

I also don't quite understand WHY he is not feeling belonging in the group
Does he in his perception not do enough damage? (imo not a point for that)
Maybe a second barbarian is just not quite right?
or is there something else going around?

I'll just give each paragraph a number to make the analysis easier

1) well, got to try to figure things out, but the 'more reliable' then saves is something few will agree, partially because on a save spell you still get effect on a miss

2) that is *exactly* what you are supposed to do and what recall knowledge checks are premier for, finding which save to target and then - boom

3) another problem 'fixed' with a successful recall knowledge

4) strengths and weaknesses of the spell lists - and I guess bad luck for kineticists, but they still have an attack more reliable then casters

5) that is by design, there are monsters with a difference of 6 between the different saving throws (possibly more, those were found with a spontaneous find) and saving throws can on top be weakened with conditions (the easiest being fear, but many others possible like clumsy, drained, stupefied) if you *then* still put boni on top it gets wild

5.1) hero points are a bit lackluster in base variation, since it can vastly vary how generous gms are with those and they are an emergency survival option I wouldnt *exactly) count them

6) and some enemies have physical resistance and you dont hear martials bringing that up every discussion :P
balance can be wonky but its the job of the gm to adjust on the fly should it be to extreme - and of course, when you know the course of a campaign choosing your spells wisely goes a long way

7) good rant, I hope my points make sense to you
you will surely get limited agreement from some people, but I also think I have covered many of the counterarguments already

stupid question but:
what happens if you recover from drained outside of resting? Do you get the hitpoints (current and max) back?
because I just yesterday read about the bloodrager and it feels...dangerous to play (i know, the temp hp are probably supposed to be a buffer before the drained 'Damage')

I would really love a BG3 with pathfinder

there are a few pathfinder games out there but their scale is a few levels at best if they stick close to the rules

I played BG3, but after playing pathfinder2e for so long I couldnt get halfway through the first act because at every gods forsaken corner I stumbled over 5e and thought to myself 'that would work so much smoother in pathfinder'
not to mention that larian did some homebrewing and aimed the campaign to end at lvl 12 because of the technical limitations of the system

ffs please make a pathfinder game, it works the whole level range!
and you get more then one choice in defining your build!
and you dont have to decide between attributes and feats!
and...

I could rant on for a quite a bit
I heard that larian has 2 games in the work, which are both their thing, which I get after being annoyed with wotc

Yes +12 is correct. But I'm not satisfied, can I do more?

lower your standards so the game doesnt get boring with normal scaled encounters

I have an idea what could also work

there are some feats that scale with level and other requirements (first that come to mind are kineticist impulses, but also extra lore)

if the baseline of the companion would be slightly better and we add feats that improve over time, we could reduce the number of feats required and smooth out the progression

like that we could spend 1-2 feats to have a decent companion and a third one to carry it into the endgame, with autmatic stat bumps at certain key levels so it doesnt fall off quite as much

I wonder what kind of enemies OP has to fight that they consistently seem to have their shields with maxed runes breaking quick enough to validate backup shield with a full rune on it

WatersLethe wrote:

I like it just fine. You get reliable access to a shield that you can use for blocking, no matter what loot drops or what shops or crafting are available. That extra point of hardness on an already Sturdy shield is gravy.

Also, blocking three strikes in a battle covers most battles, no? Not only is that a decent amount of damage mitigated, you also have your main class feature competing for the same reaction resource.

Anyway, looks like a matter of taste to me.

In my opinion It really doesn't, a champion with shield of reckoning and reactive shield should AT LEAST use two shields blocks every turn, and if you're not using viking's second shield then you're not gonna last more than three rounds.

Also, +1 hardness Is... Pathetically useless, with all due respect It could've been taken out completely

while I have also mixed feelings towards the new shield ally, this looks a loot like whiteroom mathematics

then again, with your last answer it feels also like your opinion is set in stone and you are going to ignore most, if not all, of the arguments presented here

There seems to be nothing on paper that indicates either way

My instinct would say no since the engraving of essential runes is mentioned within the discription of the keepsake as a specific thing that can be done which might not be valid otherwise

My feeling as gm says: go for it, talismans are not that big of a deal anyway and some on a case by case basis might be incompatible or just dont work by default

In the end its the decision of whatever gm you are playing with

I think the main problem is that the OP thinks of 'Tanks' in mmo turns and not in tabletop terms

being able to get hit by all the enemies in an encounter standing upright, mitigating damage and forcing them to 'waste' their action on the character while the healer pumps lifepoints into them

YuriP is a regular here, shouldnt take tooooo long :P

after the digital paizocon events theres likely an update

TBF, in Golarion Katanas are pretty much the Pop culture weapon :P

On the topic

You have two possibilities, you opt for a Katana or you opt for a 'Katana'

The first one will not go with monk, but there are still plenty good options to play
Monk is a class with high unarmed defense and mobility, you likely won't get that quite as easy and theres only one class which rivals it in unarmed defense. Unfortunately unarmored defense is a bad idea with a Katana - you can easily opt for medium, maybe for light if you watch yout skill points.

So, lets head for the options:
-Fighter has the highest attack and feats to support whatever you want to do with the Katana
-Exemplar is a bit complicated to play for a beginner, but imo a very fun class and you can get a 'flurry of blows' with one of the ikons (gleaming blade)
-Ranger with Precision edge maximizes your damage, while flurry edge helps with multiple attack penalty, depending on what you prefer
-interestingly, if you take the Ruffian Racket Rogue you can one-handed use a katana and make sneak attacks, while you can two-hand it against everything where sneak attacks dont work - or you can take the avenger archetype to lock on and and always sneak attack with katana no matter how many hands
-Champion, especially of Shizuru, works well with a Katana, even if the support is not *that* great, but you will be beloved by your party
-Magus with the Inexorable Iron study will also have a good time wearing a katana and will absolutely destroy with crits

for multiclasses you could take up:
Monk - for the mobility
Duelist - for one-handed combat
Mauler - for two-handed combat

Now, if you want to go for a 'Katana' instead of a Katana you get a lot of extra options
-Monk is back on the Menu, the nine ring broadsword was mentioned, the elven curve blade would also work, but you wont likely find any finesse weapon with the two-hand trait
-The swashbuckler makes for an interesting option two, especially if you are looking for a sword saint style character -> imagine having panache as having the iajutsu stance ready and its a great fit
-other rogue and magus archetypes will work too and most of them will be great fun

I am with the others on this one. If the Priest in a actual faithful of Shelyn, the Champion is well in his rights to slap him and send him on a repentance quest later on.

Now if the priest is maybe a cultist in disguise and would get his powers from somewhere else and sets this all up as a sacrifice for whichever dark entity he serves, it would ... not inherently change a lot. The priest would still need to be awefully convincing and have a lot of (secret) followers and the champion would be even more so in the right to put him in his place.

Not to mention that all the potential lower priests there should back up the champion and most people would side with him too, rather saving their lives.

The only way the scenario could work out is if the priest actually has a notable part of the city already under his thrall in some sort of enchantment or mental corruption.

Well, I don't want to claim that my suggestion is the ultimate solution
I think I have a decent enough grasp on the balance, but there are surely many players who can do that better

I see the problems that Teridax notes, there has to be some sort of differentiation between non-damage and damage spells, I forgot for a second how easily one could 'abuse' the hitting for some spells

although with the action investment and little other opportunity to reliably land spells, maybe that is what the magi need (?)

I know the errata is mostly a fix for the reduction in attack spell (hence why I put the 'remaster' in the title in quotations)

I really love the class from the concept and it opens so many cool concepts, but it plays a bit clunky and the remaster did not really help

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)

Although, once I used a really pretty pebble that I felt represented my character well.

Okay there is a story here and I am curious. As a corvid I want to hear all about the pretty pebble hero.

Like the Common language on Eox is Eoxian, the Common Language in Russia is Russian. These are both places your Pathfinder character could go (or maybe even be from).

I dare say the common in pathfinder is more akin to english in europe/north-america

Tactical Drongo wrote:

where do you take it from that pharasma endorses such contracts?

She does maybe not care in particular about them - because that only makes your soul take another route to oblivion
In the end, the stream of souls continues unburdened

The difference is that (lets go with the devil magic powers) whoever did sell their soul ends up as asmodeus pawn or fuel for a while, after which everything continues as it would have anyway

Pharasma doesnt forbid those contracts because they have little to no influence on the penultimate outcome
But it is hard to imagine that she endorses them
(I mean, I could see why she would do it, if the soul goes straight to hell she doesn't have to deal with it)

She considers soul contracts valid reason to claim the soul, even when the ethos of the mortal does not match the plane. (I'm guessing this is why souls start their time in hell being tortured, great way to make people super evil) Her direct agents hand these mortals to devils and gods for promises made by mortals during their life. That's what it means to officially endorse something like that. If she did not endorse slavery, all those contracts would be considered invalid in her court and ignored.

Note that this entire notion of respecting contracts over matching soul ethos does absolutely throw the true importance of ethos matching into question. If souls can be made to align after they arrive, that invalidates a whole lot of the supposed "need" for the current system's methods.

We also know thanks to Belcora, that one can promise the soul of another to a devil in exchange for ___. Anyone with physical control of another person (like their child) could literally hand that person to the devil, claim the reward, and end the contract.

Considering something or straightout endorsing it are still two different things. Do you have a direct source on the Psychopomps delivering those souls? I was always under the impression that, since they are marked to go to a specific place anyway no interference was required.

The important thing of pharasma is tha souls go to a place they can reasonably be to 'live out' their existance and become quintessence by some point. Her point of view is probably like 'well, you made a deal to go there, so you go there' while for everybody else she takes care of the service that they go where it would fit best.

And looking up Belcorra - I admit to not knowing the AP - seems to be a unique cultist/ghost. A unique adversary who does really bad things on a (comparatively) small scale has little influence on the general dealing of things.
But a unique cultist/ghost who does some really f&+%ed up stuff is an excellent plothook and adversary for a group of players.
And she was ultimately defeated by a group of adventurers, so there was little actual damage done

where do you take it from that pharasma endorses such contracts?

She does maybe not care in particular about them - because that only makes your soul take another route to oblivion
In the end, the stream of souls continues unburdened

The difference is that (lets go with the devil magic powers) whoever did sell their soul ends up as asmodeus pawn or fuel for a while, after which everything continues as it would have anyway

Pharasma doesnt forbid those contracts because they have little to no influence on the penultimate outcome
But it is hard to imagine that she endorses them
(I mean, I could see why she would do it, if the soul goes straight to hell she doesn't have to deal with it)

reading to this it feels like Trip has taken personal offense to Pharasma existing

while the old lady is just sitting there, doing her job, basically not bothering anyone

Tactical Drongo wrote:

I have 2 times guns and gears in my downloads, but none of them is remastered

Hav you tried downloading the new one? My remastered copy didn't say it was remastered, but downloading the new version showed it was the remastered PDF.

multiple times now, both the same (non-remastered) pdf

I have 2 times guns and gears in my downloads, but none of them is remastered

my complaint is still that you have to build a caster character with limited defensive ability and light armor proficiency into a strength character, since (almost) all the listed weapons of the feat are strength based

so if you go that path you have to build around it from the start, be very squishy in be beginning of the campaign and have to invest additional feats to make it work in the first place

I agree with ElementalofCuteness that it is kind of a trap, maybe a soft one, not a dead end for the character, but to make it work you have to jump through some hoops, endure a phase of squishyness and invest extra feats to be able to wear proper armor

amalgam_81 wrote:

Kalaam wrote:

Crossing fingers for a SoM one too lol

Though very curious to see what might change

The odds of Secrets of Magic getting a reprint in its current state are low. Considering:

1. Several pages of lore regarding the old D&D schools of magic that are no longer valid.

2. Several of the options presented in the book have been reprinted in other books:
- Elementalist got reprinted in RoE
- Runelord is set to appear in Rival Academies
- Several spells got reprinted across Player Core and Player Core 2.

If they have to replace the reprinted/OGL content, we would be looking at a completely different book.

Then again, what do I know?

I don't know, but something tells me because so much of the Secrets of Magic material has already been incorporated into the Core books, is it possible the upcoming "Impossible" book might not contain just the two new classes we are playtesting, but also might contain remastered versions of the Magus and Summoner? I mean if a remaster of SoM is redundant, it would make more sense to incorporate them in the new book, especially since we have no idea what the book is about except possibly Impossible Lands, which themselves are excellent areas where Magus and Summoner might hail from

I had that thought too, since that book is already magically themed, incorporating the remastered magus and summoner would be a good place there

I think the main problem with racial weapons is that there are too few weapons that are actually worth it

If I play a spellcaster, I am going to rely mostly on my magic (I know not everybody does that, but I know that there ought to be some people agreeing)

If I am a martial I most likely got proficiency anyway (with alchemist being the one exception to the rule - ancestral weapon training is great for all alchemists except maybe the bomber)

If I want advanced weapons then the feats are not going to help me in most cases anyway (thats why at some point I homebrewed a bunch of weapons for most ancestries, many were advanced - but I ran out of steam in the process)

Except for your go-to theme (which imo fits the grandeur cause best) theres really not much to go on about with your setup here

It really is all possible and valid options depending on how you focus your character
give us a bit more about how you imagine the character

Str and Dex are both Valid, bot causes are good and fitting, all of the ancestries and the domain spells are desna approved anyway

I remembered the Cultivator archetype
It needs occultism which you got anyway, gives some interesting (if sometimes situational) focus spells, can give you (with some stamina) 3 skill feats for the price of one, has self-healing and gives you a path to immortality

First off - don't let your friends talk you into anything you don't like

Secondly - I have not played a warpriest myself, but I can give some GM perspecitve insight and thoughts

now to the topic at hand

Warpriest certainly has some small problems juggling the actions between proper attacking, movement and casting spell
but then again, if you go for a cloistered cleric you have to juggle your healing and other spells
with a decent weapon and the attributes to back it up you have a new third action option

Attacks of opportunity are dangerous of course, but so are they for the magus - and in the end something that is really heavily dependent on the gm
it should be something you could Recall Knowledge about and if you feel like 3/4 of all enemies are using AoO you should possibly talk to your gm

restorative strike should be of good value if your party (and you) properly consider tactics - flanking is easy and should be done whenever there in an opportunity
(that being said, 2 action heal is for immediate healing the strongest option, it is a tactical tool, not the go-to as you probably guessed)

as for weapons who are (imo) decent for warpriest, come with a god and support the playstyle

-Bladed Scarf has a lot of traits for maneuvers and is supported by Ashava and Sivanah
-Bo Staff gives you parry as additional option and is Sun Wukongs chosen bludgeon
-Glaive is also given by the lady of the north star, but forceful is not a very good trait if you are not a full martial or action starved (talk with your gm, the Naginata would work as variant glaive maybe)
-The Guisarme is the favored Weapon of Saloc, a psychopomp usher (those usually work well for good campaigns too)
-With Deadly simplicity the longspear offered by Lubaiko becomes a bit more interesting, although she might not be compatible with every campaign
-The Ranseur is availible to followers of the sarkorian stag mother of the forests and stones
-while not very good damage wise, the wip is a decent support weapon with a number of useful traits

this is from an incomplete list as the relatively new divine mysteries adds some more options for Halberds, Longspear, whips, Meteor hammer and others I have surely not seen spontaneously

really depends on the weapon, but I would say most weapons that dont have moving parts are completely safe if you are unseen
-> remember kids, if your sword actuall goes 'shwing' when you draw it, its time to replace the scabbard

if you want to ambush someone crossbows should probably be pre-cranked and pulling a bow is usually rather silent too
(and the ammo can be silenced in the quiver with enough padding)

but good luck staying completely silent with an (unmodified) spiked chain

I would also say that if the weapon you draw is larger then your cover, you should rething if you can properly hide behind it and if it should be drawn already at that point
i.e. the above mentioned javelin, if you duck behind a crate and have it lengthswise ready, it can be stealthy

moving away from weapons (and items in general)
I agree that purely mental actions (the not magically enhanced kind at least) wont give you away

beyond that, it really does depend on the circumstances and judgements should be made by the gm with a measure of logical thinking and good faith towards the characters and the players ideas