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Been told that monk archetype at 10 is almost mandatory for anyone that uses unarmed strikes, and a kitsune thaumaturge I've got has enough flat damage to make the 1d4 + nothing viable. Problem is that getting any str makes it MAD, let alone two boosts in it that the foxfire attack wouldn't use.

Is getting two attacks with the flourish (assume it's the only flourish I'll have) worth the 14 strength prereq, or is flurry a pass?

Going into a game with this combo, and while it looks synergistic, I may want to get out of it ASAP for others.

Since I've heard Thaum is action-hungry, which feats of this archetype are the best value? I assume the aura is a must-have, since it's ideally only one action per fight, but the rest seem more demanding, situational, or else compete with reactions you'd rather use on implements.

Considering a 3 feat tax line down the dhampir path. While I'd happily take it with Ancestral Paragon, without it I'm not sure how good it is, especially since fangs can't precise strike. The grapple trait would enable me to potentially grapple three foes at once for what that's worth.

I could see it as part of a crit-grab, finisher/strike, tb action routine, though lining those up seems pretty rare.

The other difficulty is that the base ancestry the dhampir is attached to, Shoony, has Scamper underfoot that seems pretty good. What do y'all think? Is it worth the lineage feat tax to get Taste Blood further down the line for a gymnast, especially when they could've started with +1 Tumble Through instead?

Was looking through the setting book my GM gave me, and it claimed that dwarves make up 93% of Alkenstar City's population.

That can't be right since I'm sure, according to the Outlaws of Alkenstar Player's Guide, that it's majority human. Does anyone have the correct setting statistics for Alkenstar City?

Known weakness allows an investigator to RK every time they Devise, but the rules for Additional Knowledge state that once you fail, you can't RK anymore. At first the DM said that the 1st level feat was effectively off whenever the Investigator failed any RK about the same creature, but we argued that the feat was specific, and *always* allowed a check, failure or no, albeit at increasing DC's.

Is that accurate? Or would the general rule of no more RK's upon failure apply to Known Weakness regardless?

Finally making most of the choices for a new PC in the mid-levels, but struggling to come up with good choices for some of the feat slots.

My party is myself, the sole caster and healer, and 3 martials: reach monk, reach barb, and an interrogation investigator.

For ancestry feats, I know I'd like otherworldly magic for electric arc, and cooperative nature to hit 30 on One for All checks more often.

Similarly, with the first half of my FA feats, swash and OfA were in there.

After that, I'm stuck with the rest of my FA and class feats. My skill feats will probably include ward medic and continual. Is Battle Medicine also a must-pick, or should support casters stay away from getting too close like that?

Note: Any dedication can be taken without satisfying the 2 more feat rule, so class feats can be freely exchanged to poach good stuff. I just need help knowing, like One For All, what the *best* stuff is.

Been trying to get a grip on this class/subclass, and am unsure how to build it. One has to do with how many points to put into intelligence, the other is whether to actually use the curse or ignore it in favor of just using the class' free focus points.

For example, in the oracle guide it's recommended to take the initiative penalty and flat-footed condition on the chin in exchange for free RK checks. Then you should spend feats on making those RK checks really good, like the Loremaster archetype, dubious knowledge, Additional Lore, and so on.

And around here, I've seen the opposite advice where you should get another focus spell ASAP because the curse isn't worth it.

What are y'all's thoughts on which direction to go with Oracle?

Considerations: Wisdom has to be part of background boost, so only a 14 dex/str is possible at 1. DM allows dedications to be taken without restriction, so archetypes don't need 3 feat investments before choosing another.

Looking for the most useful options with my free archetype and possibly level 2 class feats to get the most healing and support. My party has two melee martials and a marshal-investigator with inspiring aura. Here's stuff I've considered:

Medic: I'll be the Medicine guy regardless, and with wisdom from background it seems a good choice. Not sure about Treat Condition; Advanced First Aid seems to do what it does better w/ Frightened & Sickened.

Champion: Gives best AC for me, and as I'm the sole healer of the group, that might be important. Can't get into full plate till 10 though. Great reaction. Might be useful as I'd be the only person in the party who could use any heavy magical armor found.

Familiar Master: Mainly just for accompanist for the eventual +2 to Performance for Inspire Heroics and Lingering.

Beastmaster/Cavalier: Another body to benefit from my Inspire Defense and the Investigator's Known Weakness and aura. Mounting could help skip Doctor's Visitation, though the large size, shared MAP, and penalty to reflex might be too much.

Blessed One: Similar to Champion, but allows for dex and blessed denial at 12.

Also, I'll be the only aoe, so I'm in the market for a blast spell like animated assault or inner radiance torrent. I know it's hard to fill every role as the sole spellcaster and healer, but which options (and feel free to suggest an archetype I might've missed) give the most bang for buck?

Looking at the Cathartic Mage archetype and ways to get around the emotional fallout. While Catharsis is a discrete effect with discrete traits, it's unclear to me what parts it has. So here's a few questions:

Can dispel magic counteract any of it, and if so, what parts? (i.e. trigger, activation, effect, fallout)
Could a suppression effect like Calm Emotions suppress any of it? What parts?
Does it have a duration? If so, how long?
Edit: Could something that counteracted emotion or mental effects like Soothing Words work on it? If so, what parts?

Once it becomes nimble, no, but for levels 1-7, would y'all say heavy barding is good on even something like the bird?

You're trading 25gp, -3 on its checks and reduced land speed for +3 AC, and +1 after mature compared to light barding. Is that generally worth it for some companions, and if only some, which ones?

Can't decide between these three:

1. Ghost Hunter: Literally made for the module, so probably ok. Contains spellcasting features that don't necessarily suit a martial.
2. Ghost Eater: Maximum incorporeal hate.
3. Undead Slayer: More broad, and Slayer's Strike seems to synergize very well with Retributive Strike.

Without spoilers, which do you think would be most useful for the AP?

Right now, I'm nearly a 6th level elemental sorcerer (earth) about to poach the Champion's best 3 things: heavy armor, lay on hands, and the reaction. The rest of the party is:

1. Scoundrel rogue
2. Infinite Eye psychic
3. Bo staff, i.e. strength, monk

Weaknesses I've seen in our few encounters together are:

1. Fragility. People go down a lot and my Battle Medicine/LoH are at their limit keeping people up. Thanks to the Champion MC's Heavy armor, my caster's AC is the highest.
2. Helpless in the face of enemies with physical resistance. Not much the rest can do at that point but soak hits, which puts me in a rough spot of choosing between ending the encounter with my sole access to other kinds of damage, or keeping them alive before it ends them.

With one class feat, my options coming up are these:

1. Choose a low-level sorcerer feat, though I think there's not much there after Reach and Primal Evolution. Dangerous Sorcery is the best I can find, and the extra damage seems negligible.
2. Invest even more in Champion MC with either Desperate Prayer or Resilience.
3. Start another dedication.

Of those, which do you think would best help this party?

Considering this archetype on a few characters who could get it, but it's not as smooth as it could be. Which of these issues would you say disqualifies Marshal from consideration, mechanically?

-You have to spend a general feat first.
-You have access to Bard MC, but also have other 1-action activities, like Lay on Hands, Battle Medicine, or Demoralize
-You have an ancestry with a charisma flaw
-Diplomacy isn't a skill you can prioritize

All of this assumes you want Inspiring aura ASAP.

Recently got a Mature, and thus bigger, companion, that went from small to medium. RAW, does the barding he wore no longer work, or is it strictly "small/medium" barding, and works either way?

At level 3, coming on 4, I'm looking for what be most effective for this party:

Shield-and-axe Fighter
Ranged Magus
Elemental Sorcerer

I'm a Leaf Order Druid who's also throwing out Battle Medicine's every so often. The one major weakness I've seen with the party is lack of ways to help our backline hit AC. I've gone Animal too to give Fighter something to flank with, but there's not much support for the rest. I've also heard AC's are useless the higher we go, so ideally I'm looking for something that'd be good all the way to 20.

Any suggestions for how to spend the Free Archetype would be welcome. Assume I can find a way to qualify for any, though multiple suggestions are welcome just in case they're setting inappropriate or too weird.

My DM was merciful and ruled that they could be force-fed to the unconscious, but is there anything that supports that, RAW or RAI? The focus spell itself seems to say that the only possible way to use them is for the healed to use their own interact action.

Read the ancestry entry on AoN, and I'm not sure how these work for the mechanical part at the end. First it says that kobolds are born with scale colors according to their communities patron or exemplar, or a descendant thereof. Fair enough.

Then it says kobolds have a "spiritual" exemplar that's more volitional.

So, which one determines the breath weapon?

Interested in making a sorcerer PC with this bloodline, and in an effort to integrate it into the campaign, is there any lore reason why it's unlocked once players complete the Ruby Phoenix AP? I haven't and can't read it, so I'm fine with spoilers. Did victory in the tournament awaken a dormant power or something similar, or is it more of a meta thing?

Assumptions: 10 str, 14 dex, no Unburdened Iron.

The dwarf is part is mentioned in case the below average speed is a factor.

Can't decide between leather, studded leather, or hide. Should AC be maximized, or are the costs for checks and movement too high?

The RNG Gods have decreed a goblin Champion, and I'm struggling to figure out how they can be optimized. The Definitive Guide said Stealth was the biggest reason to go down the Dex path, but I'm not how a Champion would use Hide and Sneak to do what they wanna do.

All I (maybe) know for sure is that if you use ranged weapons, Paladin is an auto-pick for Ranged Reprisal. After that, I'm clueless. Light hammer & returning shield? Composite shortbow? Making Hidden the new shield block?

I know I'll probably never be as cool as the strength chads, but I'd appreciate advice on how to get almost as good.

EDIT: If it matters, assume Blade Ally will bypass the melee-only prereqs that usually apply for those runes.

Rolling into a rumored brutally hard AP, and our last player is stuck in analysis paralysis to "fill the gaps." I offered Bard as a generic force multiplier, but he's cold on that. So, using all EXCEPT Alchemist, Bard, Inventor, and Gunslinger, what class will help us sweaty nerds destroy encounters and make the DM cry?

This is the party so far, with the 4th member yet to be picked. What's the most powerful option for #4?

1. Dwarf Fighter
2. Dwarf Stone Order Druid
3. Ranged Dex Human Magus
4. ???

No Free Archetype either. Doing this hard mode.

Ancestries are all common and uncommon fwiw, but primarily looking for class.

And if you have some free time, by all means, recommend any feats, archetypes, general strategies, or what have you if something down the line would really clinch things.

Having trouble reconciling the parentage of a half-orc character born in this region. I'd like him to have a Varisian parent, and thus their culture. I'd like the other one to be a cave-dwelling or otherwise underground orc. Problem is, I'm not sure where those two things would meet, and I need help there.

The only subterranean orcs I can find in Varisia are the Gutspear tribe in the Kodar mountains. Problem is, none of the Varisian's regular caravans go through the Cinderlands or the Plateau, probably because it's so dangerous. The Broken Spine orcs near Korvosa would be *perfect*...if their keep was underground. I don't think it is though.

What's the most plausible way you can think of to get Varisians to travel that far northeast? So far the best I've got is being mystically compelled to by a Harrow reading. Or wanting to visit Shoanti cousins?

I know GM fiat would be an easy fix; just say there's an orc tribe somewhere beneath the southern mountains, but I'd like to use established lore if possible.

Map for reference: https://pathfinderwiki.com/mediawiki/images/thumb/c/c8/Varisia_map.jpg/1164 px-Varisia_map.jpg

For this campaign, I'm randomly rolling race and stats, so these can't be changed:

STR: 11
DEX: 9
CON: 17
INT: 10
WIS: 11
CHA: 15

Haven't used the +2 half-orc racial ability bonus, but that can go towards anything. The available build options are anything in core, ultimate, and advanced player's and race guides. With those limits, what class and build options would you choose?

If it matters, they don't need to fulfill a particular role, so it can be anything.