Thess's page

A lot of people in playtest, myself included, wanted level to really matter, and as a result pretty much anything 3 or more levels lower than you is a bug to be stepped on.

PF2E does reward specialization less than 1E though. Mainly in that using the same tactic in all situations ever is eventually not going to work. But also there's a lot less of x stat to y going on.

It's a difference in design philosophy. Paizo games are very player centric. Pathfinder is about building a fun powerful alter ego to explore the world, gain experience, and earn cool treasures and magic items. That's a lot of fun and why the game is so popular. Players don't want their alter ego to die, and Pathfinder accommodates that. The stakes in Pathfinder are low. It’s rare that a player is on the edge of their seat, knowing everything depends on the next die roll.

This makes Pathfinder a lot of fun for players, but in my opinion, it's a chore to run. There are generally no setbacks in Pathfinder, which makes for a boring story. Since a GM doesn't have a character to play, the story is all they got. I think this is why they must give GMs all sorts of perks to run games in Pathfinder Society.

Right now, I’m running an old school game in which it’s easy to die. Combat is deadly, so players avoid it when they can, or they plan so they have an advantage. They’re trying to rescue villagers taken prisoner by a kind of lizard men. They know a frontal assault is suicide because they tried that in another adventure and lost a character. As a GM, I’m excited to see what they come up with next session. The stakes are real, and they could party wipe with bad planning or bad luck. In a Pathfinder game, they’d just run into the cave and use some power or another to win and I, the GM, would be bored to tears.

I'm not judging though. I enjoy both styles of play, but I’d love to see this sort of dynamic in a game supported by Paizo. Too bad they don’t make one.

I'm honestly not a huge fan of the kitchen sink approach, though I think it's very clever from a marketing perspective.

I agree. Kitchen sink worlds allow game companies to publish material for different genres and sub genres without having to build entire worlds around them. It just seems kind of dumb to me. When I ran my games I told the players that places like Numaria are only rumored to exist, and probably don't. I soft banned inappropriate magic items.

"No, your cleric cannot have nanotechnology."

Unfortunately, some players see this as an imposition because an entire build can be predicated on a specific magic item or enchantment. A high dexterity fighter absolutely needed the agile weapon enchantment or had to wait until 3rd or 5th level to get the Slashing Grace feat. I've always considered that a flaw in the game. Maybe they fixed stuff like that in 2nd ed.

I’ve tried to persuade my RPG group to try Pathfinder 2nd ed. Although they played 1st on and off for ten years, they won’t try it. A couple played 2nd ed at cons and had several complaints. A bit later, one member tried running Starfinder, but we only got through the first book before the game died for reasons cited below.

1. The game is too easy. Most encounters are trivial, and bosses quickly overcome. It’s rare for experienced players to die and if they do, the Raise Dead spell is common. I feel bad for Pharasma. I ran two full adventure paths (CotCT and Carrion Crown) and I consistently had to buff encounters. This in turn made characters level faster which messed up progression.

2 Progression is too steep. A fifth level character can fight 1st level villains all day without breaking a sweat. We have been playing OSR games with flatter curves and have been much happier.

3. Character design rewards specialization too much. It makes one-trick-ponies effective, but also boring to play. Why not have strength do damage and use a combination of other stats for hit bonuses? Our current game does this and I like it better.

4. Golarian is bland and broad. It’s like visiting Disneyland. You can fight the generic evil empire by visiting Cheliax town, Eqyptland for exotic pyramid adventures. Ustaluv is scary and Numeria is Conan vs. The robots from space. It’s a kitchen sink world and I want something more thematic, like Ebberon or Scarred Lands.

I am aware that some of these concerns have been addressed and I’m currently going through the forums to see what has changed. I like how heritages can give a min-max'ed fighter something to do outside of combat.

I’ve always liked Paizo games. I love how easy it is to run adventure paths and how well supported they are with supplementary material. I'll keep reading through these threads. Maybe enough has changed to entice my players to come back.

I agree with everything you said and would like to add a couple of thoughts.

1. The game is too dependent on equipment drops. Because acquired items can be sold for only 10 or 20% of value, you are pretty much limited to what you find. Does your melee soldier want a cool two handed sword? Well forget about it, because he's stuck with the Doshko dropped by the Vesk you fought.

2. Money is poorly balanced and is used to replace class features rather than enhance them. A mystic might buy a jet pack to replace a fly spell because of their limited selection and slots, even though it might make no sense for a magic based character. Why not have a system other than money - something like karma or prestige - to allow characters to purchase advantages more in tune with their themes.

3. Armor is unrealistic and dumb. You have to wear armor everywhere, for everything. Flying through space- Armor. Visiting a planet - Armor. Dinner at Applebees - Armor. Most heroes in science fiction universes don't even use armor. In Starfinder, you sleep in it.

3. Fixes are slapped onto design failures like bandages. Half of Solarians found their class stat of charisma useless. The designers shoehorned in the Soulfire fusion to make charisma marginally more useful.

I think Starfinder really needs a 2nd edition to fix these holes and a deign philosophy more in tune with a space based science fantasy setting. There are a lot of things I do like about Starfinder, but if I could, I would choose something else for my gaming group until all the problems listed on this thread were addressed.

Look at the Solarian guides. I recommend the SF Guide, which is excellent (though outdated).

If you are going balanced, I think it’s important to have revelations that are useful in both modes. Stellar Rush is essential for any melee Solarian and it’s useful in both modes. Glow of Life gives fewer hit point in graviton but can keep you in the fight while you’re waiting on your healer and Soul Furnace is a must have at 10th. Defy Gravity and Gravity Boost are also useful but are considered inferior revelations by many players. These revelations all have great action economy, which means you get more attacks with that sweet weapon manifestation.

You might want to consider only one “activate as a move action” revelation for each mode, especially if you plan to use your zenith revelations (Supernova is very good). I really like Gravitic Reinforcement because poisons and disease with kill you in Starfinder. Solarians have poor saves and you can't use resolve to cure afflictions. Plasma Sheath, Corona, and Blazing Orbit are all good damage multipliers. I like Plasma Sheath the best, but all of them are good.

You might consider this revelation order: 2nd Stellar Rush (photon), 4th Gravitic Reinforcement (graviton), 6th Plasma Sheath or Glow of Life if your healer sucks (photon), 8th Defy Gravity/Blade in the Night/ Draining Agony (graviton), 10th Soul Furnace (photon). You may want to consider Hypnotic Glow (photon) depending on how much non-combat role-playing you'll do.

Anyways, hope that helps.

I read a lot of threads requesting better support of ranged Solarians, and boy did they get that. The Solar Flare is great, and with revelations like Agile Wavelengths, Distant Burst and Gravity Pulse, you can be a very effective battlefield controller. Gravitic Calling and Solar Incursion are just cake.

I really like the Distant Burst revelation. It looks like you can combine it with Black Hole for battlefield control. Also, a short-range fireball every three turns is nice.

I play a melee Solarian in our game and I'm really liking Gravity Reinforcement. That alone is enough to keep me graviton attuned. I just wish they'd made the Extra Manifestation and/or solar shield a little better. Heavy armor is still a feat tax for melee builds.

I’m building a human arcanist for a four player Mummy’s Mask campaign. My stats are str 9, dex 14, con 14, Int 18 (16+2 adjustment), wis 12, cha 15. My group rolls for ability scores.

The rest of the group consists of a bloodrager, oracle, and a swashbuckler. Since we are a smaller group with one front line fighter, I’ve decided to go with the occultist archetype and focus on summoning. The concept is a failed apprentice who fell back on his sorcerous ability, mixing his wizard training with his innate magical abilities. He’s an opportunist willing to bargain with otherworldly forces for power.

1st Level: Feats: Spell Focus (Conjuration) and Augment Summoning
Exploit: Conjuror’s Focus (as per archetype)
Traits: Reactionary (+2 init) and Suspicious (+1 sense motive, class skill)

3rd Level Feat: Superior Summons
Exploit: Dimensional Slide

5th Level Feat: Extra Arcane Exploit, Consume Magic Item
Exploit: Quick Study

7th level Feat: Not sure
Exploit: Planar Contact (as per Occultist)

9th level: Feat: Not sure
Exploit: Potent Magic

11th level Feat: Extra Exploit, Greater Metamagic Knowledge
Exploit: Metamagic Knowledge (Quicken Spell)

I was thinking of taking Scribe Scroll instead of Dimensional Slide at third level, but I’ll probably need the Slide for survivability. As to my 7th and 9th level feats, I’m thinking that one will be an item creation feat and one will be a survival feat such as toughness or combat casting. I haven’t even thought about what to take at 13th and 15th because the campaign probably won’t last that long.

What do you think?