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The We Be Goblins series of 4 scenarios (Free RPG Day Adventures) still hold up amazingly well. The writing is so absolutely delightful, and our little mob of chaos gremlins had a blast. We played PF1e but I'm sure D&D 5e and PF2e conversations exist for those who prefer those systems. If not, it should be super easy to convert them.

But now, the promised Goblin Songs!

(Some spoilers for We Be Goblins Two!, which is pretty old at this point.)

Mevis:

Reta:

Mogmurch:

Sincerely, it was a lot fun. 10/10.

Also, I was never here, you can't prove anything, bye.

This has been bothering me a fair bit lately. Disclaimer: I do not claim to speak for anyone other than myself, and do not encourage that anyone conflate loud, opinionated people (such as myself) with nuanced representation of larger population.

To be very clear, I'm not referring to the magic box that liches put their souls in, which have already renamed to soul cages. Neither liches nor phylacteries/soul cages are part of a real, currently practicing religion, so whatever made up thing they're called is irrelevant.

No, I'm referring to the items that include the term "phlactery", such as the Phylactery of Faithfulness:

This tiny box holds a fragment of religious scripture sacred to a particular deity. The box is worn by affixing it to a leather cord and tying it around your head just above your brow.

This is pretty clearly a description of Tefillin, which have long been and are still (incorrectly) referred to as phylacteries (a Latin word via Greek that refers to an amulet or charm, often used as a ward for protection). The actual history of the term phylactery and how it became a substitute for Tefillin is more complex and muddy than I have the the time or inclination to detail here. And presumably some people who are part of the Judaism do refer to Tefillin as phylacteries, and obviously I don't claim to speak for anyone's opinion on the matter than my own.

Suffice to say, I don't think the items should be renamed to Tefillin, which are religion specific. Nor should the items be removed. Instead, the term phylactery should be removed entirely and the description modified so it doesn't almost exactly describe a Tefillin.

And while you're at it, probably don't start cherry-picking more things out of Jewish religious history or mythology...

Dear Golem,

Is it possible to visit the Paizo offices in person (in Redmond)? I expect the answer is no, but other than a previous thread of the forums I can't see any evidence one way or another.

Link: https://paizo.com/threads/rzs43mod?Visiting-Seattle-is-there-a-way-to-visit

It would nice to have a notice of whether a) visiting the office is acceptable at all and b) if not, that is expected to ever change. I am *not* planning to show up unannounced but I could see that happening without guidance.

Not that digging through the Paizo forums for
answers isn't fun, but it's not actually the most effective or official method of conveying information.

-Some Lich

So, before I get started I'd like to say that I've only found limited information about this weapon. If there's a source I'm missing, please let me know.

I was delighted to find out that the Rungu was included as a weapon in 2e. And then I saw the Grippli tag. The description is below, from AoN:

"This specialized club is designed for throwing and is useful for both combat and hunting. Though gripplis didn't create the rungu originally, many grippli communities have adopted it as the weapon of choice for hunting creatures that hide high in treetops."

I didn't find much more in the ancestry guide.

The thing is, as a person with a personal connection to East Africa (I grew up there) and the Maasai people specifically, it's pretty disrespectful to take an item that has significant cultural importance and make it a frog person thing. It's even been a symbol of the Kenyan presidency (Moi was at best a controversial figure - let's not go down that rabbit hole). Especially considering how absolutely sparse representation of these incredible, complex cultures has been in popular media of all kinds much less RPGs.

Now, the description does state that Grippli didn't invent the weapon, just adopted it. But it still feels to be in bad taste. In my mind, it'd not be unlike taking the macuahuitl and making it a ysoki weapon.

It would have taken about 5 seconds of Googling to realize "hey, maybe this isn't just some cool hitty stick, it's an important part of East African culture and history."

On the whole, Paizo has done a really great job of being culturally inclusive and respectful, and I don't think this is malicious at all. Conversely, I think it's worse if the writer had some connection to Africa than if they were just an ignorant outsider, because they should have known better. The Maasai are not frog people and in my experience, don't have any particular connection to amphibians. Plus anthropomorphizing underrepresented cultures is pretty messed up. Or out the door, you hand over this culturally significant item to frog people and figure out the real owners later?

Maybe there's something I'm missing. I'd be glad to be wrong. I believe there are absolutely good ways to respectfully incorporate poorly represented cultures into a fantasy setting - Paizo continues to champion this. But this smacks of a different era of RPG writing.

Obviously, this is just a prototype but here's our work so far. We're quite proud of our handicraft, but constructive criticism is encouraged. Trolling will be met untimely devouring by said swarm, obviously.

To be clear, we see this creature as our progeny and a member of our family, not an object or tool to be used and controlled.

As far as I'm aware, there isn't a full 9th level prepared psychic caster. Obviously, we already have the psychic who is a spontaneous INT based caster. I believe there are archetypes that partially accomplish this.

But if there was to be a prepared psychic caster, what role would they fill? What ability score would their spellcasting key off of? Would they share the psychic list or have their own?

So, if you've seen my other post, you're aware that Mythic is going to be the biggest change I'm making to the AP.

But in terms of the AP itself, I'm overall a pretty big fan. I don't plan to make a huge number of changes, but below are edits I have in the pipeline:

Book 1: I love the beginning, but the whole Mongrelfolk aspect is kind of random and unrelated to the rest of the AP. Instead of encountering the Mongrelfolk, the PCs will be "saved" by Hosilla and Ivory Templars who attempt to abduct them back to their secret underground lair. Depending on how that shakes out, it'll either be a jailbreak scenario or the party will track the baddies back to their lair. This will actually be the Ivory Templar HQ in Kenebres.

I plan to replace many (but not all) of the generic tiefling encounters with low ranking Ivory Templars. It feels weird to me that so many tieflings just default to fighting for the Abyss despite being non-aligned by nature.

I am considering having a period of roleplaying before the official AP start, I'm just not sure how to pace that. But the party having any at all connection to the ruined city seems better.

Book 2: I will probably adjust or just remove the mass combat. Nothing wrong with it persay, but it will likely kill the pacing and honestly I'm not a huge fan of how the mass combat rules work.

Book 5: Encounter with Iomadae may be changed to a different deity, if relevant. But reworking the whole scene and save the damage for PCs who are intentionally obtuse. To be clear, not a deity fawning over the PCs because they're such special snowflakes but also not playing trivia or loud noises.

Book 6: Rework the Storm King fight so it isn't an embarrassing stomp. Broadly, Deskari begins very actively working against the PCs.

Suggestions and thoughts welcomed.

So I've wanted to run this AP for time.

Now that I have the chance, I still conflicted on how to run Mythic. Obviously, there's a very decent chance the game doesn't survive to even the first tier, but if it does I want to have a plan. I've considered reducing the number of tiers the PCs receive, as well as just working with my players so they avoid the most broken options. But Mythic breaks easy and breaks hard, especially in high level play which is already prone to imbalances.

I've heard Legendary Games fix for Mythic is pretty decent, but everything I've seen by them ups the power game not balances it out.

I do want the PCs to feel exceptionally powerful, but without some exceptionally powerful challenges it just turns into a farce. That might work for a one-shot, not an AP.

A few options (not all/any are good):

1) Run as written, game breaks around book 3 and gets hilarious around book 5. Book 6 is a joke. Beat demon lords to death with their own arms.

2) Run as written, except no mythic. Ultra hard mode, unwinnable without ridiculous optimization and cheese. Misses point of the AP.

3) Run with only 1 mythic tier, potentially other bonuses to make up the difference. Likely falls apart in later books as Mythic enemies far outpace PCs.

4) Run with 3 mythic tiers, 1 per 2 books. The same as above, maybe?

5) Run with 6 mythic tiers, 1 per book. Probably still ends with overall overpowered players.

6) Run with a different mythic system? Like Legendary Games?

My other, semi-related idea is giving the PCs a limited pool of "Mythic Investiture" which allows them to give mythic tiers to NPCs, albeit much less. Keeps major PCs from being a huge liability without overshadowing the party, and it's the PCs choice how they dole it out.

Also helps explain replacement PCs.

Anyway, thoughts, and experience requested.

Undoubtedly, you've seen us across the forums and most likely in your local civic center. You wonder, who are those suave, attractive, and sophisticated individuals of diverse gender, ancestry, and heritage? Perhaps you've pondered how you too could join a cause that is both profitable and morally sound?

Ponder no more! We are the Thread Necromancer's Guild, championing the normalization of necromancy and undeath. And we're looking to add more qualified members to our ranks!

If you wish to join, our expectations are simple:

1) Be polite, respectful, and constructive in your conversations with others, even adherents of vitalist worldviews or the intentionally ignorant (Paladins). Undead and those who associate with them being consumed with hate and rage is a harmful stereotype.
2) We do not discriminate between the undead, living, and otherwise in our membership. Nor by ancestry, heritage, type/subtype, or any other traits. We expect members to model the same.
3) All Necromancy is good and acceptable, but be thoughtful! Just like you wouldn't raise a fledgling undead at their own funeral, don't raise dead threads simply to spend the black onyx. Unlife isn't for everyone or every thread.
4) Limit use of death effects, especially those that affect an area. Sometimes, it's better to let nature take its course. Remember, they'll live themselves to death sooner than you'd think.
5) There is no membership fee for the Guild, though we do accept donations (black onyx, gems, gold, platinum, and USD preferred). However, we'd much more prefer you use these resources to better your local undead community.

If you agree to these terms, please send your application to the Office of the Thread Necromancer's Guild, the Pale Necropolis, the Undying Realms, Undead Ohio.

Or you may post here. Membership is on a case by case basis.

And remember: "Undead yes. Unperson no."

Howdy,

So to clarify, I really hate Shoony on principle. Regardless, if I ever want to play a Corgifolk riding a Dire Corgi, this may be my best chance (don't you judge me, a Lich can have goals).

For reference, AoN Link for the Shoony ancestry.

Has someone already done a conversion? Any suggestions if I embark on my own?

Other than not to do it, because Shoony are abominations before the eyes of the gods and probably why Aroden died honestly.

Howdy, for the past year or so I've taken over a Reign of Winter game from a previous GM (who ran it for far, far longer). The Party is early into Book 2 (the Shackled Hut) on the road to Whitethrone. This game is technically PFS - so I'm running the AP more or less as written. I think you can get PFS credit for this? Maybe?

One of our longterm players has disappeared, and while I'm happy to run the game with 5 players if he returns, I'd like a fourth player. With this in mind, I'm looking for applicants who are in for the longhaul. Our pace is often slow, ranging from no more than a post a day to weekly posting or more. If you're prone to get bored by inactivity, thurs probably isn't the game for you. On the other hand, if you want a long term game, this may be a good fit for you. I fully intend to run it through book 6 if we get there.

I am only looking for 1 player, maybe 2 if there's two I can't pick between.

Character creation should use PFS rules. 4th level. You must take Baba Yaga's mantle, giving you a geas effect and an untyped +2 to any ability score.

Characters should be grounded in the lore of Golarion and specially tied to the AP. See the Player's Handbook for ideas. I'm far more interested in seeing characters than builds. Plus, hardcore optimizing really isn't necessary or appropriate. See the existing characters to get a general idea.

Our current lineup is:

Cylina Vendrithe - Human Cleric of Milani
Goliath Maul - Human Goliath Druid
Irina Miklos - Human Winter Witch
Wulfgang Viking - Human Fighter/Ranger (absent)

Nadya Peska is a Major NPC with the party - Human Skirmisher Ranger

Non-human characters would be strongly appreciated.

If you're interested, check out the Campaign Forum Link. Please do not post on any thread. Applications should be posted here.

Oh yeah, and:

*Cackles Maniacally*

So I'm concurrently running Hell's Rebels with Age of Ashes. Only one player is on both games, so I probably will run the AP as written* regardless of how the HR game turns out. Worth mention, I'm very confident my PCs will kick Barzy's butt, so this is really more a thought exercise.

How would book 3 change with (for the sake of simplicity) a living Barzillai Thrune ruling the duchy of Ravounel from Kintargo? Obviously, the city itself would be massively different, but the plot (and possibly many NPCs) would need to be changed. I'd assume Thrune would be working with the Crimson Triad, so the adventure would probably take far more of a time of the earlier books of Hell's Rebels. But the Silver City would have sustained tremendous damage in the conflict, damage that likely wouldn't be healed in such a short period. Tbh, that's true regardless of who won unless the Silver Ravens were about to depose BT very quickly...

Also, as clarified above I have zero interest in discussing whether I *should* do this. I really don't want to utterly rewrite the entire book (well, I do, but I don't have the time) and it'd be unfair to the players who had nothing to do with my HR campaign.

*excluding all the other changes I'm planning.

So this whole encounter is an example of the best this AP has to offer, and is clever, intuitive, creative, and showcases the system's strengths in ways I could spend a while post on. My compliments to the writers!

However, my party was slow to start up the bucket brigade, and hadn't really dealt with the fire mephit or the rapidly growing fire... I'm pretty sure they'll get everyone out alive, but the fire is spreading very quickly and as of yet uncontested.

I'm wondering if the Town Hall is going to be burnt down? Or the PCs might have to retreat? I suppose the water buckets are a very strong counter but they have to move to the bucket, grab it, move to the fire, and douse it. Not a great action economy.

And the mephit is still amuck.

Don't want to kill the party in the first encounter, at least unfairly.

Spoilers, obviously.

So among other things, I've read the majority of Paizo APs, modules and scenarios going back to the 3.5 days. But on the off-chance I got to play 2e (still no dice) I held off on reading any of the PF2e AP's.

But I've been roped into running AoA's, and I have some very mixed feelings about it - much like 2e. Be warned, I have Strong Feelings(tm) so much of this will be opinion based.

Having read the plot summary of the books and seen the general art design, I was extremely stoked. Then I did my first read through of all 6 books (skimming, mostly) and was sorely disappointed. There were big promises from the get-go that were pretty regularly unfulfilled.

It's a dragon AP! Well, not really, except at random intervals. The Cult of Dahak just sort of stops being relevant for the most part.

It deals with Hermea and everyone's favorite gold dragon. Yep, but pulls its punches really hard.

Mwangi Expanse! Actually I have really minimal complaints about book 2. Well done, Paizo.

Return to Kintargo! And I thought Hell's Rebels was fan-service.

The Triad goes from a mysterious force to a army of slaver goons. But... the super cool Silver Ravens can't bother defending themselves from this random army of thugs?

Book 4 utterly rocks. No complaints. It would well be worth running stand-alone.

Book 5 is okay. The main villain is pretty uninspiring. Working with the guilds and infiltrating the pyramid are strong positives. Consequences for waiting too long or taking the 15 minute adventuring day are strongly appreciated.

Book 6 is sort of all over the place. Dahak's avatar being the *real* threat feels more like an afterthought, due to his rather restrained agency.

I rather despise the portrayal of the Bumblebrasher goblins in book 1, but that's neither here nor there. Overall, the AP comes off as a sanitized, more kid friendly Golarion. That's probably intentional. But Rise of the Runelords is legendary and I doubt Age of Ashes even passes the bar of remarkable.

From other GMs, I've heard the other 2e APs are also fairly tepid.

All of this criticism keeping in mind that a bunch of talented, intelligent people put a tremendous amount of work into this AP. And what may be a turn off for me is a selling point for other people. This is pure opinion. I wish I could write Age of Ashes off as subpar, fantastic, or even mediocre, but it's a mix of all three - averaging out to good but not great or inspiring.

More ramblings to come.

So... this is more a GM question than a player question, but how are creatures with multiple arms handled when it comes to two-handed weapons. The Xill comes to mind, immediately. What if you swap their shortswords for 2 greatswords, or similar? What if they power attack? I generally don't allow Kasatha as a playable race, but what about them?

Any thoughts?

Hey folks, this is a serious one - all I ask is that people try to be respectful when they post, because this is a genuine IRL issue. If you don't think it's actually an issue, please move along.

So I've made my peace with green Kender Goblins being a core playable race, and the significant shift in Goblin alignment and lore. Honestly, I was never in camp "Always Evil" for any humanoid ancestry.

But recent (and some not so recent) conversation has suggested the origins of Goblins has an antisemitic bent, carried through to some very modern and very popular fantasy series. It's a whole can of worms, but I'd like to stay focused on goblins specifically.

While I don't think this applies to The Lost Omens/Golarion setting, it does affect a very core part of Paizo's identity.

For my part, I am not Jewish (or semitic in any definition of the word) but have close friends who are and haven't heard anything about this at all. Nor have I heard any reference to Paizo.

This came up when I was researching names for my podcast (we're going to start recording within the month, finally) and thought the term Goblin was appropriate to my podcast conceptually. But I also don't want to perpetuate harmful stereotypes.

The opinions of those who are directly impacted is strongly requested, and again, if you don't think antisemitism in fantasy or folklore is real just move along.

Most of all, let's be respectful to each other.

Thanks.

Howdy Forums,

So I'm building a fairly bog standard human caster cleric, focusing on WIS, CON and STR. Choice of race, alignment (N), and deity aren't negotiable. Not planning to channel much, but will channel positive. Character will be middle aged for roleplay reasons. Plan to use a longspear as favored weapon isn't great (unarmed strike).

Starting from 6th level, standard WBL, Point Buy 20. 2 traits, no drawbacks.

Suggestions on feats and spells strongly welcome.

Currently I'm looking at Improved Initiative, Combat Reflexes, and Combat Casting. Last feat is open.

As my cleric is a follower of Steve, I'm not particularly interested in deific obedience or evangelist PrC.

For spells, I'm definitely taking the Steve domain, not sure about the second one. Liberation maybe? But that gives me touch of Steve, Ray of Steves, and eventually Wall of Steves, Waves of Steves, and Sphere of Steves. I don't want to over invest in too many Steve spells, but I've thought about picking up Steve Mount and Whip of Tiny Steves. Any thoughts on how to do this? They're only on the arcane spell list and I don't want to multiclass.

Is there a good archetype to spontaneously cast domain spells?

I might pick up a wand of Steveish Cloud at higher levels.

Again, any ideas welcome.

EDIT: This is NOT a Steveomancer cleric, so don't bring it up.

Also I'm open to adding Steves to my Summon Monster list, especially the ring of Steve Summoming at higher levels. But this isn't a Celestial Steve Summoner build. If I wanted to do that I'd just create a Celestial Commander Summoner.

Thanks to everyone at Paizo for being awesome, and enjoy your well earned day off!

So, here's the deal. One of my players has suggested that they want to wear a permanent Symbol of Mirroring which is only triggered by specific conditions that the Party fulfills. Pretty snazzy, right?

The way they read the combo, the permanently active symbol gives only the characters with the specific trigger (the PCs) the benefits.

Based on my reading of the Symbol of Death spell on which Symbol of Mirroring is based, I've come up with a different conclusion. You can set a specific trigger to symbol spell, but once active it effects all creatures except those attuned. In this case, attuning creatures to be immune to the spell is the opposite of the desired effect. So it sadly doesn't work.

Which of us is right? Or neither?

References to relevant FAQs, previous threads, and 1st party APs/modules are more useful than opinions, though opinions are also welcome. Symbol of Death examples are probably the most relevant we'll get.

A couple of parameters for this thread:

This is not a place to discuss PF2e, or what Paizo should or should not have done/do going forward. Make a new thread, or better yet, don't bother at all.

This is not a place to discuss whether or not creating a PF1.5e equivalent system is a good idea. The premise of this thread assumes it is, even though it probably isn't. Make a new thread, or better yet, don't bother at all.

Also, please be civil and constructive. Thanks!

With all of that out of the way- I've been musing the idea of a PF1.5e system. Basically do for PF1e what it did for 3.5. Full backwards compatibility, game balancing, and quality of life improvements. It would rely entirely on the OGL and not include anything copyrighted or trademarked by Paizo or any 3pp. Assume this system would be setting agnostic (but compatible with Golarion).

So, what would you want? What changes would you make? What would you keep? I have my own thoughts, but most of them are quality of life and balancing tweaks. A lot of these are touched upon by alternate rulesets and homebrew.

Including:
-Fixes for core martial classes (give them more options, flexibility and power)
-Fixes for spellcasting classes (to make low levels less onerous, rebalance some spell lists)
-Reworking skills
-Rebalancing feats, reducing feat taxes and removing trap feats
-Reworking combat maneuvers
-Clarifications on essential rules
-Better rest/mundane healing options at low level.
-Combat the 15 minute adventuring day (by making adventuring longer more viable and overly cautious play less beneficial)
-Rebalance certain notoriously low level, under CR monsters.
-Introducing Tooth Fairies as a core playable race that can be any alignment ;P

If this already exists, go ahead and link me to it. I've seen Legend, which is kind of this but mostly not.

Oh yeah, and before you bother: I like PF2e. It is not the answer to the question posed. So don't waste anyone's time. Make a new thread, or better yet, don't bother at all.

Also, I am not a legal expert. I am also not planning to do this (nor is anyone as far as I'm aware). At most I might put together a compendium of house rules, homebrew, and alternate rulesets (not to sell, mind you). But don't hold your breathe either.

Howdy all, just your friendly neighborhood Dark Lord of the Undead here. Thought this would be an interesting exercise for those who understand your humanity is a small price to pay for immortal existence and immense power.

Part one:

So, picking from the list of templates below (or any Paizo published +2 template or +1 template plus the advanced template that changes your type to undead), which is your favorite? Reasons can be power, flavor, or staying power:

• Advanced Ectoplasmic
  
• Advanced Ghoulish Creature
• Advanced Juju Zombie
• Advanced Penanggalen
• Advanced Seeded
• Advanced Skeleton Champion
• Advanced Zombie Lord
• Animus Shade
• Ghost
• Graveknight
• Lich
• Mummy Lord
• Psychic Lich
• Psychic Vampire
• Siabrae
• Vetala
• Vampire

Part two:

Should you feel particularly eager to express your creative attitude through the dark arts, feel free to whip up a champion to defend your opinions. The rules are:

Must use a template as previously discussed, 11th level, any player race 15 rp or less, elite array, no traits, heroic npc WBL, no variant rules, Paizo material only. Works out to CR12.

Leave any boring theory or cheese builds at home. These should be undead that can be slotted into a campaign at most tables.

PS: Massive bonus points if you build your character around Golarion lore. But not a requirement.

Hi all,

Not to be a stick in the mud (though that's exactly what I'm about to do), but how does everyone feel about changing Mongrelmen to Mongrelfolk? This is more a concern of me being pedantic than politically correct, thought that's a fair concern too. Paizo could always just change the name entirely (Mongrel has unfortunate implications as well, though not relevant to this particular species).

The sticking point for me is that Mongrelmen aren't all male, and it isn't a case of "there are no dwarven women" because they look identical. There's a canon mongrelman (mongrelwoman?) who is clearly female in an AP. This isn't even to get into creatures who don't identify as either (bigender, non-binary, genderfluid, etc.).

Mongrelmen also don't seem to have any particular reason to be sexist or discount non-male members of their people. It's possible there's a writeup that I don't have access to (yes, I don't own every book Paizo has published). Even if mongrelmen is a derogatory term that other races call them (I don't see any evidence of this despite it making a lot of sense), why would they assume they're all male?

And yeah, I know that this could dig into a bigger can of worms in regards to gender in tabletop games/fantasy, but I'd rather just focus on the topic at hand (because that's an endless rabbit hole). Alternate names would be welcome, but I have zero interest in discussing whether more inclusivity is warranted in gaming (it is, end of discussion).

And yes, I'm well aware that mongrelmen go all the way back to at least 2e. I believe that they're called mongrelfolk in D&D at this point.

For my own purposes, I'll be calling them mongrelfolk going forward. And if I'm a dumbus and just missed that this change (or similar) has already been made, be nice in letting me know. I'm not omniscient.

Any thoughts?

So I've noticed when I put "site:Paizo.com" into Skype (as to explain to a friend how to search the site), it instead reads "site :P aizo.com".

Basically, the tongue sticking out emoji.

Can Paizo please change their company name to ":P aizo"?

I feel like this is a small ask to help me not feel silly in this one very specific instance.

:P aizo staff only!!1!

First of all, this isn't a thread to discuss the merits of the Pathfinder editions. Discuss that elsewhere.

I'm interested in whether anyone has converted any 2e APs (so probably Age of Ashes) to 1e or plans to. I've converted Hell's Rebels from 1e to 2e without much issue, and expect that the reverse will be doable but more time consuming (but to me, that's more fun).

My big concern is whether 2e AP plot points will rely on changed/nerfed spellcasting rules or other mechanical changes, especially for the PCs.

Thoughts specific to my topic are welcome. Discussion on whether this should be done, comparing which edition is better, etc are not welcome. Please create your own thread.

Corpses seem to simultaneously both be objects and not objects.

I've always thought that you could dead man's contingency teleport object your corpse (to a healer or your clone), but this is an assumption.

Also, generally when it comes to destroying a corpse the aren't any clear rules. Do AoOs effect them? Again this is usually handwaived, but should a fireball destroy or damage a dead white dragon? Would it keep its vulnerability to fire?

Obviously, I could be wrong and am glad to be proven wrong. But I only want answers from Paizo staff... sorry, couldn't keep a straight face but seriously what do folks think?

Links to FAQs or other threads welcome.

So, I've seen some previous discussion of this topic, specifically in regards to the Seeking enchantment on ranged weapons. To be fair, that's what brought me to the topic in the first place. But a few potential interactions:

Example A) Attacker closes eyes (free action) and makes an attack against Defender who has 5 mirror images. They then open their eyes (free action).

My assumption is that they ignore the mirror images but obviously have a 50% miss chance as normal. Blindfight works as normal. It's a trade between destroying images and a better chance to hit.

Example B) Attacker closes eyes (free action) and makes an attack with a Seeking enchanted ranged weapon against Defender who has 5 mirror images. They then open their eyes (free action).

My assumption is that by RAW they ignore the mirror images and the miss chance, making the Seeking enchantment just that much stronger. I'm hoping I'm wrong on this.

My assumption is that if you can't see the images, they don't effect you. Hence an invisible creature's mirror images only effect creatures with see invisibility.

Open to any thoughts here.

Obviously, this is a subjective question with the expectation of subjective answers. But I've held off reading Age of Ashes and Extinction Curse in the faint hope that one day I'll be a player in them. Unlikely, but I can dream.

I'm asking the boards, as spoiler free as possible, to give their opinions on the 2e APs.

I don't care about people's opinions on 1e vs. 2e, save them for another thread.

Trunau.

It's home. It's good to be back, but hardly celebratory. Your objective was completed: the giant camps at Skirgaard scattered and their deathless Queen put to permanent rest. But as always, it was not without price. You've come back to bury your dead. Companions who have been with you since the beginning, not simply killed but marred beyond your powers of redemption.

And the sight you see cuts deep into your souls. Trunau has clearly survived away least once siege while you were away. Great pyres of dead orc and giant bodies still shoulder, while the town itself has clearly suffered bombardments of boulders.

But it still stands, defiant. Not unlike you, the Heroes of Trunau. You don't feel like legends, despite your legendary deeds.

The greeting you receive is nothing less a hero's welcome. The people of Trunau- friends, family- gather in mass to meet you. Cheers, tears of both joy and sorrow, jokes, laughter, embraces, food and drink, celebration, funerals; the first night is a long one. But by the gods it's good to be back.

You awake the next morning late. It's been a long time since you've slept in your bed; it's been a long time since you've slept in a bed at all.

You know where you need to go next. Ashpeak. Home to King Tytarian and his clan. More importantly, you believe that the Storm Tyrant Volstus is somewhere inside, preparing his doomsday weapon. There are stories of the war, and none are good. Somehow, the giants have taken Janderhoff. The fall of Skelt is less surprising, but nonetheless disheartening. You had friends and allies in both. Dwarven armies have assembled and slowed the giant advance, but the hordes of Belkzen have rallied and joined the giant war machine. Given time, Varisia will inevitably fall.

You must cut off the head of the serpent. Volstus. But first, Ashpeak. And the secret weapon. Slaying Tytarian will no doubt show chaos in the giant ranks, but another will invariably replace him.

You have time to prepare. How long, you can't say. And though you know the general location of Ashpeak, the journey there will be long without magic.

What do you do, Heroes of Trunau?

This is the OOC thread for my Anvil of Fire campaign. This thread is reserved for accepted players.

Note: This thread contains massive spoilers for the Giantslayer AP. You've been warned.

Say what now?

For those who aren't aware (so all but 3 posters on the forums) I've been completely rewriting Book 5 of Giantslayer (which is somewhat fairly accused of being one of the worst chapters of AP ever written). I'd like to playtest my rewrite for enjoyment and difficulty, but be advised- while mostly finished, I haven't smoothed out all the rough edges.

I have linked to a Google Doc that contains my draft on the Adventure Path forum. Do not read it if you intend to play. It's fine if you've read, GM'd or played the AP as written. However, you must disclose this knowledge on your application.

Who is this weirdo?

I'm your friendly neighborhood Artofregicide. I've been on the forums since about 2015, but only started posting around 2017. I've been GMing for about 10 years, and PbP for 6. I used to post under the same name on Mythweavers but quit about 1.5 years ago due to life demands. I am running this game and one other game on the paizo forums. That's it, and I do not plan to add any others.

The Pitch

The giants match to war. The armies of the Storm Giant sweep across Varisia, unleashing the hordes of Belkzen and crushing all resistance in their path. Things look grim, as Janderhoff has fallen and Lastwall barely holds. Despite setbacks by a group of legendary heroes known as the "Heroes of Trunau", countless giants still flock to the banner of the Storm Tyrant.

Things have become far worse as the giants have acquired a new and powerful weapon, some magical capability that allows them to open temporary portals behind enemy lines. Thus elite troops of giants and their allies may strike where they will, avoiding walls and gates. The first use of this power was used to tip the battle of Janderhoff decisively in their favor.

You have determined that the culprit behind these attacks is none other than the fire giant king Tytarian Branderik, lieutenant to the Storm Tyrant and unifier of the fire giant tribes under a single banner. Furthermore, it has become clear that Tytarian is somehow sheltering the Storm Tyrant while he prepares a secret weapon which shall no doubt spell the doom for the small folk of Varisia, and likely Golarion.

You are one of the four heroes of Trunau, and the only hope standing between the giant tide and all Varisia. You, and your trusted companions.

You will begin in your hometown of Trunau, in the calm before the storm. There isn't much time left, so you'd better make the best use of it you can.

So grit your teeth, fasten your boots, and get ready for Giantslayer Book 5: the Anvil of Fire.

Applications

To make up for the rambling nature of my past two threads and as an apology for making a third (and final) thread on the topic, behold- a Google Doc with all my thoughts on the topic collected:

Ashpeak Revision v3

Beware, for this document is poorly formatted, infested with typos and mistakes, and hideously wordy. Not to mention very obviously incomplete.

Troper, you've been warned.

Previous threads on this very topic include my misguided first attempt and ill advised second try.

Anyway, feedback (including typos and mistakes) is encouraged. And who knows, maybe *5 posters* will read and comment on it!

crosses fingers

In all seriousness if there's interest I may finish the doc.

So... the first two chapters of the book (spent below Kenebres) feel out of sync with the time of the rest of the book. They're well written and have some really strong points (getting to know the NPCs) but dealing with the mongrelmen (mongrelpersons?) and various underground hazards feels like it belongs in another AP.

Obviously, the writers didn't want the PCs over their heads fighting demons at level 1, but as written the encounters in the book can be pretty brutal.

So let's assume we're foolish and vain enough to think we can replace most or all of these sections with something more on brand with the rest of the AP.

We still need to hit all the major plot points that are established in parts 1 & 2, plus develop the PCs relationship with the NPCs.

Any thoughts on how to do this? Bonus points for recycling material, particularly Hosilla (the Inquisitor).

And yeah, I know I should probably just run this as down. That's not the question being asked here.

Personally, I don't allow it, especially at high levels. For casters in particular, it basically doubles WBL. My explanation is that to craft an item, you have to spend both time and gold - two resources that aren't free. Whenever you start at a higher level, you can pay the gold but the time has to be handwaived, your character never really pays it. And then you can retrain out of those feats to something more useful, if your GM is super lenient.

I've played a 15th level wizard who started at 13th and got the discount. It was a mess...

So I put this question up on the 1e forum, and I thought I might as well bring it up here. This isn't a question of optimization as cool builds and thematic character creation.

So how would you build a cleric of Erastil who focus on archery. Obviously, this lends itself to Warpriest doctrine.

I'm also interested in non-cleric builds that fill the same role. Champion, ranger, bard maybe? Devotions are particularly interesting to me.

Definitely interested in stuff grounded in Golarion lore. Also interested if anyone has played anything similiar. Again not so interested in heavy optimization, but in my experience casters in 2e have been pretty tepid so some degree of thought to whether it'll be useful is warranted. (not the point of the question, please save it for another thread).

Also healbot is really not the focus here.

So, this is more just idle wishing, but I've been hankering to play a divine caster/archer type. Assume human race, point buy 15, and standard WBL etc etc.

The big issue I see with the build is MAD. I mean, cleric is still a 9th level caster, so it's not a big concern about being a useful character.

Would guided wisdom be worth it? Or just jump into the ranged feats? Anything else worth having? Not talking about hard core optimizing, this is already a tier 1 class.

If you've already built a cleric of Erastil archer, I'd love to see it.

I've also considered warpriest and inquisitor, but let's focus on cleric for now.

With the APG classes decided, and Inquisitor not one of them, how would you build an Inquisitor in 2e?

I'm planning on building an Inquisitor NPC, so a full build technically isn't necessary. I'd like to keep the judgments and some kind of bane ability.

I kind of expect spells to be taken away from Inquisitor and it made into a martial class. Multiclass for spells. But I can't read the minds at Paizo (1e mindblank).

Any thoughts?

This is a paired down and edited version of something I posted on a thread that may got locked (unrelated to what I'm talking about).

PF1e is a great game. It's not for everyone, and that's okay. It has problems, like any game (including PF2e) and I wouldn't run it for every table.

The same is true for PF2e. For some groups, 5E is hands down the better choice. Does this make it the "perfect game" and PF2e worthless garbage? Obviously not. It's just that I have an hour for lunch and 5e plays faster and simpler than PF2e.

I'm running both PF1e and 2e games currently, and they're both fun. If you don't like ______ system - good for you. Don't play it. I don't get why everything has to be a competition - especially between two products from the same company.

Games I enjoy playing (off the top of my head):

D&D 3.5
D&D 5.0
PF1e
PF2e
Burning Wheel
Mouseguard
Stars Without Number
Apocalypse World
Urban Shadows
Monster of the Week
Broken Worlds
Pretty much anything PbtA
Blades in the Dark
Fate
Lasers and Feelings
Dread
Darkshine

There's a billion other games I'd love to try out. The idea that falling in love with a new game means abandoning previous favorites is ridiculous to me.

I have been working on this idea for year a year and a half, but have recently come into a number of high quality mics, sound equipment, and professional audio editing software. I have a list of interested actors and a strong concept. I won't go into the specifics here, but it's very important to me not to reinvent the wheel.

What I can't seem to find is whether I need to do anything in particular to use Paizo products in my podcast. I'm not a publisher, and there's no profit involved. Part of the reason I picked PF2e is to support Paizo.

Additionally, I can't find any PF2e actual play podcasts despite some serious looking. I know the GCP has dabbled and their Emerald Spire game will be 2e, but it's locked behind a Patreon pay wall. There's a glut of 5e podcasts and no shortage of PF1e actual plays.

Does anyone have experience in either area?

So I've decided to convert and rewrite my unfinished campaign in 2e instead of 1e. That's fun and whatever but if/when I finish it, can I distribute it online? Not planning on selling it, but as far as I know 2e isn't open gaming licence like 1e.

To reiterate, I'm lucky enough not to need supplemental income but I'd like to be able to share the completed work with now then just my local friend group.

Any thoughts?

One of my players wants to be a Tengu in my converted 2e Hell's Rebels game. Thus I created a custom one. Feedback appreciated:

Tengu (custom)

Beak attack (1d4 P, finesse, agile)
Lowlight
Common, Tengu, +INT
HP: 6
Abilities: +2 DEX, +2 WIS, -2 CON, +2 Free
Move 25 ft

Feats:
1)
*Go for the eyes- as Bestiary
*Sword trained - treat all blades as common, trained
*Flutterfall - Fall under effects of feather fall
*Tengu Lore- Lore: Tengu, Acrobatics, Stealth
Gifted Linguist - 2 languages, +1 per training society
Claws- gain claws 1d4 (finesse, agile)

5)
Tengu Glide (require Flutterfall)
Sword Savant - Critical Specialization all swords
Blood beak - 1d4 bleed on critical beak, 1d6 damage

Languages: infernal, tengu, strix, shadowtongue, celestial

Not sure where to put this, so here it is. Feel free to flag.

Where can I buy Paizo products from that is best for Paizo? I'm thinking of getting 2e CRB, bestiary, and maybe some pawn boxes. Is the website where the most revenue gets back to Paizo?

Just trying to maximize support through my dollars.

Are these ideas terrible?

Giving the monk 12 hp a level? I feel like thru deserve it as masters of their body and physical perfection.

Add 1.5 STR to melee weapon damage when held in 2 hands?

Increasing duration of spells by one degree, such as 1 minute > 10 minutes > 1 hour > 8 hours > 24 hours etc, etc. Obviously with discretion.

Change most damaging cantrips to 1 action (V or S), but each casting of a cantrip adds an action to cast the next one (usually 2/turn max).

Make goblins an uncommon (but still playable race)?

Decease everyone's base move speed to 20, 15 for dwarves and shorter races? Elves can have 25.

Give a monk something that adds their WIS to AC instead of DEX? A feat maybe? For your beeftastic monkeybois.

Not necessarily serious about these, but all comments should be constructive.

So I know that 2e isn't everyone's cup of tea. It wasn't mine until very recently. But I will be running book 1 for my group in the coming months.

This is as much as an exploration in 2e for me as it will be for my players. So far conversion looks promising but not without issues, mostly lack of content.

In addition to the core ancestries, I'm allowing tiefling, aasimar, and changeling as human heritages. I'm also allowing tengu as a completely custom ancestry. Sometimes I wonder if I'm a masochist...

I'm also allowing celestial, infernal, shadowtongue, strix, and tengu as starting languages.

Not a campaign feature, but I'm requiring all PCs be Kintargo natives and will assign each of them an OG Silver Raven of which they will be a reborn incarnation.

So far in the player's handbook I've done reasons to join the protest and converted campaign traits to backgrounds. See below:

Reason for protest: (bonuses just for protest)

*Looking for trouble- +1 deception and thievery
*Looking for Idol- +1 society and lore (any)
*Meeting a contact- +1 perception
*Staying up on Current Events- +1 diplomacy, perform
*Tagging Along- +2 initiative (1st roll)
*Protesting- +1 deception, intimidate

Backgrounds:

Child of Kintargo: CON or CHA, Lore (Kintargo), Society+, Streetwise

Fed up citizen: WIS or STR, Lore (Legal), Intimidate+, Intimating Glare

Diva in Training: CHA or DEX, Lore (Opera), Performance+, Fascinating Performance

Ex-Asmodean: CON or WIS, Lore (Hell), Religion, Student of the Canon

Gifted Satirist: CHA or INT, Lore (Academic), Deception+, Charming Liar

Amateur Historian: INT or WIS, Lore (Chelish History), Society+, Assurance

Natural Born Leader: CHA or WIS, Lore (Heraldry), Diplomacy+ Group Impression

Pattern Seeker: INT or WIS, Lore (Specific Conspiracy), Occultism+, Dubious Knowledge

Star Struck: DEX or CHA, Lore (Specific Idol), Diplomacy+, Hobnobbler

Urban Sleuth: DEX or WIS, Lore (Specific Mystery), Survival+, Expert Tracker

I'm split between this going in homebrew and advice, so I flipped a coin and here we are.

I'm strongly considering converting a Paizo AP (omitted for spoiler and length reasons) to PF2e, but I need a lawful evil champion. I thought about trying some multiclass shenanigans but it felt insincere.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to do this, keeping as closely as possible to the champion as written? I'm keeping all the proficiencies and whatnot the same, just changing out the cause and any feats that are alignment based. Waiting for a book with evil champions to be published is not a satisfying and likely not a viable option.

For the sake of specificity, I'm creating a LE "tyrant" champion of Asmodeus. I know I could just make a cleric, but the character is supposed to be charismatic not wise (and also the BBEG). I may have said too much here...

If there's a thread that already covers/discusses this, feel free to link me. I've already seen the evil code/anathema thread, which was cool.

I'll potentially update as I come up with my own variant, but any advise or thoughts are welcome.

Feel free to flag this if you think it's in the wrong thread.

First of all, I'm well aware this post is 100% subjective opinion and experience. Troper, you've been warned.

So I started off extremely skeptical of Second Edition. The playtest pretty much confirmed my fears. I tried out an early iteration of the playtest as well as watched later variants on GCP streams (obviously, not the best on rules- but not the worst either). There was a lot of stuff that I didn't like- but that's relevant to my point.

When I make a judgement call on a system (and I've played a lot of them in the past 10 years), I tend to be right. You could call it confirmation bias, but I try to give each system a fair chance and deep down I want every game to be awesome.

But in the case of PF2e I had a vested interest- I love PF1e (original flavor). Even if I despised PF2e and never played it, I'd want it to be a huge success- Paizo is an amazing company and even just for the AP's I'd want to see them keep publishing instead of relegated to a 3rd party D&D 5e publisher with a few side projects. I still have that fear, even with my change of opinion on Second Edition- financial success and product quality aren't always closely related. I should state that I also play 5e in addition to a half dozen other systems when I get the chance- Powered by the Apocalypse games, Fate, Stars Without Number, Blades in the Dark, Darkshine, 5e, PF1e, and a few others I can't think of. I enjoy all of them, so this isn't an edition wars thing.

But to get to the point... in playtesting PF2e I've come to a few conclusions.

1) The book is gorgeous, brilliantly laid out, and I was going to buy it even if I didn't like the system.

2) The game itself is ridiculously fun to play, and scales much better at higher levels than PF1e.

3) PF2e is actually straightforward enough that I feel like I can introduce it to casual gamer friends without worrying about them getting fatigued or confused.

4) Character creation is so much fun and addictive.

5) GMing is really straightforward compared to PF1e, but way more interesting than 5e. Whenever I run 5e, I have to completely rebuild monsters to make them interesting to fun (they barely utilize their action economy). I don't have this issue with PF2e.

6) I'm insanely excited about what's to come. I'm a loyal customer already, but I may actually get a subscription.

7) If you don't think you'd like PF2e, give it a try in it's finished condition. Maybe you'll enjoy it. Maybe you won't. But it's worth a shot- if after a few sessions you don't like it, no worries, it's not for you. But that's a lot of games- they're not for everyone.

Keep in mind, whatever your opinions, this is someone who really had strong reservations against Second Edition, and had their mind changed not by some argument on the forums or fancy advertising, but just *playing the game*.

So yeah, I guess whatever you think about Second Edition, have a nice day?

So the connection of the original Silver Ravens throughout the books was pretty tenuous. Why would the PCs care about a bunch of long dead (well 70~ years) heroes?

Well, with the Soul Anchor shenanigans being what they are, why not have the PCs be the reincarnated souls of the original ravens? There's four of them (not including the Jackdaw) which is the average party size.

You could could then tell the story of the original ravens (and give reason for the PCs to pursue researching them) by flashbacks of their old lives.

Apologies if someone else has already suggested this, but thought I should share. If I run Hell's Rebels again, I'll definitely do this.