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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber. 3,546 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists.



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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Whenever I imagine Netherworld versions of Golarion cities, I imagine dried riverbeds which contribute to the picture of a desolate, ruinous locale. However, I don't recall every hearing about water.

Do you think there are bodies of water in the Netherworld? If so, what do you think they're like? If not, do you picture the ocean areas simply yet more desolate landscape?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm considering implementing a house rule to ensure that players will always be able to take advantage of magical crafting feats and character build resources even if downtime isn't available for one reason or another. My proposed rule is:

"Once per level, during your daily preparations, you can choose to put the finishing touches on a crafted object that you had been working on during free moments in the past. Perform the Craft downtime action, but ignore the time requirements. You cannot achieve a critical success when crafting in this manner."

The idea being: I've had several scenarios where multiple levels have passed by and there has been zero downtime available, making the players' crafting skills useless for uncomfortably long stretches.

What do you think?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I've put together a few of my thoughts regarding what I would like to see for Starship design and combat for SF2. I've put it in a presentation layout because it helps me be a bit more organized and concise.

Here is a link to the presentation

Here are the key takeaways:

1. Silo combat and non-combat ship customization
2. Simplify ship combat customization down to two or three personally relevant decisions for each player
3. Standardize speeds, shields, and armor to tighten up combat balance
4. Put GM in control of Drift capability access
5. Standardize and provide guidance for lead up to and conclusion of combat
6. Put players in charge of their own sections of the ship for combat
7. Retain round-by-round ship initiative for positioning, but otherwise use standard initiative and 3 action economy
8. Give all players more options on their turn, never over-constrain
9. Dramatically cut and simplify Crew Actions and Ship Roles
10. Make physical movement around the ship during combat matter


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Is there a way to wield (ideally dual-wield) oversized weapons outside of Barbarian? I'm talkin' anything that is mechanically an unusually large weapon to be able to heft one-handed, like Greatswords or giant-sized longswords or what-have-you.

I was just fondly reminiscing about an old neverwinter nights tiefling character of mine who used two greatswords, accuracy be danged, with monkey grip. It was aesthetically satisfying.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Let's get this out of the way. While I can certainly see some legends being intimately associated with a worn or wielded object, I find it thematically limiting, uncomfortably similar to the Thaumaturges, and running counter to the idea of being essentially a godling.

The first idea that came to mind when I heard of this class was to play a Dragon Exemplar, and I always play dragons to have as little dependence on gear of any kind as possible. The second idea, after hearing about Fishing from the Fall's Edge, was to play as an Awakened Bear, with the similar goal of being a paragon of it's kind which naturally lends itself toward reduced thematic dependence on items.

Should there perhaps be an option to allow you to choose 3 Body icons to switch your power between, or something along those lines?

Thoughts?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'd just like to start a thread to remind people that next year we're going into the playtesting phase of an entire new edition, which happens so infrequently that it's easy to forget what that really means.

When you're playtesting classes, they're already locked into fitting within the framework of the existing system. When you're playtesting a *system* you can ask for a whole lot more. Granted, unlike PF2 we're going into SF2 with more limitations due to compatibility, but there's a lot more on the table than you might be aware.

I see people talking about the Field Test content the same way they talk about class playtests when it's entirely possible to build a weapon type around a class instead of the other way around, for example.

I thought it might be fun to talk about things that you think are wide open for development, and build hype for people in the run up to the actual playtest. For many of us, this type of thing is the closest we'll actually get to designing a game. From my experience with PF2, seeing the way things worked out differently based on my (cumulative with others' of course) feedback gives me warm feelings to this day.

Some examples!

* Virtual Reality. I think virtual reality is a fun concept that wasn't explored enough in SF1, and wasn't done well in Shadowrun, but could be handled quite well with the excellent Paizo team revisiting. Even if it merely ended up being sort of another Plane (Techy First World?) it could open up a bunch of new stories without landing us in "Hacker does their thing while we all get lunch" mode.

* Starship Combat. Let's get creative! I can't wait to see what people come up with, and what other excellent systems we might borrow from.

* Melee Combat Balance. We're all wondering how we can make sure melee doesn't dominate again, but based on some recent discussion about special abilities granted by gear traits, we might seem some really interesting solutions.

* Magic Worldbuilding. We haven't seen magic standing on its own nearly as much as I would have liked in SF1, mostly it was used as a Deus Ex Machina of the Gaps(tm) only really filling in where people's technology imagination struggled. I want a hoity toity society of rich, old, influential pure magic users, or a John Henry story of a pure magic spaceship racing a pure tech one, or Secrets of Magic style books all about how the scholars of different fields feel about their work!

* Comm Units Not Being Just Cell Phones. How can we show that carrying around a modern day supercomputer on your lapel could be more useful than making booty calls back to the ship?

* Noncombat Challenges and Goals. We could have whole new subsystems devoted to things like space ship races, NPC favor, colonization, or anything you can imagine that's not just about beating up aliens. Stuff built into the core of the system, and not tacked on after the fact.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I've finished the four Pathfinder jigsaw puzzles a little while ago and now my hands are shaking and I need another fix.

Has anyone heard if they're going to be putting out more with Toy Vault?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I guess our clamoring for a technology book really paid off! I can't wait to give my players their beloved rail guns and laser rifles again!


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Low level spell slots are still great for buffs, debuffs, and utility, but damage options are just flat out wasted. How would you feel about a feat or something that makes it so that no damage-focused spell can do less than approximately cantrip-tier damage?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Lost Omens: Highhelm is just around the corner and we all need to get ready to rock and stone.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Dear esteemed colleague,

Please forgive my late response, I have been quite busy tracking down these bags over the last several weeks. You will be pleased to know that I have secured eight bags that have been confirmed to predate the estimated 2750 AR cut-off you had proposed, and another two which may also have been contemporary. You will find them individually sealed in the satchel I pray accompanies this letter. Of those, fully five of them display the phenomenon!

Given the frequency and extent of this behavior, I took the liberty of contracting a capable group of Pathfinders to investigate the danger it might pose to other unsuspecting owners of likewise affected bags (I have attached an invoice to the academy for their fee, and you have my apology and thanks as always). You will find their full report delivered in due time, but, in short, the demiplane to which all five bags are now linked is temperate, comfortable, and devoid of apparent threat. In all respects, it appears to be a facsimile of a pleasant, grassy plain. My concern, however, is the sheer, unprecedented size of the space. It will take a team (and budget) much larger than mine to even begin mapping it.

I have no knowledge of a wizard with the wherewithal or desire to create such an enormous demiplane, least of all one who would crash it into such a well documented astral web. The absurdity of the idea lends credence to your speculation about the coincidental formation of an astral bubble, however if that were the case why would it be so ordinary? I am baffled, and hope that your inspection of the bags’ dweomers will shed some light on the issue.

In the meantime, I will continue searching for more such bags, and providing counsel to their owners. I fear that the phenomenon is temporary, and some foolhardy youth might find themselves stuck in here when the link is broken.

Yours,
Octor

P.S. I am writing this upon a particularly high knoll within the demiplane, a thread tied at my ankle leading back to my entrance some ways off. It is a beautiful night here, a faint sweetness on the breeze, the rushing of the grass is akin to the sound of the sea lapping at the shore. Looking at the stars glittering overhead, I must admit: if this place was made by a foolish wizard I think I would dearly like to meet them.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I think Paizo should launch a line of merch (T-shirts, pins, stickers, mugs; essentially as generic merch as you like) that anyone could buy, even if they're not PF or SF fans, that would contribute to the legal fund for the development and maintenance of ORC, as well as potential future legal battles against OGL1.1 (or OGL2.0 if that's what they're going with).

Paizo has put their flag down and are prepared to foot the bill for legal costs, and buying Paizo products can indirectly help with that, but it'd be nice to buy something that says "I am specifically making the purchase to help out", and such an option may be more attractive for people who maybe aren't that interested in Paizo itself.

I don't know, I just worry about the Paizo staff not getting raises because Wizards is costing them an arm an a leg in legal fees.

Also, I've already bought pretty much everything Paizo has to offer from their regular catalog.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Let's say I want to join a party as a helpful, pretty smart, lovable dog. Everyone in the world is okay with just letting it slide that a dog is in every important scene in this adventure, wagging its tail and just generally being a good boi.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Hello!

So I've been working on a homebrew version of a hot-seat GM, procedurally-generated game mode inspired by Deep Rock Galactic. I still believe Paizo should do something similar to this, which is why I wrote up my proposal a while back, but being realistic I'm tinkering away!

A big part of this project is creating monster families which cover the full range of levels so that the GM can pull from a deck that says something like "3 Grunts APL-2, 1 Spitter APL+1", and the GM just has to flip to the page for the right stats for that level monster without any manual calculation. I'm no programming genius, so I put together a tool in Google Sheets to help me create monster families that I can print out for a hands-on prototype.

Here is the spreadsheet that I've come up with so far:
20221222_Deep Rock Finder Monster Families

The first sheet has the reference tables from the creature creation rules, as well as some default matrices for the different base road maps. The second sheet has the species template, where the blue fields are where you edit. At the bottom of that page you can find the creature level selector and printout area.

I was hoping people could look over the five species I put together: Grunt, Spitter, Warden, Praetorian, Dreadnought. Since I've pretty much only played to level 11, and I almost always reskin monsters rather than creating my own, I would very much appreciate any thoughts people have regarding the higher level abilities and stats for each species!

My next step will be working on the randomization elements including the encounter deck, dungeon layout deck, room deck, and bonus deck.

Cheers and happy holidays!


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm going to be playing a dragon (from battlezoo) that can turn Large (later up to Gargantuan) and having a high strength combined with the bulk conversion for size I can easily carry my team.

The book suggests that when using allies as mounts, both the mount-character and the mounted-character should burn an action to coordinate.

Would you allow a third character to climb on, and if so, would you simply have the mount-character burn a second action?

Can you think of ways that this could be abused, or is it pretty innocuous and sub-optimal as I think it is?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Elevator pitch wrote:

You can make a dungeon-delving adventure for tabletop games using simplified procedural generation techniques, but how do you make a system that’s repeatable, fun, and might help solve the GM shortage?

Borrow the core gameplay loop from the wildly popular, and procedurally generated, Deep Rock Galactic video game.

Deep Rock has a simple premise: be dwarves, fight bugs, and dig for treasure; but it never gets stale. By adopting its challenge and reward structures, and accepting a narrow thematic scope, PF2 can introduce a fast-paced, fun, repeatable game mode that doesn’t require prep-time and shares the GM workload between players.

Link to Pitch Presentation

I was noodling around with a way to get my players to dip their toes into GMing (and let me actually play for once) and stumbled across an idea that might not be too original, but just might be worth it for Paizo to consider. At first I was angling for an official Deep Rock Galactic partnership product, but decided there's too much potential for showcasing parts of Golarion using this game mode.

I've posed this as a proposal for Paizo, and I've bulleted why I think that's a good route (and why this is in General instead of Homebrew), but in the end I'm an amateur and could just be taking my spot in a long line of backseat Paizo designers.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the concept, since I'm planning on continuing to develop a playable version to test out the concept and maybe actually play instead of GM for 10 gosh darn minutes. However, I'd also love to hear if anyone else agrees that this would be a good idea for an official Paizo product.

Cheers!


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Kobolds are extremely social creatures, having evolved to live in close proximity with dozens of their kin in cramped tunnels. Touch is a normal part of their communication and social navigation, and is a built-in instinct.

In short, your kobold traveling companions WILL absentmindedly try to hold your hand like a toddler.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Example:
Let's say you're in a campaign with a moderately benevolent GM who has said she's willing to give Divine Intercessions as appropriate to the circumstances, but doesn't plan on adding quests or significantly altering the AP you're running.

Let's say you're playing a cleric of Nethys and you *really* want a specific arcane spell on your spell list, and you want Nethys's moderate boon real bad.

[For reference:
Moderate Boon: Nethys grants you insight into the secrets of magic. Add one spell from a different tradition of magic to your spell list. You still must learn it or add it to your repertoire normally.]

How would you go about helping set up an appropriate circumstance for acquiring that divine boon?

Broader questions:

1. What guidelines should GMs follow when considering granting boons?
2. If a GM has decided to give out boons, what level makes the most sense to target?
3. Should any player reasonably hope to acquire a specific boon as part of their character's story arc, even if that means discussing it with the GM? Or should it really be a GM tool in play only?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Hi! I'm working on an archetypical dwarf who is outwardly and in most respects a bog-standard dwarfy dwarf, except that his hobby and life's work has been to invent a lightsaber. He rolls around in heavy armor, brews and chugs beer, is stout and strong, and when a fight breaks out KSSHH! out pops a lightsaber. I was hoping people could give me suggestions to improve my plan, and perhaps make the lightsaber more lightsabery.

Fluff-wise I want it to be a small looking rod that has a thaumo-magneto-field that acts as a blade, but also contains and shapes the plasmothermal energy that he can sometimes get to work. He's supposed to be good in combat, but not necessarily super strong. Also likes to hand out drinks and help his team mates.

Mechanically I'm planning on going with a strength based Dwarf Inventor with Weapon Innovation on a Clan Dagger. Using the Agile to capture the quickness of the lightsaber and Parry to get the cinematic feel of lots of blocking and parrying happening. Inventor's bonus damage will be fire, and the offensive boost will be fire too. I'll pick up Clan's Edge to get the attack-attack-parry for two actions, then Protective Sheath to up the AC. With the free hand I'll be using my Free Archetype Alchemist dedication to mix/brew/drink beers as buffs for me and the party in the vein of Deep Rock Galactic. I'll pick up Sentinel dedication to go up to heavy armor so I can leave dex at 10 (classic non-graceful dwarf), and pick up Unburdened Iron to help my speed.

Modifications I'm looking at are:
Complex Simplicity (1d6 damage instead of 1d4)
Aerodynamic Construction (Sweep, for the wide cinematic arcs of the lightsaber, and to help with Clan's Edge)
Extensible Weapon (Reach, because a lightsaber could get longer than a usual weapon, and reach is super good for Clan's Edge attacking multiple targets)

Runes I'm looking at are:
Flaming, Keen, Wounding(?)

So, anything you would change? Any ideas to make a lightsaber more lightsabery?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Let's say I wanted to give something to a player who burns a spell slot on a missed attack spell. Perhaps not as much as the save spells' success conditions, since attack spells are ostensibly tuned up to account for that lack.

What would be a good thing to add that wouldn't be too strong, and isn't too annoying to track?

Here's my idea that I wanted to bounce off you guys:

A Rune you can only carve into a staff that gives you a bonus charge when you expend a Spell Slot of 3rd level or higher on a spell with the Attack trait, and you miss.

Eh? eh? Maybe?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Good or evil doesn't matter, but which deity might continue to give divine powers to a follower who has the explicit goal of one day usurping their god?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

On the one hand, the Shadow Plane generally has decayed/decrepit/twisted reflections of places on the Material Plane, while on the other hand the Magaambya is the oldest center of magical learning on the planet. What would you expect to see if you crossed over to the Shadow Plane from the school?

Would you expect to find nothing much different than other Shadow Plane places, because the Magaambya doesn't do much Shadow research?

Would you find evidence of active or previous student expeditions?

Would the magic that has seeped into the bones of the school somehow show itself in the Shadow Plane?

I'm just curious what other people would imagine it being like.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Some traits:

1. At least partially divine, but ideally reaching the point of being closely related to a god
2. Martially flexible on some timescale (say, at least each day could pick up one of a variety of weapons and excel with it).
3. Able to channel divine powers or boons into his martial combat
4. Has a reusable/rechargeable "spell like" power
5. Thematically related to blood, the underworld, and/or death in some way
6. Charming and friendly
7. Gains experience/power from defeat and failure

Or, if you prefer, how would you go about making a more general character type inspired by divine blooded characters from greek mythology?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm making a rogue who I want to be using a firearm equivalent of a Shortbow. A Reload 0 ranged weapon that has the whole firearm aesthetic going on. The Long Air Repeater seems to be the closest I can get, but it's Simple so it's a step down in damage compared to the Shortbow. It's frustrating that my rogue has no good reason to use the thing instead of the shortbow, and if I want to go up to Martial with a gun I have to accept Reload 1.

Why aren't there any Repeating martial firearms?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Shadow Signet

Free Action (command, metamagic): If your next action is to Cast a Spell that requires a spell attack roll against Armor Class, choose Fortitude DC or Reflex DC. You make your spell attack roll against that defense instead of AC. If the spell has multiple targets, the choice of DC applies to all of them.

The discussion on reddit seems to think this item's action cost is intended, and is likely going to be a must-have item for any attack spell user.

Personally, I think this might have been intended to be One Action, rather than Free. It's essentially a good metamagic feat built into a ring. Metamagic feats tend to be one action costs. I would certainly still love to have it as an attack spell user, even with the action cost.

What do you think?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

So, correct me if I'm wrong but I recall James Jacobs mentioning Sarusan as the designated homebrew area that they don't intend to develop so that it will always be reserved for custom content.

What would you think about firming that up by having it canonically unmappable because its features and people are never the same each time someone travels there, unless you have some key or whatever to get back? Would this be too restrictive, or heavy handed?

I wonder this because I think it'd be neat if it was easy for *players* to use if they wanted to, without having to overwrite GM plans for the area.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

So, the game assumes that everyone is getting augmentations sooner or later, right? For example, melee characters are VERY encouraged to get things like Force Soles, and it's hard to have enough slots on your character to spend your wealth without delving into the system.

Do you think it's possible that Starfinder encourages body modification too much? Like, in Shadowrun there's a whole tradeoff system ensuring some characters don't feel the need to delve. In Star Trek very few people are augmented. In Star Wars many of the augmentations are just to replace lost functionality.

There are certainly character types that are super into this kind of stuff, don't get me wrong, but it feels like it's a bit too encouraged for everyone. This makes characters who don't necessarily want to modify their bodies feel punished, and characters who want to be all kitted out feel less unique.

The Evolutionist having a partial focus on augmentations falls flat for me specifically because of how common augmentations are for everyone.

I'm wondering if anyone else kind of feels like augmentations shouldn't be so casually required. I think I'm genuinely interested in significantly reducing the prevalence of augmentation, but I'm not sure if my outlook isn't colored by the fact that translating augmentations to PF2 is a bit of a headache and I want to run Starfinder in PF2.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I wanted to include another cohort that would join the Magaambya around the same time at the heroes, and fulfill a variety of potential narrative roles. Rivals, foils, villains a la Draco Malfoy, higher difficulty friendship targets, and warm bodies to fill out the campus. Here's what I came up with:
_______________________________
Umonar Inageiros
LE | male | Ekujae elf | noble
Emerald Boughs
Classroom Advantage: You don’t get tired after you Cram for Emerald Boughs classes
Specialty Spell: Subtle Command (As Command but loses the Auditory trait)
Notable Skills: Deception, Diplomacy, Society, Occultism
Hobbies: Fine dining, daikada
Most Well Known For: Mistaking a senior staff member as a hired servant and asking them to carry his things
Strangest Quirk: Too proud to admit he’s wrong about anything
Common Associates: Aelwyd (cohort), Dura (bodyguard), Maqrin (cohort)

Umonar is from a wealthy and powerful, but disreputable, family of Ekujae elves. His family abandoned their ancestral clans and moved to Anthusis where they dealt with both Cheliax and the Apsis Consortium, making an enormous amount of money in the process. Somehow they’ve escaped any real consequence for years, and have settled in as a wealth-gained nobility. Umonar has been told from birth that he’s special and without peer, and that it was the Ekujae which abandoned their family, not the other way around. He’s been trained in the skills necessary to navigate the treacherous world his family is involved in, however, in a show of rare independence, he has demanded that he be allowed to attend the Magaambya. He secretly harbors a subconscious desire to reconnect with his heritage, and displays that in his love of the daikada sport which he is very proficient in. He has yet to realize just how awful his parents have raised him to be.
___________________________________________
Dura Homraz
CN | female | Witanji half-orc | mercenary
Emerald Boughs
Classroom Advantage: When you Cram for Emerald Boughs classes, you can Study three times rather than twice.
Specialty Spell: Unseen Message (As message, but don’t need line of sight)
Notable Skills: Athletics, Intimidation, Stealth, Survival
Hobbies: Running, swimming, composing poetry in her head
Most Well Known For: Following Umonar wherever he goes
Strangest Quirk: Doesn’t react to any provocation
Common Associates: Umonar (employer), Aelwyd (cohort)

Dura was hired at a relatively young age by the Inageiros family to be both a minion for Umonar to learn to boss around, as well as a bodyguard. She holds little loyalty to the family beyond her steady wage, but she has personally come to see the glimmers of redeemability in Umonar, and has stuck around years longer than she originally intended. She is a consummate professional, and keeps a healthy lifestyle outside of work. She was surprised to learn that Umonar asked to go to the Magaambya and she took it upon herself to apply as well. To her surprise, she was accepted and now finds herself with the luxury of being able to quit her bodyguard job and focus on school if she gets tired of taking orders. Slowly, she’s been putting pressure on Umonar to change.
Dura is perhaps the most mentally robust student on campus, and sees beauty and wisdom in all aspects of life.
_____________________________________
Maqrin “Qrin” Azril
NG | male | Mauxi human | adventurer
Uzunjati
Classroom Advantage: Treat your successes to Study for Uzunjati classes as critical successes instead
Specialty Spell: True Riposte (As True Strike, but only works for your next Reaction with the Attack trait, lasts two rounds)
Notable Skills: Diplomacy, Religion, Society, Thievery
Hobbies: Cooking, singing, traveling
Most Well Known For: Going out on the town alone and coming back with a wild story that is too weird to be fake
Strangest Quirk: Can’t resist a challenge, no matter the game or sport
Common Associates: Dura (cohort), Umonar (cohort), Aelwyd (cohort)

Maqrin is a bit of a mystery to those around him, but not out of any concerted effort. He was born in the far north of the Mwangi Expanse, near Osirion, to a moderately wealthy couple of landholders. Since his earliest youth he had an eye on the horizon, wondering what mysteries and stories might abound just past the nearest hill. He was born with the soul of an adventurer, and gathered a sword and some coin and left to see the world as soon as he was able. He’s been back and forth across the Inner Sea, spent time in Absalom, plied the seas near Senghor, and travelled the jungles across the continent. He no longer appears to be from any specific place, and always has some tale to tell about a new place he’s been. Some people assume he has been habitually telling tall tales, which is deeply unsettling to him, like people were burying their heads in the sand. He met a wandering Uzunjati alumnus who suggested he go to the school and hear the tales there, and maybe he could back up his tales with the reputation of the Uzunjati lending credence.
________________________________
Aelwyd Ryvanne
N | female | human | wizard
Cascade Bearers
Classroom Advantage: Treat your successes to Study for Cascade Bearers classes as critical successes instead, but this doesn’t apply when you Cram
Specialty Spell: Frostfire Flash (acts as either Burning Hands or Chilling Spray at the time of casting)
Notable Skills: Arcana, Crafting, Occultism, Performance
Hobbies: Playing the harp, harrow reading, weather watching
Most Well Known For: Being difficult to approach
Strangest Quirk: Complains about the heat but refuses to wear fewer robes
Common Associates: Umonar (cohort), Dura (cohort), Maqrin (cohort)

Aelwyd hails from the distant north, raised among traveling merchants in the Saga Lands. Her mother was an Irrisen Icemage who didn’t want her raised in that brutal land. Her father tried his best to raise her on the road, dealing in lucrative magical goods and traveling under the protection of hired mercenaries. She gained her mother’s talent for magic, but had no steady home to nurture a healthy, balanced relationship with magic and life. She became obsessed with learning and mastering more, but felt hampered by the environment in the north. She made her way south, always looking for a place to settle and learn. She met an alumnus of the Magaambya who sensed her feeling of lacking a true home, and recommended her to the school, hoping it would provide a nurturing environment for her to take root in.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I was wondering how everyone else is planning on handling maps for this adventure. I've got a black and white 8.5"x11" printer but I'm considering going somewhere to buy big prints and possibly having them laminated.

Does anyone else have their custom printed? How do you typically extract the images and make sure the scale is right?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm setting up to take my first real shot at an adventure path and making notes I think I'll need to reference during play as I do with my homebrew.

I've realized that I am wholly incapable of picking out info from the Adventure Path text on the fly. My solo test runs have me pausing to scan the text for key info, even after I've read and reread the adventure multiple times. Names particularly fail to jump out, and I flip back and forth between highlighted pages. It might just be my ADHD, but I just don't seem to be able to reference the book in the heat of the moment.

As a result, my note document has become essentially a bulleted outline of the entire book. All the background lore and immediately unnecessary stuff is stripped out, all the names are bolded, the DCs are clear and succinct. Indentations and bullets let me skip around and return to the same spot with ease, and important diagrams, maps, and statblocks are all exactly where they should be, adjacent to their points in the outline. The difference in usability is night and day.

While I understand prep work is always going to be necessary, I realize the only reason it's taking me *significantly* more time than prepping for a homebrew is because of all this effort I have to put in to manually extract a stripped down outline.

The problem, I think, is that the Adventure Path is written with the goal of being digestable by the GM, as well as fitting within the page constraints. This leaves usability during play very much neglected. If I weren't so dedicated to giving this particular adventure a go, I would have given up long ago and just whipped up my own. I can't really see myself doing all this for another adventure in the future, and I'm only one book into this one!

It would be a HUGE help if Paizo could put out a pdf-only not-intended-to-be-printed document that is just a bare bones outline.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

As discussed on Reddit and Youtube, the RollForCombat BattleZoo Bestiary kickstarter will feature a full dragon ancestry designed and written by Mark Seifter.

Needless to say, I'm stoked and want to talk about it!

Here are some details:
* The ancestry will be a full dragon, no halfsies, and balanced as a normal ancestry
* The powerful dragon stuff will be obtainable using Class Feats for balance reasons
* An example of a Class Feat locked ability was Draconic Frenzy
* It will encompass as many dragon types as possible, starting with the classics and adding more as funding and space allows (up to 39)
* This is a passion project of Mark's and something he's been wanting to do for a while

Now, for speculation:

1. Do you think it'll start as a small/medium wyrmling? Should that be an option?
2. What dragon stuff can fit in heritages and ancestry feats?
3. Will players need to obtain a dedication feat to unlock access to special dragon abilities to stay in-line with existing class feat choice expansion stuff?
4. Will shapeshifting be readily accessible?
5. What specific dragon abilities do you think just won't show up? E.G. Green dragon's Trackless Step and Woodland Stride? Specific reactions like red dragon's redirect fire?
6. How hard is it going to be to get a GM to allow these?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

by clasping both hands in front of you and making a double-fist punch?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I just saw D&D 5e is coming out with the "Fizban's Treasury of Dragons" book and I realized I'm probably going to buy it despite having never played 5e just because I love dragons (and also Fizban). I've always liked Dragons in the D&D, Dragonlance, and Forgotten Realms settings and basically pick what I like best from there and Pathfinder lore to use.

Anyone else in the same boat, and strangely looking forward to 5e book? If Paizo put out a new Big Book of Dragons, what would you want to see?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I suspect I know the RAW, but I'm wondering how other people would rule it:

A changeling character can take the Slag May feat to get a claw attack, and those claws count as Cold Iron.

"Your mother was an annis hag, known for physical prowess, and you have one violet or steel-gray eye. You have thick, sturdy claws made of cold iron that grow naturally from your body. You gain a claw unarmed attack that deals 1d6 slashing damage. Your claws are in the brawling group, have the unarmed and grapple traits, and are cold iron."

A monk can take the Tiger Stance feat and make Tiger Claw attacks.

"You enter the stance of a tiger and can make tiger claw attacks. These deal 1d8 slashing damage; are in the brawling group; and have the agile, finesse, nonlethal, and unarmed traits. On a critical success with your tiger claws, if you deal damage, the target takes 1d4 persistent bleed damage."

Would the Tiger Claw attacks, made using the same appendage in approximately the same way with the same damage type, gain benefit from the Slag May cold iron trait?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Since I'm currently sitting on my hands, I figured I'd start a list of things I would really like to know and hopefully someone knows something about them that I don't. Paizo writers feel free to give me some help!

I'm planning on going whole hog on this adventure path, and adding tons of extra content to make it feel as alive and satisfying as possible. We're all very excited to play a magic school adventure path!

1. Is there a sport/game/activity like Quidditch at the Magaambya?
2. Are there rules for getting academic grades from classwork and tests?
3. Does getting top marks have some impact?
4. How detailed are the rules about attending classes? Are there lists of classes, and does anything actually important occur on-screen in a classroom setting?
5. How many NPC students are detailed and to what degree?
6. How much inter-student conflict is there?
7. Is there some ritual or ceremony at all like a sorting hat?
8. Is there any advice on starting at 0th level?
9. How far into the AP do the players graduate? Can they choose not to?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I just keep planning out characters and having to stop because I want them to multiclass Magus, or be elementalists, or have some other random thing I don't have enough details about to actually plan around yet.

Then I decide to change gears and start creating custom supporting content for Strength of Thousands, but I end up stopping because I don't know if there's something for it already. Is there a quidditch style sport? Are there campus ghosts? How many classmates are already in there, and which would be too similar to what I think up now?

Who can I bribe to get some early copies??


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Logan's opening comment about making a book that would be fun to read, not just to scrape for content to throw on Archives of Nethys, is possibly the main reason I'm SO excited for this book. THIS is the stuff I want to see more of.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm thinking about running Strength of Thousands when it comes out but I have extremely limited experience with prewritten content. I've done some playtest stuff and two books of Carrion Crown, before giving up on it because it was too frustrating. I couldn't get around the feeling of giving a presentation with someone else's powerpoint. I felt like when running it there would be surprise spots where there wasn't enough info, like realizing a map lacked a key detail and I had to stop and figure it out, or it made assumptions that didn't track like assuming the party goes to a location at night.

I've run tons and tons of my own adventures and it never felt like so much work as running Carrion Crown.

Have APs changed much since Carrion Crown? How do you typically start off? What do you do to prepare and how long does it take? How much do you modify the adventure?


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Sort of like The Shire. A place where the citizenry is largely comfortable, well fed, adventure is nearly unheard of, and the worst conflict is about that horrible hedge between the Bolgers and Bracegirdles.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Could I get some help figuring which of the following, if any, stack?

1. Reach Weapon
2. Arm Extension
3. Growth Glands
4. Lunge
5. Grasping Tentacle

Also, are there other sources of reach I'm missing?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Joerg Sprave's Adder Crossbow Modifications

Some of his stuff is just begging to be put into the game, like the Instant Legolas mod for a long bow that gives your bow a magazine and improved accuracy. This recent video, though, screams "Advanced Crossbow" to me.

10 shot magazine. Draw assist to increase viable poundage. SUPER fast cocking.

I would love to see things like this in the hands of crossbow gunslingers!


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

So I'm working on developing a model to prove how useless critical hit effects are (I've personally only ever seen one have in impact on a fight twice ever), but while I was working on it the thought occurred to me that a nice solution might be something like:

Once per ten minute rest you can activate your weapon's special effect as a swift action. Your next attack with that weapon has a chance to inflict the critical hit effect of your weapon on your target. If you do this, your weapon loses its critical hit effect until the next time you rest for 10 minutes.

The chance to inflict the effect is equal to 25% for: [Low impact effects]. It is 15% for [High impact effects].


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I've started tracking how many times in our game a critical effect has had an impact, any impact. I realized it'd be even better if everyone could do the same to get more data.

Since I started tracking last session, starting at level 2, I'm 0 for 2. Svartalfar Bane didn't do anything because the enemy died, and a laser rifle crit didn't cause any burn damage because the enemy died (also enemy was resistant to fire).

Here's what I plan on recording:

Character level, specific weapon or spell making the crit, specific enemy if known, all crit effects that are potentially triggered for that crit, whether or not any critical effects had an impact on the fight.

I remember my last character had fully 3 levels where their crit effect did nothing, but I want hard data going forward to complain about the abundance of crit effects in the game.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Example Setup:
Level 4 Mystic with Spell Sergeant Spellstrike
Casts "Eclipse Touch" into their weapon
Scores a critical hit with their weapon

Does the Eclipse Touch inherit the critical, or does it count as a regular hit?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I would LOVE to trade these things out for just about anything else, but archetypes and epiphanies don't touch either of them.

Why? I don't even fully understand why mystic gets them baseline either.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Originally, I planned to rant about how Gunslinger should change its name to Drifter and more of an emphasis be placed on the story elements that Westerns and Samurai stories have in common, making the class into a gun or katana, wandering badass type of thing. Essentially, I would have been happy as a clam if they had pivoted to copying the work Midnightoker and others have done on the Drifter homebrew.

While I still think a name change may be in order (although if Gunslinger lovers are too mad about that I’m ready to give in), I think the playtest makes clear this class has no intention of coming close to a flexible Samurai/Western trope thing. Whether that’s just not Paizo’s intention, or the things players want from this class don’t leave enough room is unclear and ultimately unimportant.

Here’s my take on where the Gunslinger should go.

1. Become the Reloading Master

My first instinct was that no class should be as focused on a handful of weapons (guns and crossbows) as the playtest Gunslinger, and I stand by that. However, if Gunslingers can add slings to that list, and then any potential new weapon with a reload greater than 0, well that starts to sound like a reasonably broad enough concept to make into a full class.

It also leaves open the option to have reloadable melee weapons, or even reloadable “wands”, which the class could be leveraged to excel with.

2. Make Reloading Fun

As I’ve discussed in several other threads, reloading is butts right now. It’s something you want to avoid if at all possible. It’s a punishment hanging over your character for using the weapon they want to use. Reload weapons are ostensibly balanced math-wise, but in play I’ve found that unless you have options to circumvent the action costs, they don’t feel balanced. A lot of that feel comes from losing out on the 3 action economy while everyone else gets to do cool stuff with it.

I’ve already seen a lot of ideas for making Reloading an integral part of the class, and something you not only want to do, but like doing because of benefits to you and is a demonstration of your character’s skills. These often end up being action economy enhancers, but with care it can be made to feel less like sweeping the Reload action under the rug and more like feeling like you’re doing more *because* you’re good at reloading.

Real quick list of things that you could do while reloading, or gain from reloading (some of which already exist):
- Seek, Recall Knowledge, Take Cover, Avert Gaze, Step, Stride, Sheathe a Weapon, Change Grip, Drink a Potion, Retrieve a Weapon, Concentrate on a Spell, Demoralize an Enemy
- Dodge bonus to AC, Bonus to Damage, Temporary HP, Extra Range, Extra Reaction, Elemental Effect on Attack, Debuff on Attack, Morale Boost to Team

Example of how not to do it:
When you make a melee attack, you can also reload. (Tacking on a reload to a normal attack)

Example of how to do it:
When you reload, you can also make a melee attack while treating the target of the attack as flat footed. (Allowing you to make an attack with bonuses IF you also reload)

3. Standardize Reload Weapon Balance

Instead of spending time worrying about adding melee stuff like I originally wanted, spend time making sure the balance between Guns, Crossbows, Slings, and any future cartridge/clip/battery weapons is nailed down and Gunslinger can exemplify the use of all of them. Provide examples of high powered, futuristic weapons right here and now and make sure they mesh with the rules available.

This will go a long way toward preventing future headaches while expanding the value and niche of the class away from just flintlocks and crossbows. Having some magazine related feats available now would be very useful for certain campaigns.

A sidebar could also help clarify the disparate grip/regrip/reload/hold/wield rules in one place and ensure every dual pistol, sword and gun, and rail gun is operating under the same assumptions.

4. Ensure Every Feat is as Permissive As Possible

Many feats in the playtest now have unnecessary restrictions to firearms and crossbows. Adding slings to that list and ensuring anything remotely reasonable is also included will go a long way to both future proofing the class and improving its broadness of appeal.

5. Ensure a Player Who Wants to Use Guns Isn’t Automatically Wrong for Picking Something Other Than Gunslinger

This gets to the heart of what I hate most about classes with narrow weapon options. They have to be THE BEST at their narrow field or else what’s the point? Right now, a player saying they want to use a bow doesn’t automatically narrow down their class. The same should be true for firearms and crossbows. If a Fighter who decides to focus on guns can’t compete with a Gunslinger, then we’ve got serious problems. If it’s never worth it to pick up a gun as any other class, we’ve got problems.

Gunslinger should stand on its own as a class with interesting abilities, and not just as a vehicle for gun use.

I’m confident that Paizo can achieve this, hopefully without requiring people to grab a Gunslinger dedication.

6. Pack in Cinematic Gunslinger Feat Options Not Related to Weapons

I’m no longer holding out hope for Samurai type stuff, so may as well make Western lovers happy by including feat support for horses, rope tricks, squinting, eating beans, bounty hunting, and whatever else you can think up.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm super critical of this class, but I want to show some appreciation for the things I'm liking and give some positive feedback to the excellent devs.

1. Misfire being optional/Risky Reload. I was ready to get up in arms about misfire, but from what I can see so far it just might be a compelling, optional subsystem you only interact with if you make the conscious decision to engage in those feats.

2. Legendary weapon proficiency. The more I think about it, the more I'm okay with this. It was going to happen at some point (The fighter's monopoly being broken), and for such a weapon focused class I think this is okay.

3. Format of Ways. Initial deeds being based around how the Gunslinger initiates combat makes a lot of sense, even if it could use some tweaking, and having later deeds that smooth out different Gunslinger fantasy versions playstyles makes sense.

4. Way of the Sniper. I'm pretty happy with this as a sniper themed build. Couldn't get the same feel from other things, and them being limited to firearms or crossbows is the rare case where that restriction makes sense.

5. Hit the Dirt! and Return Fire. These seem like straightfoward, thematically appropriate, useful feats and I could see them gaining a wide applicability.

6. Pistol Twirl. I'm glad this ability made it into the game. Very flavorful and hopefully useful.

7. Assisting Shot and Deflecting Shot. I like the ability to use your range to do things other than damage to mesh better with your party. These seem like great options.

8. Reloading Strike. Doing something while reloading seems like a realm ripe for exploration. I hope more things similar to this appear.

9. Pistolero's Challenge. I really like the flavor of amping up both of your damages to make the dramatic high noon standoff more likely to be as deadly as you expect. Seems like a good feat for the right person.

10. Warning Shot. This almost reaches the level of "why can't anyone do that?" but it takes a certain swagger and way with your gun to actually scare people with a warning shot. It's definitely something that should exist in the game, and as a feat it seems okay.

11. Firearm Ace. Again, making reloads interesting seems the way to go.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Weapon Proficiencies:
While I’m okay with them just getting blanket “gun and crossbow” proficiencies, it’d be nice if this was tied to a Way so that you could have a Way evenly split with melee/ranged, or even purely melee, without being loaded up with better ranged proficiency.

The fact that the class is matching Fighter in weapon proficiency is… concerning

Skills:
Crafting isn’t bad as the default skill. It also covers maintaining your katana, for example. It’s also good for the book it’s coming in.

Defenses:
I’d like to see them get medium armor as an option.

Way of the Drifter:
This Way is so close to being flexed into a Samurai type theme. Not sure why it gets Acrobatics, though.
Into the Fray - Could be tweaked to drawing two weapons of any sort. I wonder if Paizo realizes players stop at nothing to start combat with weapons already drawn.
Rebounding Assault - This is extremely odd, not at all to my taste, and doesn’t make sense for the concept of the Way being a melee/ranged character. It’s a thrown/ranged ability with frankly goofy visuals.
Drifter’s Wake - Awesome that it lets you decide freely what kind of attacks you make. Not a bad ability

Way of the Pistolero:
Nothing wrong with this Way. Seems pretty fun as a standard Gunslinger. Looks like it could also be flexed into a melee type character too with a bit of tweaking.
Ten Paces - Cool. I like it.
Pistolero’s Retort - Cool. I like it.
Finish the Job - Sucks that it requires your last failed Strike to be with a firearm or crossbow. Would make this Way have 3/3 Deeds that can be used by pure melee characters.

Way of the Sniper:
This is the only Way that I think actually needs to exist. It fills a niche.
One Shot, One Kill - I like that it lets you draw your weapon, helps make sure you can take advantage.
Vital Shot - There it is, lets you get bonus damage on flat footed foes.
Ghost Shot - Pretty good but might be a bit late for such a thing. 15th level for a shoot from cover ability?

Feats:
Overall, I want to see more melee oriented feats for builds that might not use guns or crossbows at all.

Level 1:
Cover Fire - Waaay to convoluted. Forcing your opponents to decide whether or not to take a special kind of cover with a bonus action you give them with this attack… this bothers me.
Firearm Ace - Not bad, not bad. Makes a fair bit of sense to get some bonus damage on firearms/crossbows.
Hit the Dirt! - I like this quite a bit. Dive out of the way, getting AC bonus and some distance from Leap.
Sword and Pistol - I hate these Sword and Pistol things like the one in Starfinder that lock you into focusing on one target. The classic sword and pistol maneuver is stab someone close by and shoot someone far away. Other than that, it’s a pretty decent feat.

Level 2:
Assisting Shot - Not sure why this has to be with a firearm or crossbow.
Blast Lock - I don’t like things that anyone with an item should be able to attempt without a feat. Shooting a lock? Why does this need a Gunslinger feat?
Pistol Twirl - Really cool.
Quick Draw - Nice. Standard, good ability.
Risky Reload - Ehhhh, despite my dislike for misfire mechanics, this is powerful enough to merit it and the only place I’d accept it really. Not a bad feat.
Warning Shot - I think this is thematically appropriate.

Level 4:
Alchemical Shot - I don’t like that you can’t load the shot, then use it later. Also, remove the misfire chance, taking damage if you miss is already WAY MORE THAN ENOUGH.
Black Powder Boost - I hesitate to use the word dumb, but this is verging on requiring the label. Team Fortress rocket jump but with a pistol. Maybe if it required you to be Small? Even then, it’s just goofy, dangerous, and ugh.
Running Reload - Shouldn’t this be like level 1?

Level 6:
Cauterize - Again, technically anyone could do this right? Maybe remove this and add regular rules for cauterizing a wound?
Pistolero’s Challenge - I like it a lot. Especially since it recharges at noon the next day.
Reloading Strike - I like this as well. Gives melee/ranged an appropriate action economy enhancer. Makes me wonder if melee/ranged is even working properly before access to this.
Shattering Shot - That’s cool as heck. Throw a bomb and shoot it? Sick.

Level 8:
Grit and Tenacity - Decent
Paired Shots - Decent
Return Fire - JUMPING THROUGH THE AIR WHILST FIRING GUNS! If only you could fire BOTH guns.
Shooter’s Aim - Decent
Smoke Curtain - Add more powder to make smoke to grant concealment. Not sure why this requires a feat. Should just be a more expensive type of ammunition. Maybe have the feat, but remove the misfire chance? It just seems like anyone could add more powder, and introducing the idea that you can make concealment with smoke from it shouldn’t be defined in a class. Also, it’s a 20 foot burst of smoke? That’s a lot of smoke! Definitely a type of ammo.

Level 10:
Called Shot - Introducing a called shot mechanism inside a class seems like a bad idea. It rankles when something is introduced that technically any skilled individual should be able to do, but is locked behind a feat purely for balance reasons.
Deflecting Shot - That’s pretty cool. Shoot things out of the air to protect your team! Would be nice with a melee weapon option.
Redirecting Shot - That’s… less cool. It’s one thing to reflexively shoot a bottle out of the air, but another to judge when your team member’s attack is going to miss and figure out a way to shoot the enemy to make sure that the attack hits. It’s really a stretch.
Trick Shot - No, I’m afraid this doesn’t work as a feat. “Shoot the barrel” or “Shoot the mcguffin” should just be options, not requiring a feat. It’s already riddled with GM fiat, might as well go all the way and make this normal expectation of the rules. Change this feat to give you bonuses when targeting small objects instead.

Level 12:
Glancing Shot - Not too bad, seems like it just helps land special effects. Carries over a little tiny bit of the old touch AC stuff without making it obvious.
Incredible Ricochet - Don’t see anything wrong with the idea of bouncing bullets, but why does it need you to make a normal attack against that target first? The justification of “singling out your opponent’s position” is flimsy. Would prefer to see this as some kind of spray and pray that has built in inaccuracy but cancels out cover to be a wash.
Penetrating Fire - I would just like to point out that this could be a bonus feat granted by a rail gun. Might be worthwhile keeping in mind future items when designing things like this. Otherwise it’s a pretty good feat.
Shooter’s Camouflage - Again this seems like something you could craft or buy. Why do you need a feat to wear camo?
True Grit - Decent

Level 14:
Dance of Thunder - Really cool concept. I can basically visualize it. I’m concerned that *potentially* 3 steps and 3 reloads might be being overvalued? Image if you fail your first strike. You’re fatigued after doing a normal round with a step instead of move. This definitely needs to be evaluated for feel.
Showstopper - I like the idea of this one, but it feels like a skill feat rather than a class feat. You already paid up to get Pistol Twirl, and increased Deception to Expert. Now you pay another class feat to feint against everyone. I don’t know, someone back me up on this one.
Two-weapon Flurry - Isn’t this a slightly different, higher level Double Slice that works with guns? Seems like it should be lower level.

Level 16:
Fatal Bullet - Bonus fatal damage. Wish this wasn’t firearm locked, but not too broken up about it.
Hair Trigger - I like it. Helps when you’ve already got a weapon drawn too.
Instant Return - Catch a bullet or bolt and fire it back. I don’t think this fits the fantasy of the gunslinger. It just drops the monk’s arrow catching on the Gunslinger out of the blue.

Level 18:
Piercing Critical - Sucks that this is only for firearms and crossbows.
Unerring Shot - Nice. Pretty much required for a long range sniper concept at this level.

Level 20:
Kind of sparse here, would like to see some cooler stuff.

Perfect Readiness - Extra action to step or reload. Not bad
Slinger’s Reflexes - Gunslinger reaction for every enemy’s turn. Not bad.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

So, my current campaign is such that the party isn't really interested in doing a lot of combat. It's an episodic style, horror themed game with each session having a contained mystery that they generally solve by the end of the session. 7 to 8 hour sessions. They love having threats they can't face in combat like ghosts, hauntings, possessions, and too-strong bad guys chasing them slowly.

Generally, they like one combat per session.

What would you do to:
1. Make a single combat exciting but not too deadly and get them to spend resources
2. Add more combats that don't take too long but are interesting
3. Work combat into horror storytelling more naturally without it seeming like it's filler

I'm not trying to force them to change, they've been loving it, but I want to make sure I can add more variety to future sessions.

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