Wheldrake's page

I'm almost finished with a 40-page PF2 adventure that will be published under the ORC license, and wanted to get some Paizo feedback on What I need to include in the 4-part ORC license block, specifically the Attribution section.

Under the Attribution section of PC1, GMC, MC and PC2, there is this line:

"If you use our Licensed Material in your own published work, please credit us in your product as follows:"

Followed by a lengthy list of authors.

Since I'm using a few hazards from GMC and a couple creatures from MC, I figured I needed to include the full, long list of authors with each of the PC1, GMC and MC books in the attribution section.

If there is an email address I can write to with further information, that would be great. I really want to get this right, the first time I'm using the ORC license.

Thanks, Paizo, for this commercial license, and any help you can provide getting the ORC license set up properly.

A guy pointed out something odd in the PF2 rules.

At no point does it actually specify that you need to read a scroll to activate it, or that the blinded condition or total darkness or being underwater would be an impediment to casting a spell from a scroll. Or that a scroll might be written in some off-beat language that the spellcaster can't in fact read.

My gut feeling is that a scroll, by its nature as "magical scripture", requires being able to see and understand the writing on it. But on closer examination, this sort of restriction doesn't appear to be present in the PF2 rules - unless I missed it, in some out-of-the-way spot.

Sure, we know the action cost, and the need for a free hand to hold it (barring various special items) and the requirement to have it on your spell list.

But... what about the need to actually read the scroll?

I just had a look into buying another physical copy of the Beginner Box through the Paizo website, but it's marked as "unavailable". Does anyone know when or if this item will be available again?

I looked around a bit and, predictably, most existing threads dealt with countering the scrying itself.

What I want to ask folks about is whether a wizard using scrying can counterspell a spell or magical effect that he can see through the scrying sensor.

1) No range is indicated for the Counterspell feats, or for the Counteracting section.

2) The Counterspell feat says, laconically, "When a foe Casts a Spell and you can see its manifestations, you can use your own magic to counter it."

3) The Scrying spell says, "You magically spy on a creature of your choice." One can only infer that "spy on" is the equivalent of "seeing" the target, its spellcasting and spellcasting manifestations.

So the question is, if you're scrying on a guy, and he casts a spell, can you attempt to counteract his spell, assuming you satisfy all other relevant criteria for counterspells?

(My gut feeling is that this shouldn't be able to work, but I was unable to find any rule reference to show that my gut feeling was right.)

The SoM spell "Warrior's Regret" seems to have two problems:
1) the damage doesn't appear to have a specified type. Seems to me mental damage would be most appropriate.
2) It doesn't appear to take into account any damage to others done outside of the victim's turn, say, from AoOs or other damaging reactions. This would be a major issue with creatures that have multiple reactions, like a hydra.

I can't help feeling that the spell should also include reaction made since your last turn in the number of attacks the victim "regrets". Am I overthinking it?

The Flammable Fumes spell https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=913
lists no saving throw at all.

Is both the poison damage and the explosive damage really without a save? Could it be an oversight?

I'd expect a fort save for the poison and a reflex save for the explosion.

Hey, this forum seems fairly moribund, about what you'd expect from a 10+ year old adventure, but I thought I'd see if anyone is interested in discussing some bits of it. Specifically, book 2, Racing to Ruin.

I had been running a homebuilt pirate-themed campaign, but the main villain, a disgraced Chelaxian noble, had to run away from his previous base, and I decided that the former Chelaxian colony of Sargava (now Vidrian) would make a good destination.

One thing led to another, and I ended up taking 3/4 of book 2 of Serpent's Skull, and switched up a few things while adapting it to PF2.

I had planned for the PCs to get the full Eleder treatment, but they bushwacked me, and took a riverboat up from Port Freedom, along the Lower Korir River to Kalabuto. So my PF2-ization efforts only really covered the part from Kalabuto to Tazion.

More soon, if anyone actually sees this message.

I know there have been previous threads on retrying lockpicking checks or recall knowledge checks.

But is there a general rule about retrying skill checks?

The question came up when somebody asked about doing multiple Diplomacy (Make an Impression) checks to improve NPC attitudes. My gut feeling is that you only get one go at this, but that begs the question about whether a second PC can try to improve that attitude further, etc, above and beyond the Aid action.

Also, since a time range is given in the skill description ("With at least 1 minute of conversation") one wonders whether spending 20 minutes or an hour talking up somebody might give the opportunity for further improvements to their attitude.

So am I missing something? Or is this issue never dealt with in the RAW?

I'm converting a PF1 encounter to PF2, and have come up against a RAW-compliance roadblock.

A flying wizard only gets two actions per turn, since he must use one action to fly, even if it's only to hover in place. That leaves 2 actions for a spell, but adding metamagic becomes impossible. Unless...

I was thinking of giving the NPC Haste, but Haste only allows Stride and Strike actions... and Stride appears to only work for land speed movement, not including flying.

Is there another way to do this? Or do I have to swap out the fly spell for something like Air Walk (through trick magic item for the primal/divine spell on an arcane wizard) to keep this guy in the air, and still use Reach Spell for a ranged touch spell attack?

I was just setting out to create the statistics for an intelligent item McGuffin for a homebrew campaign I'm running, and noticed that there are no longer any rules for ego or a contest of wills between item and PC. It is suggested that it might be possible, but no mechanic is offered, with the exception of one item.

Beyond denying magic effects and communicating their displeasure, intelligent items can usually influence or hinder their partners only in subtle ways. If the item is a weapon or tool necessary for an action (like thieves’ tools), it can at least be disruptive enough to make its partner take a –2 circumstance penalty to associated checks, much as if the partner were using an improvised weapon or tool. If an intelligent item can have a greater effect, such as seizing control of its partner’s body for a time, the intelligent item’s entry includes those abilities.

The example intelligent items include mechanisms to stop a singing sword from singing, The genius diadem "enourages" you to learn things, another item can force you to put it down, or deny you its abilities, while the last item can actually take control of the PC's body, but only after multiple threats and refusals to pursue its agenda, and then only in order to find a worthier wielder.

So if I'm designing a powerful necromantic item created by malevolent serpentfolk thousands of years ago whose purpose is to corrupt the user with offers of dark power, it appears that I need to invent the mechanic used to influence the user, doubtless basing any will DC on the DC by level table.

Any suggestions?

Bonjour,

I've been sending emails to customer survice for more than 2 months, trying to resolve my subscription problem.

My credit card expired, and I automatically received a new one from my bank. I entered the new card as a new payment method, but despite repeated attempts, I am unable to delete the old payment method from your system.

Since then, I've had orders delayed and ultimately cancelled. All while waiting for replies to a whole string of emails from customer service.

Please advise how I can solve this situation.

Thanks for your assistance.

Apparently, in a recently released scenario there were stats given for "a houscat" that are completely OTT for such a critter. Surely your average housecat isn't the equal of a creature -1.

But now we are sure to see these stats reproduced on the aon and pf2 rules websites, and players with a cat familiar will want to use those stats for their familiar.

Surely someone in editting should have seen this and thrown up a red flag. Vague memories of forum threads past bring back lengthy discussions of a fight between a housecat and a peasant. We don't want to see stuff like that, again, do we?

Surely it is a highly unusual housecat to be a creature -1.

A friend has a champion/paladin character and was confused about focus points. Earlier threads seemed to waver between two interpretations. It all seems to hinge on the sidebar page 302 which says, "If you have multiple abilities that give you a focus pool, each one adds 1 Focus Point to your pool."

So if a 1st-level paladin takes the feat "Deity's Domain" to get an additional power, does he have 2 points or just the one?

I have already noted that he can't regain more than a single point with the "refocus" activity, but if he has 2 points initially, that will give him one extra use per day. Non-negligible, for this novice PF2 player who is just discovering his initial powers.

So, is there anything new on this? Or, like many ambiguous areas in PF2, does it come down to DM interpretation?

One of my players asked me this question this weak, and on closer examination I realized that there are no specific prerequisites listed, so nothing prevents him from choosing the formula for healing potions amongst the four free formulae he gets from the magic crafting feat.

Is this a feature or a bug?

It doesn't *feel* right to me, since an arcane caster doesn't have access to the heal spell as such But PF2 potions appear to be divorced from the spells they are based on, so the only question becomes DM-gated access to the right formulae.

Or am I missing something?

There have been a number of threads about shields. The general consensus is that they have too few hit points to be viable as "permanent" magic items rather than hyped-up consumables.

I thought about adding a new type of rune, specifically for shields, where each +1 would add 5 points to its hardness and +10 to its total hit points. But that would just be delaying (slightly) the inevitable. But what about this:

- Magic shields are not irretrievably destroyed when they are "destroyed". They can still be repaired, perhaps taking double the standard time to do so.

- When damage penetrates the shield's hardness, the character takes all of the excess damage, but the shield only takes half, rounding down. This would be the equivalent of doubling the shield's hit points, but without having to fiddle with the listings in the CRB.

This message will probably get shunted to the "homebrew" forum, but I think it's an important enough issue to be posted here. Something needs to be done.

Other options:
- treat the magic shield's statistics as cumulative with the standard shield's listing.
- treat all magic shields as if they were based on the Sturdy Shield characteristics.
- return to some version of the "dents" system that mitigates the speed at which a shield becomes destroyed.

I'm asking this question to confirm a possible error in the French edition of the CRB.

In my pdf of the English CRB, Lingering Composition appears with the free action icon.
In my pdf of the French edition, it has the single action icon.

Unless there was errata that changed the action cost, I suspect the French CRB is in error.

Thanls for any help!

I've got a question about plant creatures like Bloodlash Bush, Snapping Flytrap and Vine Lasher.

They are listed as having "tremorsense (imprecise) 30 feet". Does that mean they don't have normal sight, and have to make a flat check of 11+ to hit and do damage?

If they don't have eyes, it's not listed as such on their stat blocks.

I've got some questions on imp abilities:

Is there a spell or magic item that allows communication with a distant person not in your line of sight? The Message cantrip is too limited for my purposes.

Pirates and Plunder, Episode 2: Secrets of the Brotherhood (PF2) is now live on DrivethruRPG.

Pirates and Plunder, Episode 2: Secrets of the Brotherhood (PF2)
A short tutorial adventure for Pathfinder Second Edition

You've heard about Pathfinder Second Edition, but you're not sure how to get started? This adventure will guide you, the game master, as you jump right into a deadly intrigue.

Your characters have just arrived in the big city when they witness a cold-blooded murder. A dark tavern, a stolen treasure map and a dead man's secret will guide you through the new systems and rules of Pathfinder Second Edition, especially the rules concerning stealth, observation and diplomacy.

Having discovered a wealth of hidden information about Captain Harrigan, an infamous pirate hanged some 60 years ago, your characters will try to navigate the perils of the underworld of the city of Stormhaven in search of the clues they need to complete their mission. Although there is some combat, most of the adventure will involve social interaction and discovering hidden information. You will find detailed explanations of how to handle stealth and observation, pickpocketing and diplomacy as players work to reach their goals.

Although this adventure is intended as the second episode in a series, following Pirates and Plunder, One Night at the Crooked Hand (also available from DrivethruRPG), I have included notes on using it as a stand-alone adventure

This adventure should run two or three sessions in length, depending on how much roleplay your players get into. In playtesting, we finished it in two 6-hour sessions.

It seems to me there are relatively few vaulable Stealth skill feats available, but Terrain Stalker looks like a good choice.

However, Terrain Stalker tells you to choose "rubble, snow or underbrush", without actually defining what these represent. I would've liked to have some NPCs select urban terrain, for sneaking through refuse-sterwn back alleys, but urban terrain is not on the list.

Would it be reasonable to qualify cluttered urban terrain (garbage, barrels, boxes, etc) as "rubble"? Or is this trying to reach beyond a reasonable interpretation of this feat?

The flying rules state:

You move through the air up to your fly Speed. (...) You can use an action to Fly 0 feet to hover in place.

The Acrobatics (Maneuver in flight) check (CRB p240-241) lists "hover in midair" as a sample expert task. So anyone who is not expert in Acrobatics can't hover at all.

Does that all sound correct?

The bestiary doesn't appear to list whether a given creature is expert in Acrobatics (or give any proficiency level for any skill for that matter). So what, is it just a judgement call, to see if they can attempt certain maneuvers, like hovering?

I seem to recall some mention of vehicle rules being present in an upcoming book, it could have been the Gamemastery Guide. Can anyone confirm?

In the meantime, since I'm running a pirate-themed campaign in PF2, I'll have to use house rules adapted from PF1 and other sources. But frankly the vehicle rules in PF1 really lacked in many ways, including rules about sailing with/across/into the wind, rules about skills to use for common sailing tasks, and greater granularity of ship types for various sizes.

I know that our hobby is anachronistic in so many ways, but I'd like to see more variety in ships corresponding to early medieval naval architecture, including:
- Cogs of various sizes
- Caravels of various sizes (which could be square-rigged or lateen-rigged, with different effects on sailing and maneuverability)
- Carracks and Galleons of various sizes

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll be using Sailing lore for many shipboard tasks, Acrobatics and Athletics for maneuvering in a ship's rigging, Survival for navigating by the stars, and Navigation lore for using charts and maps. Any further suggestions for skill use would also be appreciated.

That Uzunjati art with the elephant mask is awesome!

And re: perquisite/prerequisite, I went with Perquisite both for the soft phonetic link to prerequisite and for the connotation that the opportunity to work for the good of all is a privilege. As Eleanor notes, I'm sure not everyone sees it that way ;)

I'm also super into the Mask Familiar feat. I wanted to tie in masks somehow, but couldn't think of anything good by the due date. Thankfully, Mark Seifter picked up where I left off!

Very well written. In really enjoyed it. Next time I encounter a statue, I will consider my options.

There are bound to be a lot of folks who are new to Pathfinder Second Edition, and who aren't really sure how to run a PF2 game. That's why I wrote up a short tutorial adventure for PF2, to guide a new PF2 gamemaster through an initial session with the new rules.

You can find Pirates and Plunder, One Night at the Crooked Hand here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/289095/Pirates-and-Plunder-One-night-a t-The-Crooked-Hand-PF2

You can also read about our first game session a month ago here, on my blog:
https://dragontoothgrognard.blogspot.com/2019/08/normal-0-21-false-false-fa lse-fr-zh-cn.html

If an alchemist took a multiclass wizard dedication, could he keep both formulas and spells in the same book? Their descriptions appear to be identical, and until reaching the 100-page limit that would really help with the bulk limit. I suspect that the RAW are silent on this, but it seems reasonable.

It's for one of my players, whose alchemist chose to have 8 STR. I don't want to make life too easy for this aged weakling, but this seems like something he should be able to do.

Edit: Actually, after a quick search, I see somebody beat me to this question. The answer seems to be as I suspected - RAW, they are two different things. Home games, the DM can allow a reasonable combination.

Can you make (find or buy) a wand with a cantrip?
The listing of costs begins with first-level spells, but nothing in the description seems to explicitly forbid having a cantrip wand, unlike with scrolls where cantrip scrolls are expressly forbidden.

If a cantrip wand could exist, I presume like other wands it could only be used once per day, and like cantrips in general it would be automatically heightened to the user's spell level.

Given the auto-heighten function, I would assume it would cost the same as a 1st-level spell wand. Unless it's just not possible for such an item to be made.

My reading of the Compatibility licence and the associated FAQ seems to imply that for-profit products released under the compatibility licence cannot mention Golarion or any places, characters or events, even in passing.

So an adventure module sold under the Compatibility licence can't suggest "this adventure could be situated in Absalom or any large city in Golarion" even if it contains no further details about characters, places or events. Nor could it reference specific gods or cults.

Is this correct? I find it somewhat disappointing, but I do understand that Paizo needs to protect its Product Identity.

What happens when you try to move, whether by a stride action step action or other movement, into a square you think is open but is actually occupied by an invisible creature?

Does it end your movement in the previous square?
Does it cancel your movement so that you lose the action?
Is there any effect on the invisible creature you tried to move into or through?

Where can I find the rules reference on this point?

Last night, three of us lads here in west central France played our first game of Pathinder 2. We breezed through character creation and started the adventure that I'd planned out to test all three gameplay modes from PF2, Downtime, Exploration and Encounter modes.

You'll find a complete write-up of what happened and how we used the rules here.

On a side note, poisons in PF2 can be really really nasty, especially for a character with 10 CON and a low Fort save. One of our two PCs very nearly died from a giant centipede attack, only surviving thanks to his buddy with a good Medicine score and a healer's kit. It appears that when you are poisoned with the dying condition and fail your roll, you progress two levels of the dying condition each round, thanks to the continuing damage from the poison. Doesn't leave much margin before Dying 4!

I welcome any comments about anything we may have done wrong, but I think (I hope!) we played it all correctly by RAW.

Contrary to the situation in PF1, it appears you can now attack swarms with weapons. Taking the example of a rat swarm, they have "Resistance Physical 6 except bludgeoning" so slashing and piercing will subtract 6 damage from all attacks, while bludgeoning will do full damage.

I like this. Is my interpretation correct?

Finally, since it's an Animal type, does this mean druids can use Wild Empathy to communicate, Make an Impression, and Make a Request? My magic eight ball says "Yes".

Here is one example, a group of pirate NPCs called "The Crew of the Albatross"

You will find two named NPCs, Maria Tres Pistolas and Gnarly Tom, as well as group statblocks for veteran pirates and novice pirates (level 0).

For the time being, they have no firearms. Perhaps soon Paizo will give us improved firearms rules. I may simply use firearms as listed in the Freeport setting, adding the "deadly" attribute with a die size increased by one step.

Comments? Suggestions?

The rules don't exactly tell us how to build zero-level NPCs, but I think we can infer closely enough from the character creation rules. Which is why I'm not posting to the homebrew forum. I suggest that zero-level NPCs should get:
- standard benefits from ancestry, and
- standard benefits from background
The only tricky bit is that for PCs, all skill proficiencies come from class, so without a class, a zero-level NPC would have no training bonuses at all. As an alternate possibility, I suggest giving them minimal training, as follows:
- trained in unarmored defense, FORT saves and 2 simple weapons.
- untrained in all other weapons and armor
Finally, I suggest that when there are options between skills, feats and other benefits, most NPCs default to a skill. So zero-level NPCs don't bother with a feat, unless you really want to give them one.

Example: NPC human sailor
- Ancestry Human: 8hp, 25' speed, 2 ability boosts, speaks common (+1 regional language, if desired)
- skilled heritage + natural skill feat = 3 skills trained
- Background sailor: STR or DEX boost + free, Athletics, Sailing lore, ignore feat.
- Zero-level training: unarmored defense, FORT, 2 simple weapons.

This gives the following sample stat block:

Male human Sailor 0 Perception +0
Languages: Common
Skills: Athletics +4, Acrobatics, Thievery +3, Society, Sailing lore +2
Str +2, Dex +1, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +0
Items: Dagger, Javelin, Bandanna, ragged clothes, belt pouch w/1d6cp
AC 13; Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +0
HP 9 Speed 25’
Melee: Dagger +4, 1d4+2ps, agile, finesse, thrown 10’
Ranged: Javelin +3, 1d6+2p, thrown 30’

Seem fair? Is it more a homebrew or an extrapolation from the PC rules?

Some of these items look cool (Spellstrike ammunition!) but I have a question regarding price: Is the listed price for *one* arrow or bolt, or a pack of four or ten?

I'm assuming it's for a single arrow or bolt.

Does anyone have any ideas about converting loot hauls?

My first instinct is to divide any loot by ten, converting gold pieces to silver pieces. But I suspect it should be reduced even further.

I'm less worried about magic items. I plan to go slow with items anyway.

I saw the recent thread on this weapon, and couldn't help banging my head against the table, since it was being suggested that all martials should jump through whatever hoops necessary to get maximum proficiency in this weapon because it is objectively the best option available.

[further head to table banging ensues]

Why? Why did Paizo include a one-handed weapon with reach? Especially one with no downside.

And, more importantly, a weapon that, according to its description, is patently absurd. As described, such a weapon would be just as if not more dangerous to the guy wielding it that the guy he's fighting. Short handle + long chain + nasty spiked ball is a recipe for disaster.

Yes, I know, in my home games I can simply pretend that this aberration was never invented.

Am I really the only one who looks askance at this editorial choice of Paizo's?

Has anyone started assembling some sample NPC stat blocks for use by DMs?

With PF1 I made extensive use of the example NPC stat blocks on d20PFSRD, cutting and pasting them into Word and then modifying specific spell or feat choices, rather than statting up NPCs by hand. I have a game coming up in a week and was hoping to find some low-level NPC stat blocks ready to use somewhere.

Has anyone made a summary sheet for common actions in encounter mode (combat)?

It seems to me it would be really handy to have such a page. I'm aware that there is a table of skill-related actions, but the encounter mode actions are spread over several pages, and a single sheet summarizing skill and combat actions would be useful.

Let's say I have a 1st-level wizard who takes a specialist school, gaining a pool of 1 focus point.

Then he takes Hand of the Apprentice as his 1st-level wizard feat.

Does said wizard have only one focus point to use on either power, or does he have 2 focus points to use on either power?

My reading suggests the second solution, but it seems too good to be true.

I'm trying to make a 1st-level dwarf fighter, and am confused about an entry on the character sheet.

There are 3 spaces for 1st level in the Ancestry feats and abilities: Special, Heritage and Feat.

Heritage I get: for example Forge Dwarf.
Feat I get: for example Rock Runner.

But what is the "special" space for? Darkvision?

The French customs office finally released my cope of the PF2 Core Rulebook and Bestiary, and I received it this morning! Hoohoo!

I haven't been keeping up with GenCon dates and such... when is the official release date? Wouldn't want to post to my blog before the official date.

Thanks!

I'm creating a Slayer character for a pirate-themed sandbox campaign already in progress, starting at 3rd level.

It's an Azata-blooded Aasimar (for the +2 DEX and CHA, and darkvision) with the following stats (20-point buy): 14 STR, 16 DEX, 10 CON, 14 INT, 10 WIS, 16 CHA.

So far I'm taking Toughness, Studied sneak attacker and Improved Feint (from the deceptive ranger list, bypassing pre-reqs) for feats.

Traits include Trustworthy, Reactionary and Dangerously Curious (with the Pride drawback to get 3 traits).

This is likely to be a low-level campaign for a while, and since we're doing rotating DM duty I'll be DMing a lot, and only playing for a few sessions here and there.

I'm looking for alternative feat or trait ideas for 3rd level, and maybe for a few levels after that (4th and maybe 5th, for starters) or any other suggestions for changing my starting character-creation choices around. My feat selections seem fairly optimal, but there are so many tricky choices out there that it's hard to think of everything up front. Our next game is in 10 days' time, so I do have a little leeway before things get locked in place.

Thanks for any advice y'all can give me.

I'm creating a 3rd level slayer character for a home game, and am looking into the possibilites of taking a single level dip into a casting class just to spice up the character. The current plan is for a 14 INT (for the skill points) a 10 WIS (because with a 20-point buy, not all my stats can be godly) and a 16 CHA (14 with a +2 race bonus, because I like CHA, and the face skills that go with it).

So the way I see it, my options are:
1) Sorcerer, because of the 16 CHA.
2) Cleric, if I switch the stats up a bit, because a cleric of Desna can get some really cool domain abilities, and I'm into the fluff on Desna. An 11 WIS would be enough for 1st-level spells.
3) Wizard, because it was my first idea, but on second thought seems suboptimal.

I want to choose a spellcasting class that has cool abilities to augment my fighting capabilities (like a Desnan Cleric's Travel domain) or a sorcerer bloodline that might bring some cool combat beans with it.

Or I could just chuck the idea, stick with Slayer levels, and count on UMD to allow me to use some wands for limited spellcasting goodness.

Advice, please?