ZamuelNow's page

Bumping this since it applied to something else. The PF2 adventure Dawn of the Frogs has a really good sidenote about being careful about arachnophobia and lists ways to rewrite the encounter that has a giant spider so it's a better experience for those players...yet the booklet also has a large picture of a spider a few pages before. That seems like mixed messaging. And considering it's in the last chapter, that header image feels like it should've been used for the final fight against [redacted] and not a random wild animal that isn't even connected to the adventure's theme.

BadLuckGamer released Remaster vids on Hexes, Druids, and Cantrips.

As someone else who is arachnophobic but understands that some spider concepts are cool, pulling this out from the OP:

3. Stop making the art so hard to avoid. Put it on splash pages, or block it off more carefully.

An interesting example is Beginner Box vs Troubles in Otari. In BB's GM Guide, there's big splashes of spiders but they are fairly easy to cover up. In TiO, I did the personal diligence of asking if there were any and got the page number but with the art and text being interwoven, the page is effectively unusable. Making changes to new material will obviously be a way off but formatting is something to consider in the future.

Like most people, I'd suggest the Beginner Box. The only thing I'd say is that it has only four sample characters but that's not an issue if your players are building their own characters. The materials in the box are useful even if you don't run the adventure.

Had fun GMing Threshold of Knowledge. Feels like a good level 1 adventure that can genuinely make the players feel heroic.

Ade wrote:

Is it just me, but does the pregen Ufi lack a class feat from Natural Ambition? They gain the Deadly Simplicity from the Warpriest doctrine, but Natural Ambition gives nothing.

Oops, that's my mistake. I didn't update his ancestry feat when switching him from a cloistered cleric to a warpriest during development. I would swap out Natural Ambition with General Training to give him Fleet.

Ufi has a couple of other issues. He's missing the skill granted by his deity (Craft). Also, It seems his Speed is wrong since he has the strength to not take the penalty.

Otherwise, the adventure is great and I need to eventually write a review.

A question of my own: What is the estimated playing time for this module?

My group has extensive practice with PF1 but no PF2 experience except for very limited participation in the playtest. If I hand them the pregens at the start of the session and proceed from there, how likely is it that we will be done within a hard time limit of 4 hours?

I'd say you'd be right on the edge of four hours. At my local store, the adventure was run twice. I have minor GM experience but had somewhat experienced players and it took about four hours. The store owner is a much more experienced GM but had new players and it ran more than five hours. Half of the combats can be avoided by gameplay (stealth, diplomacy, etc) and doing so will speed up the game. If you get halfway through and it looks like time may be against you:

Can I ask what the PF2 pregens are?

If you mean in Threshold of Knowledge:

"Parts Unknown".

Is someone at Paizo a wrestling fan?

It might be best to adjust the font (color? bold?) on Goka and Bonmu so they stand out as cities as opposed to countries.

So I've been reading this thread (and yes, I see the other recent alchemist thread) and have various thoughts on some of the things here. For one, I'e enjoyed my alchemist. I've seen some problems with the class in play but the forum seems to amplify those massively. I do wonder how much of the difference is in style of play. There's this common refrain that alchemists should only give the things they craft to other players when I've been aiming to be flexible with Quick Alchemy. Now, there is the possibility that the fact that I'm playing a Chirurgeon and thus not expecting to be the primary damage dealer may be skewing things. Of play so far, some concerns have been:
-Being able to do Medicine rolls with Crafting is nice and all since my alchemist is literally a doctor with the Field Medic background. But technically, it causes a bit of squeeze in stats since you have to level up both to be able to get the various proficiency bonuses and feat upgrades. Something else that I have't seen mentioned is that rules as written, it also causes a squeeze to your cash since you still have to purchase Healer's Tools in addition to your alchemical gear. The group I'm in started shortly after 2e was released and I remember having very little leftover coin starting out. The GM did allow me to recoup the gold when the first errata split the Alchemical Lab into it's own thing and adjusted prices.
-Another low level errata problem was with Elixir of Life. Pre-errata, the Chirurgeon could take the Lesser Elixir of Life but it got changed to only Minor Elixir of Life due to levels. That was the one truly major feelsbad of playing an Alchemist since we played through The Fall of Plaguestone and it causes me to cast doubt on our ability to survive considering the adventure's difficulty. Considering the gap in healing numbers between levels 1 and 5, I'd certainly like to see the Chirurgeon with some sort of bonus to applying heals based on your INT. Both for making the gap more bearable and for making the Alchemist better at using their own kit.
-The suggestion that things made with Quick Alchemy should last until the end of your next turn instead of the just the start of your next turn (and thus negating the need for Enduring Alchemy) really feels needed. Action economy is a bit of a crunch and it would make Quick Bomber feel less needed. I didn't realize it was a beginner trap since I didn't take it at level 2 (and also, not a Bomber).