Zero the Nothing's page

Hmmm, any news on that sanctioning?

Thank you so much for blog posts like these. It's incredibly important to acknowledge the hard work freelancers do and put names and faces to the words on the page. Author (and artist!) shout-outs like this help me appreciate what a massive collaborative effort PF2e has become, and also points me towards other exciting projects so I can continue to support the creators I love. I hope to see more posts like this in the future, and hope other publishers follow suit.

Do these really come with clear bases?

So I was attempting to create a Starfinder version of the Pathfinder monk. Well long story short, now I'm creating a new class called Ascetic. As much as I'd love for Paizo to see my work and be absolutely amazed and just immediately make this a 1pp class, this is just for Starfinder games that I GM. I've gotten a lot in place so far within the past month, but I don't like to turn away the creativity & system knowledge of others. Let me know what you think.

I still have to build an Ascetic character at a few different levels, run it through some fights, and do some comparisons against the other martial classes.

Let me say that I really like what Paizo did with the Vanguard class. I took a lot of inspiration from that class.

• Adding the operative feature to weapons whether or not they already have it.
  
• Using something other than Strength(until higher level) for the damage.
  
• Altering/replacing the base weapon's damage.
  
• Utilizing the weapon's traits.

Martial Arts(Ex) - 1st Level
You gain Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat.
Usable only in either Light or No Armor.
Add operative feature to Unarmed Strikes and any non-powered melee weapon. This weapon cannot have the unwieldy trait.
Can use a two-handed weapon as though it were one-handed, but it loses the reach feature when doing so.
Deals damage as a Solar Weapon instead of the weapon's normal damage dice.
Adds Wisdom modifier to damage in place of Strength modifier.
Any weapon used in this way loses the archaic trait.
You can use the weapon’s normal damage type or bludgeoning. If it is a weapon with multiple damage types, you can choose one to replace with bludgeoning.
Damage based on either your class level or the weapon’s item level, whichever is lower.

Some Notes

• You can eventually use powered weapons if you choose.
  
• You can eventually use unwieldy weapons if you choose.
  
• Like the Vanguard's entropic strike, you will deal full specialization damage with Martial Arts.
  
• You will be able to deal other damage types other than bludgeoning

Since I've been building my Vanguard now and looking closely at the finalized version, I noticed something.

So Solarians get Glow of Life. Operatives get Field Treatment(I know, takes 1 minute). The Vanguard Inversion Aspect's catalyst recovers Level x2 Stamina of all allies EXCEPT you within 60ft, the Improved does Level x3 HIT POINTS!

Designers, why doesn't the "tank" class have any ability to heal itself? I get that they can reduce damage with Mitigate and Vanguard Disciples and can take the Enhanced Resistance feat for DR, but even the other "magical" battle-guy can give himself DR with Dark Matter and take the same feat.

Solarians have Glow of Life as an option for in-combat staying power, couldn't you have at least given the Vanguard a less powerful version? You even gave them Flashing Strikes.

Multi-Weapon Fighting (Combat)
Benefit: When you make a full attack with two or more small arms or with two or more operative melee weapons (see page 184), reduce the penalty for making a full attack by 1.

With the current Vanguard information, would I be able to take Multi-Weapon Fighting and...

1...full attack with 2 entropic strikes(functioning as two separate weapons)?
2...full attack with an entropic strike and a weapon channeling entropic strike?

This is my attempt to inform and inspire the legalization of the Samurai archetype Warrior Poet for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. It may seem as if I'm downing the archetype at times, but I'm trying to show that the archetype isn't nearly as "powerful" as I've seen some mention on the forums. IMHO, the archetype isn't weak, but it isn't a must have level 1 dip anymore than Gunslinger(Firearms, Gunsmithng, Grit, Deeds), Swashbuckler(Weapon Finesse, Panache, Deeds), or Far Strike Monk(Wisdom to AC, Improved Unarmed Strike, Quick Draw, Free ranged feat-usually Precise Shot) is. I think the archetype has just the right amount of power.

Thank you to those that come up with archetypes for these Player Companions, especially Isabelle Lee. She is the writer of this wonderful archetype.

-For all, I hope you can read through this with an open mind. If you have points to make either for or against, please share them.
-For Paizo staff members, if you are set on keeping the Warrior Poet from Society play, then so be it but please consider the points brought up here. If you have plans on bringing access to the archetype through an alternate method, then by all means continue with the plan.

Paizo released one of their Pathfinder Player Companion's called Heroes from the Fringe(HotF) in August 2018.

Delve into the many non-human societies found outside of the Inner Sea region! From elves to gnomes to halflings to dwarves, Pathfinder Player Companion: Heroes from the Fringe offers new options to expand upon non-human characters who come from lesser-known civilizations and backgrounds. Find the right archetype, feats, alternate racial traits, and equipment to reflect your character's heritage, whether she's a graceful elven samurai from Jinin or one of the festive gnomes and halflings of Segada!

This book offered a collection of options for players wishing to explore the non-human races of Golarian. Different cultures of Elves, Half-Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, and Half-Orcs are featured in HotF. The races that are basically human, but not really. The topic of this book was much needed for these races since we've had books about the "Planetouched" races like Aasimar & Tieflings and the "Geniekin" like Ifrits & Sylphs.

One of my favorite things about the Golarian setting is the cultures that you find in it. Cultures that are unlike anything seen here on Earth and ones inspired by real life. I personally love being able to learn and research a culture's customs, history, and language within the Golarian setting and their inspiritations in the real world. I know that Paizo and the Pathfinder Society staff enjoy and appreciate their game's cultures as well. In PFS, I have a Zenj(Nigerian) Inquisitor of Achaekek, a Tian-Min(Japanese) Phantom Blade Spiritualist, a Qadiran(Persian or Iranian) Courser Swashbuckler, and a Mahwek(Kanien'kehá:ka or Mohawk) Forester Hunter. I do make characters within completely fictional cultures like my Dark Folk/Elven Shadow Walker Rogue.

I also love how Pathfinder has so many moving parts to character creation. I've been able to figure out how to make so many different characters in Pathfinder. I have PFS characters that are either heavily inspired by OR literally are Wolverine, Psylocke, Superman, Monkey D. Luffy, Jotaro Kujo, Robin Hood, and the Prince of Persia.

The cultures featured in this book are just superb. My favorite ones would be the Pahmet Dwarves of Osirion, the Ekujae Elves of the Mwangi Expanse, the Jininese Elves of Tian Xia, and the Frostkin Half-Orcs of the Crown of the World. Many of these cultures have archetypes made with them in mind, but my favorite amongst these is the Warrior Poet. I've wanted to see a Dexterity focused Samurai archetype for years now, but what I actually love about this archetype is the culture and flavor attached to it. I love Shelyn. My Muse-Touched Aasimar Paladin of Shelyn from my Rise of the Runelords is still one of my favorite characters. This archetype is great for rewarding investment in not just Dexterity, but Charisma as well. The idea of having a Samurai that thoroughly enjoys practicing Iaijutsu, Calligraphy, Poetry, Acting, Music, or Dance. Many of the archetype's features benefit from Dexterity & Charisma, but it isn't just a Swashbuckler copy. It has a unique identity.

---------------------------The following is an in-depth view of the archetype-----------------------------------------------------------

Warrior poets often study calligraphy, flower arrangement, poetry, and other courtly arts, but when called to battle, they treat combat as its own art form, fighting with beauty and grace. While these traditions first arose among the Jininese elves and are still extremely common in Jinin, the warrior poet’s art has spread to different nations and peoples in Tian Xia over centuries.
-^-
The archetype's flavor text does a great job giving you the essence of what it does and what kind of Samurai it makes you.

Dancer’s Grace (Ex): When wearing no armor and not using a shield, the warrior poet gains a bonus to Armor Class equal to her Charisma bonus (to a maximum of her samurai level). A warrior poet loses this bonus while flatfooted or otherwise denied her Dexterity bonus.
This replaces the samurai’s proficiency with medium armor, heavy armor, and shields.
-^-
This is basically a Charisma-based version of the Duelist PRC's Canny Defense feature, but with the Monk's equipment restrictions. Dancer's Grace doesn't really do much for the archetype until later levels and with a significant investment into Charisma. I do like that the Warrior Poet gets some help with AC in the few situations were they can't or don't wear armor.

For most of a Warrior Poet's career, it is better served by just wearing Light Armor. Losing access to Medium & Heavy Armor and Shields is rough, but not too rough for an character theme for high Dexterity. Many of the Warrior Poet's class features also require light or no armor. Mithral medium armor can be costly and you must beware of Armor Check penalties. This feature isn't really giving the Samurai a lot, but it definitely takes away options for equipment.

Flourish (Ex): The warrior poet is skilled at performing elegant moves in battle. At 1st level, the warrior poet gains a flourish of her choice from the list below. She gains another flourish at 3rd, 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th, and 20th levels.

Chrysanthemum’s Blooming: The warrior poet gains Vital Strike as a bonus feat and can apply its benefit when using Spring Attack. If the warrior poet is at least 16th level and has Improved Vital Strike, she can apply that feat’s benefit instead. The warrior poet must be at least 11th level to select this flourish.
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The level restriction is pretty serious. In PFS, you'd get one whole level to use this before reaching Seeker level.

Exodus of Jinin: As long as the warrior poet is wearing light or no armor and carrying no more than a light load, her land speed increases by 10 feet. A warrior poet can select this flourish up to three times.
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This fits for a speed & grace focused archetype. Its incredibly useful sisnce the speed bonus isn't an enhancement bonus. This is good, but not game breaking. Its just more speed.

Harmony of the Tranquil Garden: The warrior poet can focus her senses as a move action to gain blindsense out to 5 feet for 1 round. For every 5 samurai levels she has, the range of this blindsense increases by 5 feet.
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No where near game-breaking. Useful in the right situations, which I woudn't expect it to happen often. The action cost also prevents full attacking or full round(Spring Attack) actions. Not likely to be chosen until you nearly have no other options.

Jininsiel’s Guidance: The warrior poet gains the rogue’s uncanny dodge class feature. This flourish can be selected up to twice; selecting it a second time grants the warrior poet the rogue’s improved uncanny dodge class feature. The warrior poet must be at least 4th level to select this flourish the first time and at least 8th level to select this flourish the second time.
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This is another choice that just makes sense for a Dexterous warrior type. You have to be a minimum of the same level that a Rogue would get this features, but thats actually not even true since you don't receive Flourishes at 4th & 8th level. You won't be able to take this until your 5th & 9th levels.

Kitsune’s Mystique: The warrior poet gains Improved Feint as a bonus feat, ignoring its prerequisites. When the warrior poet uses Spring Attack or takes a move action to move, she can attempt to feint against one creature she threatens during her movement as part of her movement.
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The action economy improvement for this over just the Improved Feint feat is great. Not a must have, but definitely great. It is slightly level restrictive since the archetype doesn't grant the Spring Attack feat until 6th level.

Petals on the Wind: Whenever a foe provokes an attack of opportunity from the warrior poet, she can move 5 feet before making the attack of opportunity. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If the warrior poet takes an action to move during her next turn, she subtracts 5 feet from her total movement for each time she has used this ability since her last turn.
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Good option, but really requires Combat Reflexes to get the most out of it. Fits for a mobile class concept.

Wrath of the Heavens: The warrior poet gains Shot on the Run as a bonus feat, ignoring its prerequisites.
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The possibility of getting Shot on the Run at 1st level is pretty amazing, but as with any ranged build, it needs Precise Shot after the first round of combat. The usual goal with ranged combat is the launch as many attacks as possible in a round, but this pushes you into the archetype's Spring Attack style of combat.
This replaces mount, weapon expertise, banner, and greater banner.
-^-
The Flourishes are pretty impressive, but mostly on par with many Rogue Talents, Ninja Tricks, and Slayer Talents. You get access to really good abilities, but not the flexibility given in Rogue Talents like Combat Trick.

I actually really like Weapon Expertise and I was a little saddened the archetype gets rid of it. Quick Draw is great in the right situations. Counting Samurai levels as Fighter levels means access to Weapon Expertise and Greater Weapon Focus.

Graceful Warrior (Ex): The warrior poet gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat and can apply its benefits to glaives, katanas, and naginatas as if they were light weapons. This does not alter the weapons’ properties for the purposes of any other effects.
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I love this part of this archetype. But when it comes down to it, isn't much better than Swashbuckler's Finesse. Its great, don't get me wrong, but again, not game-breaking. This gives you the Weapon Finesse feat and 3 more weapons that wouldn't normally be finessable. Two of these weapons are reach weapons, but anyone can use Weapon Finesse with the Elven Branched Spear. An Elven Samurai can treat an Elven Branched Spear as a martial weapon. A Human Samurai can just take Exotic Weapon Proficiency or the Military Tradition racial trait. I still say that if being able to finesse all three is a problem for Organized Play, you can either restrict the benefit for the naginata & glaive OR make the Warrior Poet choose one of the three weapons to be able to finesse.

The feature is also well written with "This does not alter the weapons’ properties for the purposes of any other effects" to prevent any real abuse.

Skirmisher’s Challenge (Ex): The warrior poet adds her samurai level to her damage rolls only on her first successful attack against a challenged target each round.
This modifies challenge.
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This is a huge nerf to the Challenge features damage output and also adds to the Dexterous & mobile Spring Attack style of combat. Definitely not abusable.

Graceful Strike (Ex): At 4th level, when the warrior poet uses Weapon Finesse to make a melee attack that adds her Dexterity bonus to attack rolls and her Strength bonus to damage rolls, she also adds half her samurai level to damage rolls.
This replaces mounted archer and demanding challenge.
-^-
I find this and the Vigilante's Lethal Grace to be great alternatives to many of the other methods of boosting damage on Weapon Finesse combatants. It helps but doesn't step on the toes of the Swashbuckler's Precise Strike. It also helps to counter the loss of damage in Challenge.

Battle Dance (Ex): At 6th level, the warrior poet gains Spring Attack as a bonus feat. At 12th level, she gains Improved Spring Attack as a bonus feat, and at 18th level, she gains Greater Spring Attack as a bonus feat. The warrior poet does not need to meet the prerequisites for these feats.
This replaces the samurai’s bonus combat feats.
-^-
Getting Spring Attack and some of its related feats for free is good, but losing straight bonus feats is pretty rough. Now you don't need to meet the prereq's of Spring Attack, but those preq's also do help you to be better at Spring Attack-ing. You aren't getting Improved Spring Attack until Seeker levels.

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I would like to say even after taking this objective view into the archetype, I would still be excited to be able to play this archetype. I've seen several people here on the forums mention their love for the archetype and its been a bit frustrating seeing the archetype get the "hammer". I was just shocked to see the Warrior Poet not make it through to legality. I was honestly a little worried when I saw that the archetype can finesse Glaives & Naginatas(I remember the Bladed Brush ban), but as I've mentioned earlier, nothing about that is amazing or game-breaking(Elven Branched Spear). Bladed Brush allowed Swashbucklers and others to use Slashing Grace with Glaives. The archetype has a great alternative to using Slashing Grace anyways.

The archetype isn't very flexible as far as builds go and you'll never get as much damage with Spring Attack as with full attack actions. If you want a quick, confident, and mobile Samurai warrior, this is the archetype for you. And the Order of the Songbird in the same book. This Order is awesome. You can get Versatile Performance like a Bard and good luck to anyone a Songbird Order Warrior Poet challenges to be able to hit back. Its literally made for Shelyn worshippers.

The archetype is perfect for a myriad of Samurai tropes. The image of the unarmored, yukata-clad Samurai like those seen in Kurosawa films, many Anime & Manga series, and Video Games. Sanjuro in Yojimbo, Haohmaru or Ukyo in Samurai Spirits, Himura Kenshin in Rurouni Kenshin, or Manji in Blade of the Immortal. With the "Harmony of the Tranquil Garden" Flourish and the Blind-Fight feats, you can even make Zatoichi.

To John and the rest of the PFS staff, I thank you for your time and consideration. Best of wishes to you and yours and have a Happy New Year.