blammit's page

My oracle guide got removed because someone reported it as spam. I've got it straightened out, link appears to be working fine.

Divine Gift: A Guide to the PF2e Oracle [Legacy]

Arcobatic Performer is an amazing skill feat. Perform checks rarely specify what type and the only default thing it doesn't support is earn income roles. This is how a CHA tanked character can participate in social skills/challenges. Should be blue IMO (especially for PFS where skill challenges or chase sequences have a variety of mixed skill options). This is about as close to and the only example of X to Y in the system.

I don't know that I can agree to this being blue. Its utility in enabling low-CHA builds is potentially very good. The fact that it relies entirely on GM discretion as to how effect Perform will be, though, makes it situational at best. If I can't rely on my GM to enable the action, it's utterly worthless. I've updated it to a situational rating, though.

Trick Magic Item should be blue. This is how you get buff wands onto non caster classes. L2 Longstrider is one example, but tons of utility spells like comprehend languages, invisibility, fly, etc.

Great points. Updated to blue.

Tattoo Artist - I'd include tooth and claw since its L6 and allows you to effectively for 1 action polymorph up an equivalent unarmed strike with a different damage type (like a really weird modular trait for unarmed builds). Really great for monks, or strange switch hitters using kashrishi horns, or STR based 1d8 lizard folks/chompy goblins with only one damage type, etc.

Added.

Bon Mot is an easy blue.

I don't know why I didn't make it blue before. Fixed.

Additional Lore - One thing maybe worth mentioning is that Share Lore is a pretty great utility spell that really synergizes.

I've added a note on the matter.

Do you plan on including the skill feats in archetypes?

Yeah, I probably should, although I'll likely stick to common archetypes since that's been the case with the rest of the guide. Thanks for pointing some of them out!

Submitting for addition to the list: Flex-Fit Form Finder: A PF2e Battle Form Comparison Tool

discussion thread

I've put together a pseudo-guide on battle form stats. It's entirely spreadsheet-based and designed to provide quick visual comparison between battle form options, (mostly) broken out by similar stat groupings (attack bonuses, for example). I don't have it broken out by spell tradition type, but there are indicators in the column headers of which spells are available for which traditions. There's significantly less commentary in this spreadsheet set than in my other guides because the format is built to impart information without having to read much in the way of text blocks. The only real blocks of text reside on the landing page, which is designed to provide guide orientation, and in notes/amplifications below the main body of each sheet.

The guide

if an enemy isn't within range they can "make a strike against an invisible enemy I suspect is within an adjacent square," aka swing into empty air and reload.

I hadn't considered that, thank you.

Doesn't the recent errata state that you DO need Magical Crafting to transfer runes?

Updated. I managed to miss that in the errata.

On Magical Shorthand:

It allows using Downtime to get spells at lower cost, specifically. It's basically an alternative Earn Income. Also, more importantly, it allows trying again if you fail to learn a spell without waiting for a level up.

Also updated, thank you.

And while we're at it, updated link.

Kinda weird that repeating hand crossbow is rated so low when unconventional weaponry (RHC) is available through drow culture and together with paired shots produces one of the stronger bases for gunslinger builds on the market.

I hadn't considered that. I suppose there is a mechanical basis for it with the drow shootist archetype. I'll add them in the appropriate sections.

Way agnostic.

I disagree here. Vanguard and Triggerbrand lose out on a lot of their kits with RHCs.

Ah - one other thing - the list for Munitions Machinist doesn't have the elemental ammunition in it (upgrades are level 5 and 11 items, so 8 and 14). (Also, thank you for doing that list - it's very useful)

Your example on Capacity is wrong. It takes an action to switch to a new barrel. So you could not shoot three times in a round.

Yeah, I brain farted and got it mixed up with the repeating trait. It's fixed now, thank you!

Nice work

Thanks Gortle!

On magical ammo - while it requires Alchemical Crafting to make magical ammo, the book does not actually say that magical bullets are alchemical. There are a number of types of magical ammunition that are only available as bullets that do not have the Alchemical trait on their entry, so I'm inclined to think that's the intent.

Unless I'm mistaken, traits are inherited. Rounds can always be made with black powder, which has the alchemical trait, and which is inherited for magical ammunition rounds. I don't think this was an intended rules interaction, but it doesn't strike me as a "too good to be true" interaction. The only exception I can immediately see is for pellets, since they can be rounds.

Edit: One Shot, One Kill only allows drawing for a free action. You have to strike normally, but gain a small damage bonus. It's by far the worst of the initial deeds, imo.

Fixed.

Harmona Gun does in fact have Kickback. It's unfortunate. The Jezail is probably the best 2h gun for low str builds.

... This is what I get for looking at a thousand different things over and over for two months. Thank you for correcting me.

You seem to have overlooked the Gunner's Bandolier, which makes the historically-accurate fire once and draw a new gun playstyle work.

I didn't overlook it. Drawing a weapon before each shot invalidates much of the gunslinger kit. It negates all of the action economy easements that any gunslinger gets with a reload. Someone else did point out that a gunner's bandolier adds trait and use case flexibility, which I have added.

Fake Out does not actually fire your gun, it merely has to be loaded. It's probably the one reaction Slinger's Reflexes is actually good for honestly. (Give your fighter +4 to hit twice, and laugh at the crits)

Thanks for pointing this one out, too. That's one of the edits I meant to go back and iron over - it's fixed now.

I seriously appreciate your feedback - it's not always this polite.

My gunslinger guide: Front Toward Enemy: A Guide to the PF2e Gunslinger

Discussion thread

Also, Divine Gift: A Guide to the PF2e Oracle and Free Your Mind: A Guide to the PF2e Psychic are updated as of January 2023, and Talent Show: A PF2e Skill Feat Guide as of February 2023.

Gunslinger guide with some of the more updated options included.

I've decided to put it up as-is and work on editing over the next few weeks. There are a few bumpy spots that I'm still working on ironing out - cleaner language, more connections to useful items, and I'm pretty sure there are legacy descriptions that I meant to go back and re-edit that I haven't caught yet. I am once again reminded that editing your own work is difficult. I think it's in a done-enough state to be correct and useful, and I'll be improving it in the near future.

Front Toward Enemy: A Guide to the PF2e Gunslinger

Now that I'm looking into it more, the language on the agile trait is a much clearer expression of how the agile trait works for combination weapons:

"The multiple attack penalty you take with this weapon on the second attack on your turn is –4 instead of –5..."

Which at least makes that trait function cleanly, but I'm not sure whether that should imply the other traits work when doing a ranged 1st, melee 2nd turn or not.

Much more the second interpretation, and the murkiness is the problem. Nearly the same with forceful - you've already attacked with the weapon in ranged mode, why wouldn't the damage bonus apply for a follow-up melee Strike? It also doesn't make sense that kickback would apply in any application of melee mode. The fact that these have sort of similar language without any real RAW clarification is causing me problems. "Go with my gut" works at my table, and it's sort of doable to see/implement what seems to be the RAI, but "murky" is spot on and what's driving this issue.

There are some differences in language between certain combination weapon traits that I'm having trouble with.

The sweep trait uses one form of language:

"When you attack with this weapon, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your attack roll if you already attempted to attack a different target this turn using this weapon."

The forceful trait, another:

"This weapon becomes more dangerous as you build momentum. When you attack with it more than once on your turn, the second attack gains a circumstance bonus to damage equal to the number of weapon damage dice..."

And the kickback trait, yet another:

"A kickback weapon deals 1 additional damage with all attacks."

My gut says that none of these traits should apply outside of the mode in which the trait exists. The RAW language, though, makes me think there's more nuance to it. Sweep, especially, feels like it should apply regardless of mode: it's still the same weapon, even if only one mode bears the sweep trait. Forceful seems like it should apply, but it doesn't have the same "this weapon" word usage. Kickback seems to disagree with both, implying that the kickback damage only applies when the weapon is in ranged mode - it's only a kickback weapon if it can kick.

I haven't been able to find anything in the forums addressing this issue so far. Am I missing something? Is there a good RAW way to rule this?

The "area" is incorrect on AoN. In the PDF (and, I assume, the physical printing), it's "Targets: 1 creature."

Necro'd, but can't access the guide any more.

Submitting my psychic guide, Free Your Mind: A Guide to the PF2e Psychic. Discussion thread is here.

I'm back with another guide! This time, I'm covering the psychic. The guide is currently in a very early stage, but it's got writeups of all the core psychic class features: conscious minds, subconscious minds, and class feats.

As with my oracle guide, I'll be building this guide out more as I go. Eventually, it'll include advice for every ancestry and versatile heritage, as well as every occult spell (and the few non-occult spells that certain conscious minds can use) and which skills are worth investment. It'll also have recommendations for particularly applicable archetypes, skill feats, and general feats, plus a short section at the end touching on psychic as an archetype for other classes.

I hope you all find this guide useful, and please feel free to give feedback!

Free Your Mind: A Guide to the PF2e Psychic

Do any of the above 4 guides have associated discussion threads yet?

Linked

The PCs in my campaign like to take advantage of terrain. Standing atop at 10-foot-tall rock and throwing a cantrip with range 30 feet is a lot safer than casting the same cantrip on level ground in easy reach of the opponent. Several PCs have invested in class feats and ancestry feats that make them better at climbing, but then they add the skill feat Combat Climber as the icing on the cake because sometimes they attack while climbing rather than after climbing. Furthermore, dropping down is faster than climbing down, and PF2 lacks rules for safely jumping down, so Catfall is the other side of 3-dimensional combat.

Also, during Assault on Longshadow after they defeated an Ironfang army from atop the walls of Longshadow, they used Catfall to jump down off the wall to pursue the fleeing enemy. If they had to lower ropes and climb down or exit via the city gates, then the enemy would have escaped. About half of the seven-member party trained in Acrobatics and learned Catfall, and they don't regret it.

Given this context, I think both feats are rated appropriately. Cat Fall isn't so amazing that it should be an auto-pick, but it's definitely a good choice and certainly makes a difference. Combat Climber is good in the right circumstances, namely terrain, but that terrain isn't always (or even necessarily often) going to be available. Great in the right situation, for sure. Its speed also still makes its action economy a tough, but situational and interesting decision. Feat's worth taking, it just seems like it's best to identify its limitations and when it's good.

The rogue Sam with high-Charisma scoundrel racket and Sorcerer multiclass archetype maximized the proficiency of his Deception. Thus, even though you said regarding Lie to Me, "(**)(1) Primarily useful for builds with poor perception progression and/or low WIS, allowing you to substitute in your deception DC against those trying to lie to you. Rogues probably don’t need it because of their perception progression, but other high-CHA classes like sorcerer and oracle will appreciate it," this particular rogue has made excellent use of Lie to Me to be a living lie detector.

I may have to edit the language a bit, but it still nearly fits the spirit of what I'm trying to convey with Lie to Me. It's a good replacement if your perception DC is weaker than your deception DC.

The other rogue Binny with high-Dexterity thief racket took the Stealth skill feats Quiet Allies and Swift Sneak. Swift Sneak is rightly labeled four-star blue Great. Quiet Allies has also been useful with Binny as the expert (now master) in Stealth for Follow the Leader, but it helps that everyone in the party has good Dexterity and training in Stealth. Our campaign started in the module Trail of the Hunted with the party protecting refugees hiding in the forest, so the players decided during Session Zero that they would all need Stealth.

The party has used their Stealth to ambush enemies. The ranger Zinfandel's skill feat Snare Crafting and class feat Snare Specialist have come in handy because snares are great for an ambush where they can be set up before the encounter and the party can lure the enemy into the snares. Nevertheless, this is definitely a special situation, so I don't think it raises Snare Crafting about the two-star yellow Situational blammit gave it.

These all feel like good examples of the ratings I gave those feats. Quiet Allies is good in the right circumstance - namely, a party all built to have decent DEX and consistent DEX progression. Likewise with the Snare feats - hopefully my line in there that they're great with the right build (mostly ranger) makes appropriate sense.

I think there might be some bias overrating on the thievery skill feats.

I've had a lot of players take them, and they've almost never put any to use because there simply wasn't much to take.

Strongest argument I've seen to change a rating. I'll re-look at thievery and give it a harder look at what's situational. Most of my interpretation goes off of how common it is for an NPC to have an item that's a key part of its build/strategy or how common it is for a MacGuffin to be a key part of a story arc, but to your point, that's not as often the case as I think I tried to put into the guide.

I just attempted following the link, I got a "file does not exist" error. Is sharing turned on?

Should be working now. Weirdly, I just copy-pasted the link from the other thread... oh well. It's fixed. I think.

Submitting my skill feat guide, Talent Show: A PF2e Skill Feat Guide.

Cyouni wrote:

Linkified

Powerful Leap: High/Long Jump explicitly include Leap as part of it. That said, in most cases I suspect you're only going to see this used as part of Long Jump to extend by 5 feet.

Cloud Jump: Not sure where the confusion is? It modifies High/Long Jump, which itself modifies Leap.

Thanks for the link! I'm not super well-versed with this forum yet.

As for High Jump and Long Jump, I didn't see anything that would alter the Subordinate Action rules. Powerful Leap explicitly alters the Leap action, but Leap is a subordinate action as part of those feats. Per Subordinate Action rules, "An action might allow you to use a simpler action—usually one of the Basic Actions on page 469—in a different circumstance or with different effects. This subordinate action still has its normal traits and effects, but is modified in any ways listed in the larger action. For example, an activity that tells you to Stride up to half your Speed alters the normal distance you can move in a Stride... Using an activity is not the same as using any of its subordinate actions. For example, the quickened condition you get from the haste spell lets you spend an extra action each turn to Stride or Strike, but you couldn’t use the extra action for an activity that includes a Stride or Strike. As another example, if you used an action that specified, 'If the next action you use is a Strike,' an activity that includes a Strike wouldn’t count, because the next thing you are doing is starting an activity, not using the Strike basic action." I may be reading this wrong, but I see this like any other class feat - Double Slice allows you to make two Strikes, but any other effect that modifies Strikes wouldn't modify Double Slice. I see Powerful Leap vs. High/Long Jump the same way. Leap is a subordinate action, and Powerful Leap only changes Leap, not High/Long Jump.

Since I can't edit this post, putting this up as a retraction - I've seen the light and changed the entries for Powerful Leap and Cloud Jump.

I think Powerful Leap is a bit better than you give it credit for. Leap takes only 1 action and doesn't require a check or running start. It can't go quite as far or high as Jump but it'll always work and cheaper.

(That said, I have a monk with all the leaping stuff, and it almost never comes up.)

Good point. That's actually what I was trying to convey. I'll edit the language to make it more clear.

Here's a whole thread about cloud jump, quick jump and leap well explained ( in my opinion ), if you wanna take a look at it.

Rad, thank you. I'll take a look through that and edit as needed.

Linkified

Powerful Leap: High/Long Jump explicitly include Leap as part of it. That said, in most cases I suspect you're only going to see this used as part of Long Jump to extend by 5 feet.

Cloud Jump: Not sure where the confusion is? It modifies High/Long Jump, which itself modifies Leap.

Thanks for the link! I'm not super well-versed with this forum yet.

As for High Jump and Long Jump, I didn't see anything that would alter the Subordinate Action rules. Powerful Leap explicitly alters the Leap action, but Leap is a subordinate action as part of those feats. Per Subordinate Action rules, "An action might allow you to use a simpler action—usually one of the Basic Actions on page 469—in a different circumstance or with different effects. This subordinate action still has its normal traits and effects, but is modified in any ways listed in the larger action. For example, an activity that tells you to Stride up to half your Speed alters the normal distance you can move in a Stride... Using an activity is not the same as using any of its subordinate actions. For example, the quickened condition you get from the haste spell lets you spend an extra action each turn to Stride or Strike, but you couldn’t use the extra action for an activity that includes a Stride or Strike. As another example, if you used an action that specified, 'If the next action you use is a Strike,' an activity that includes a Strike wouldn’t count, because the next thing you are doing is starting an activity, not using the Strike basic action." I may be reading this wrong, but I see this like any other class feat - Double Slice allows you to make two Strikes, but any other effect that modifies Strikes wouldn't modify Double Slice. I see Powerful Leap vs. High/Long Jump the same way. Leap is a subordinate action, and Powerful Leap only changes Leap, not High/Long Jump.

That rules interaction is also why I wrote Cloud Jump the way I did - it specifies how it interacts with Leap and circumvents the Subordinate Action rules. I couldn't find anything that would prove a different interpretation. I do appreciate you pointing this out though - this was the biggest thing that I felt unsure about as far as rules deliberation.

Hello everyone, I'm blammit, the author of Divine Gift: A Guide to the PF2e Oracle. I saw a comment a while back on Zenith's Guide to the Guides about wanting a skill feat guide, so I wrote one up, available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P-jXDvoEAraMuy3QIMuFhrTNvq_Vh27UbPwFw5s tZrI/edit?usp=sharing

Looking for feedback on it. If you've got different experiences with various feats, feel like I missed some key value of a feat, or if I just plain old got RAW wrong somewhere, I'd very much appreciate you folks taking a look over it so I can make it as good as it can be. I'm also considering adding a section on archetype skill feats, but I started into it and it felt like it just didn't quite fit with the spirit of the guide. If you think it'd be a valuable addition, please let me know. Thanks for your feedback!

I did find a couple, must have been in modules. Sorry for the comment. Thank you again by the way.

Helpful info for me if you happen to run across them again. I'd like that thing to be 100% accurate. Just did a re-dig through AoN to double check, I don't think I'm *outright* missing any deities, but might have missed some places where deities should be available for certain mysteries. In any event, yeah, feel free to message me here or on reddit as u/double_blammit if you find a discrepancy.

Fixing up Divine Access - which is really important. BTW thanks for Divine Access Guide its missing the latest but it is a huge help to navigating Deities.

Author here - what's it missing? I try to be diligent on deities, but it's hard to catch every splatbook.

Ancestors

The Ancestor Mystery is one of the worst. You do get a couple of free ancestry feats which is nice, but having a failure chance for the main thing that your character does of 20% and higher is intolerable.

15% (only fails on 1, 2 or 3 since it's DC 4), but yeah, it's still a failure chance, which sucks.

I figured that the intent was for the PC to move north and then west to get to the destination as part if a Tumble Through action, not to Stride directly northwest to the destination because a question about Striding through a corner wouldn't involve the Tumble Through action at all.

If we instead use diagram 2, a Tumble through could still clearly go north, west and west again to reach the destination.

This clears it up, thank you.

RAW, it SEEMS like tumble through works around a physical corner. Given how attacks work, it doesn't seem like a Tumble Through action should work at a direct 90 degree angle around a corner. How should this actually be interpreted?

Alchemist should have the same medium armor proficiency progression as it does for light armor per the second errata.

"Page 71: Alchemists should have proficiency in medium armor to make things easier for mutagenists who pursue higher Strength and lower Dexterity. Add training in medium armor to their initial proficiencies as well as to their 13th and 19th level armor expertise and mastery class features."