bmardiney's page

Nice. Well I think my player is going to choose before an alchemist blog post materializes, but neat anyway.

Yeah I was mostly looking for the design philosophy behind the changes. And it seems to be "make them less of a prepared caster-type and more of a ranged striking type". Which is fine.

Just about to start playing Outlaws of Alkenstar for the first time and someone wants to play an alchemist. Do we have any info (like from interviews or anything) about what's being changed for the player core 2? Not necessarily every detail, but at least the general theme of what's being changed? Is it being simplified? Expanded? Is it going to be easier or harder to play?

Okay cool, thanks.

Ohhhhhh damn, that's a crazy fact about the ranged option. That's like a game changer.

But hold on, Implement's Interruption should work on all concentrate actions, so therefor, all spellcasting, right?

I'm comparing these two feats and it seems as though Reactive Strike covers ranged attacks while Imp's Interr doesn't. Meanwhile Imp's Interr covers concentrate actions but Reactive Strike doesn't. Am I reading this correctly?

This is sort of a no-brainer. I just bought all these cards last year and they are largely useless now. It's a little upsetting, and they were expensive. Can we get some kind of "remaster pack"? It's still going to be more money, but at least there would be a readily available solution to this problem.

The "Chair" companions (Legchair, Oozeform chair & Rootball chair) are all pretty good for casters.

Their support benefits don't help casters with their magic directly, but they help mitigate other concerns. Such as movement, cover, Oozeform might be able to grant off-guard, etc.

Beastmaster is a somewhat slept on caster supporting archetype, as, after 4th level, you essentially gain a bonus action to Stride, meaning you can use Spellshape feeats more freely. This is indeed addition to granting additional early-level focus points, which is a real boon post-remaster.

If only animate chairs weren't so silly. One of my players is playing a native-american-inspired elf druid and the bald eagle works so well, thematically. It's just too bad you can't ride it and the support ability is not useable.

I'll just point out that an Animal Companion is already a quite useful option for a spell caster, even a non weapon using one.

If you ride it for 1 action you get lots of movement and (once Mature) depending on GM ruling you MAY get movement for no action.

Or you have something useful to do with your 3rd action while staying safely out of combat range and without having to spend attribute points on it.

This is all kind of beside the point. I have no idea why he even brought up the idea of "magical vs non-magical creatures". What's actually happening in-universe is your AC is working with you to combo-attack a target. Just because you are flinging a magic missile instead of an arrow doesn't mean your animal companion would act any differently if they had the "magic" tag. A wolf would harass your target just as well as a shadow hound. There just isn't any lore/verisimilitude reason for any of this to matter to the topic at hand. The ONLY consideration would be gameplay balance.

Themetricsystem wrote:

Because they are Animal Companions and the Animal Creature type is generally one that can be summarized as either real-world animals that actually exist or in-universe unintelligent Creatures with an entirely biological existence that isn't at all related to magic or supernatural powers, or to put it another way, the entire Animal Creature type is basically defined by their lack of magical abilities and features.

It doesn't make any sense to create Animals that function with or exist to support spellcasting because, well, they have absolutely no predisposition toward any form of magical talent on their own.

We have magical animals though. The cave worm family are magical, and so are some alien critters, like those from Castrovel, or animals from the Elemental Planes. The Animal trait is more linked to intelligence than any magical aptitude; everything of -4 Int or lower is an animal, and anything beast-shaped but of -3 or higher is a Beast.

Animal Trait wrote:

An animal is a creature with a relatively low intelligence. It typically doesn’t have an Intelligence ability modifier over –4, can’t speak languages, and can’t be trained in Intelligence-based skills.

"Hit and deal damage" seems like it would be a little too overpowered (especially when you consider multi-target/AOE spells).

Because they are Animal Companions and the Animal Creature type is generally one that can be summarized as either real-world animals that actually exist or in-universe unintelligent Creatures with an entirely biological existence that isn't at all related to magic or supernatural powers, or to put it another way, the entire Animal Creature type is basically defined by their lack of magical abilities and features.

It doesn't make any sense to create Animals that function with or exist to support spellcasting because, well, they have absolutely no predisposition toward any form of magical talent on their own.

That doesn't really follow. The whole point of, say, the bird's attack on an enemy's eyes is that they are simply working with the archer to attack as a team. Whether I fire an arrow or a ray of frost wouldn't really change much in this regard, at least from an immersion/lore perspective.

I was thinking it made sense for any single-target spell attack (as in, vs AC, not a save) to be allowed as a "strike" for these purposes. Since a single-target spell attack functions essentially the same as a strike from bow and arrow.

Just wondering why nearly all animal companions have a support ability made only for melee/bow users (those who "strike"). Especially when one of the main ways someone would get an animal without using Beastmaster is by being an animal order druid. You'd think at least half would have something that complimented a druid's spellcasting or at least didn't actively exclude it.

Hmm. So the first printing is more for the "I need it now!" crowd and they don't order a huge shipment of them? Makes me think I should wait.

Just curious, about how often are subsequent printings done of core rule books? I preordered the Player Core but now I'm seeing SO much errata on day 1, I'm wondering if I'm better of canceling my preorder and just waiting 6 months - 1 year (if that's the usual amount of time) to get the 2nd printing.

Warped Savant wrote:

Keep in mind that, including Starfinder, Paizo is currently on their 46th and 47th adventure paths (24 PF1, 12 PF2, & 11 Starfinder).

Of those, only 6 have been collected into hardcovers. (Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Kingmaker, Abomination Vaults, Fists of the Ruby Phoenix, and Dead Suns.)

Holding out on not buying softcovers because it might be released as a hardcover later is a significant gamble as any AP has a chance of not getting collected and some out of print books sell for ridiculously high prices on ebay.

From the office of pedantry, don't forget the 3 Adventure Paths we did in Dungeon Magazine, which included another hardcover compilation.

But yes. we don't compile Adventure Paths often into hardcover, and do so at a much slower rate than we publish new ones, so we will NEVER compile them all. We generally don't announce compilations that far in advance (even though we do start working on them further out), so if you're worried about buying an Adventure Path in its softcover format only for us to announce a hardcover one the next day... chances of that happening aren't zero, but they're pretty low.

We do intend to keep them always available via PDF though so they're still available that way even if physical copies sell out.

Okay great, thanks for the reply. I will not worry about this then. I just happened to luck out and get into Pathfinder (and tabletop in general) right after the hardcover of Abomination Vaults released. So it skewed by perception of how often they are made :p

bmardiney wrote:

I'd like to buy as many adventures and paths as possible, but I'm always worried that I'll buy a bunch of softcover installments without realizing that a hardcover collection was in the works and I should have waited.

The best place to hear about hardcover collections as early as possible is to follow the Paizo blog.

Paizo blog
Paizo always announces new publications there first.

The problem is that there is no way to predict which Adventure Paths are going to be collated into a hardcover. It depends on sales, customer demand, and Paizo's assessment of where retelling old stories might fit into their mission of telling new stories.

Some APs get hardcover treatment and some don't. You can't really predict it while the single-volume publications are coming out. It's usually several years later that that happens.

Okay thanks. Guess I'll just buy as I want to run them, as opposed to ahead of time.

I'd like to buy as many adventures and paths as possible, but I'm always worried that I'll buy a bunch of softcover installments without realizing that a hardcover collection was in the works and I should have waited. Is there a particular place (either here or on YouTube or something) where a list of all hardcover adventure paths, both released and in-production, can be found? For example, I'm eyeing Agents of Edgewatch and Strength of Thousands since they seem ripe for a hardcover.

If you turn into a full on fox, yes. You'd only expect to keep your clothes on when you're a fox-person hybrid, or if you turn into a humanoid alternate form.

Okay right, that. That's the context for my original question.

Wait...so in fox form, you're basically useless except as a claw-machine? And you're naked?

Oh no wait, pest form says no strike actions. So then totally useless.

EDIT: Ack, yes I meant tail-less form. So like, humanoid fox person -> human and back again.

Do Kitsune in fox form have human feet or fox-like paws? And if they have paws, how does one deal with the shoe issue when switching between the forms?

Okay cool thanks. For future reference, posting on Meetup.com seems like the way to go so far.

FLGS?

Already did, thanks!

It's weird, I'm not seeing an edit button.

I am for this post but not the original one.

Hi all, if you're in the Baltimore, MD region and want to play in real life, please join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/tMWKs3VxX

We have all of the supplies and resources necessary (including a TV-Table gameboard). All you would have to do is show up. Newbies also welcome. And if you just have questions, email me at bmardiney@gmail.com. Thanks!

Currently, I'm looking for a group to play in real life in the Baltimore region. I've used NextDoor.com and tried to comb through Discord for servers. I'm about to try forming a Meetups.com group. Does anyone else have suggestions of where to post/look?

Yeah I probably make it harder for myself but every session, I award an MVP award to whomever was the most fun/engaged player. Part of that is 50 XP. I try to spread it around a little when possible but it does lead to some characters being a level ahead for a session or so.

Oh, you can also let the first couple levels respond more organically to PC presence. If every level negative one mite teamed up on 3rd level PCs, the PCs should still win. That will speed up the progress as well.

You mean like as soon as they enter the dungeon, the entire floor rushes to battle them? Hmm. Maybe I can do that for adjoining rooms (like they hear commotion). But I don't want to have 1 giant battle and then a huge empty ruin to explore with no danger.

The XP from that section works on two different scales, which probably led to bmardiney wondering whether they made a mistake.

No I'm not even smart enough to have been confused at that deep of a level :p It really was just that I had the encounter budget XP listed on my GM screen but every time I looked it up online, I got this chart: https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=574 and it made me think I was using the wrong system. As in, I began to think that the numbers for BUILDING an encounter were different from the numbers for REWARDING an encounter. But now I'm learning that they are one and the same, which is good because that's easier to understand.

I'm okay with them destroying things for most of the first floor. I guess I'll just adjust the XP gain accordingly (like 20 xp for most of them or something). Also I'll try to just add in an extra creature or 2 for places it makes sense.

My plan was to give them the fishing camp part of Trouble first so they have a "base of operations", then do like chapter 1 and 2 of AV, then go back to the second Trouble adventure, then back to AV for another 2-3 chapters, then finish Trouble. That's the overall idea.

Hmm....feels like robbing of them of content. I guess I could read through it with the eye of "if I got rid of this encounter, would it feels like something is missing". Okay, that's not a bad idea.

I'm okay with them destroying things for most of the first floor. I guess I'll just adjust the XP gain accordingly (like 20 xp for most of them or something). Also I'll try to just add in an extra creature or 2 for places it makes sense.

My plan was to give them the fishing camp part of Trouble first so they have a "base of operations", then do like chapter 1 and 2 of AV, then go back to the second Trouble adventure, then back to AV for another 2-3 chapters, then finish Trouble. That's the overall idea.

Yeah I get that. Honestly, that seems less fun to me. I like the idea that they can see the numbers go up and feel like they are working their way towards something, rather than daddy GM proclaiming the world is different now. I came from video games so I'm very much of that mindset.

I've got a party of 4 going into the AV campaign but the problem is that they are already level 3. They played Menace Under Otari (the Beginner's Box) and they just got done clearing the fishing camp in Troubles in Otari. So now they are very over-leveled for AV. Should I modify the first dungeon (the surface-level keep) to account for their higher level (maybe add more creatures to each encounter)? Or should I just leave it alone? Also, should I keep giving them XP (though in much smaller amounts)? Or should I just stop giving XP until they reach the third floor? That sounds less fun to me, like I'm denying them rewards, so I'm hesitant to do that. Any help from veteran GMs is appreciated.

Oh interesting. Okay, so if I'm using APs written by Paizo, I just use the encounter budget chart, then modify up or down based on level and severity. Okay cool.

My last question is where do I find the official encounter budget chart? I have it printed on my GM divider screen but I can't seem to find it in the core rulebook. There are these charts, but apparently they were just confusing me: https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=574

I'm a little confused about how XP is awarded for encounters. At first, I was looking at the XP budget list for creating encounters and awarding based on that (so for a moderate encounter at party level, I was giving 80 XP). I think I realize now that that's the wrong chart to be looking at and I gave out too much XP for a while there.

Now I'm looking at the Adversary Level chart and it's saying 40 XP for a party-level encounter. But from there, I don't know how to raise or lower it based on SEVERE, MODERATE, EASY, etc. And then I assume after I figure that out, I go up or down a step based on how over or under-leveled the party is. Right?

Oh sweet. I've already pre-ordered it. Thanks!

One of my players picked up Tattoo Artist as a skill perk at level 2, but in looking through my books and the Archive, it seems like there are only a handful of tattoos and none of them can be used until level 3. Why does the perk say you can craft tattoos of 2nd level and lower if there are no level 1 or 2 tattoos?

I feel bundle and hardcover collection are antithetical. Hence why I bought the Strength bundle. Because its mere existence convinced me that the AP would not get the collected edition treatment. Same for Quest for the Frozen Flame.

I think a company will monetize anything and everything they can. Besides, just because someone bought the PDF doesn't mean they won't buy the hardcover as well. I'm a perfect example of that. I've bought 2 (maybe 3?) Pathfinder bundles but I also own all the hardcover books released for 2e so far.

FotRP is full of anime-esque goodness, that's for true.

Paizo might also be experimenting with other ways to sell bundled APs that people like. There was a Humble Bundle, well, bundle for Strength of Thousands a bit ago that had the adventure entire, and also all the 2E Mwangi-inspired material.

Yeah I think I actually bought that. Still, I like me some hardcover books. One of the main thing that separates PC games from tabletop is feeling the materials in your hands.

Wrath has sold very well on PC. So here's hoping.

And I'm fine with Ruby existing. I just have no interest in Asian-themed locales or stories. I also can't stand anime, so there's that :p

Didn't Strength of Thousands do really well? And maybe they can convert their best-selling ones from 1e as well, similar to Kingmaker. But thanks for the info, too bad Ruby Phoenix is the only one I'm completely uninterested in (Mortal Kombat and medieval RPG don't really go together in my mind, also why I'll never play monk class).

I'm looking to get most of the adventure paths eventually, but I absolutely want to wait for any that are getting the hardcover collection treatment, ala Abomination Vaults, rather than getting a bunch of paperback ones. Do we know what Paizo is planning?

Jesus. I really wish this was always going in 1 direction. Okay so rolls against AC (either with melee or spell) is easy to understand. But rolls against reflex, will and fortitude still seem tricky to me. You have to figure out who (or what) is "active" and then go in that direction.

And in the case of traps, the trap is the "active" there? Meaning the trap rolls against the save DC of the PC?

So something I keep running into when GMing (I'm new) is knowing who dice roll ties go to and who even rolls dice in which situations.

Specifically, saving throws are the big one. I just confirmed that attack roll vs AC, tie goes to the attacker. But when it comes to the saving throws, A) I don't know who gets the DC and who get the roll. And B) in a tie, what happens?

I haven't looked it up yet but I'm also assuming with skill checks, tie goes to the player.

Interesting. I think I'd still rather go local if I can but it's good to know there are options.

Any thoughts on this kind of thing? Better to just build a table or would this be worth it for the "put it away when you aren't using it" aspect? https://us1-photo.nextdoor.com/post_photos/ad/d4/add4522906fc73ea51d81a2164 1f554b.webp?request_version=v2&output_type=jpeg&sizing=linear&x _size=5&resize_type=max

bmardiney wrote:

The Gleeful Grognard wrote:

Don't go the short throw projector route, it is not as good as making a tv table and almost as expensive while being more fiddly.

Damn, alright. Was hoping that was a legit option. Oh well.

I've tried the projector method but unless you get a really good one, and a really bright one, the room is going to have to be so dark that you won't be able to see your character sheets or dice rolls without another light source and/or backlit devices.

I designed a table with a television in it and had my father-in-law put it together for me. He had all the tools for wood working that was needed. 100% would recommend that route if you are inclined to it.

I'm asking carpenters in my area about it. Got 2 people potentially interested. The only problem now is that my house's rooms are probably too small for it (we don't have a proper dining room). Might be able to make it work somehow, we shall see.