I'm a player through this campaign, and our group is nearing the end of our quest -- we just defeated the clay golem and undead guardian on the lowest level, and we've found the array that holds the lenses. Which leads me to to this post.
Our GM has stated that because the lenses have the "Possession" trait, they give us access to the possession spell. In other words, once we activate them, it will allow us to "project [our] mind and spirit into a target" (according to the trait description and very similar spell description).
He further explained that the array would work similar to the possession spell: if we hit a target -- ANY target, not just Belcorra -- with the ray from the combined lenses, the body of whoever holds the array would become limp while their spirit will be in control of the target for up to a minute.
Of course, GM word is final, so that is how it will play out for our final stretch of this adventure. It just seems to me this interpretation is rife for abuse; it will allow us to take out almost anyone in our path, at the cost of losing a party member for the duration of a fight.
This post, then, is for my own edification more than anything. Is our GM correct? Or is the Possession trait simply a tag to express how the essences of Nhimbaloth will affect Belcorra in the final fight?
Got it from my local gaming store over the weekend. While sorting them, I noticed one error: Aberrant Form (occult spell) is listed as "CANTRIP 1" but should be "OCCULT 5".
So if your first-level hag sorcerer suddenly claims she can turn into a Large chuul at will, that's why! ;-)
Our group started playing Pathfinder with the second edition. At first we tried Roll20, because of its reputation and standing with D&D, but we were disappointed in the slow pace of release of the adventures. We then switched to Fantasy Grounds, which was much more up-to-date with official releases, and the automation was fabulous. However, the learning curve was pretty steep, and you often had to recreate your characters from scratch every time a major revision of the software was published.
We've now settled on Foundry for nearly 2 years. It's wonderful! It strikes a nice balance between the intuitive accessibility of Roll20 and the automatization of Fantasy Grounds, and you can tell the team handling the integration of Pathfinder content is passionate about its work. I heartily recommend it for anyone wanting to try Pathfinder 2E on a VTT!
I ran this for the first time this past weekend, during PaizoCon Europe Online. I have some comments and questions about it, and would love to hear what other GMs think about these:
1a) I found the setup overly complicated. You get contacted by the Venture-Captain, who asks you to meet with the Prince's advisor, who brings in the surviving victim, who mentions the first victim.
1b) Why is the Prince requesting the help of the Society? His soldiers were good enough to defeat the assassins, and his magical advisors were able to extract the approximate location of the Usij ruins. Why wouldn't he send his own troops to deal with the cultists instead of asking some foreigners to handle the situation?
2) Why would the party stop at the oasis if they're provided all the supplies they need at the start? My group headed straight to the ruins. I solved the situation by having one of the camels spooked and unretrievable during the Swarming Insects desert event, forcing the group to go to the oasis to re-supply.
3) The Fierce Sandstorm's effects (straight up damage) just before the party reaches the Wellspring is completely irrelevant, since there is no immediate threat of combat. My group just Treated Wounds/used lay on hands once they reached the entrance. It would be much more impactful if it gave fatigue for an hour or two.
4) It would have been nice to mention that there is no map for the Entrance, Stairs, Corridor and Lost Temple areas. Since they're interior locations, I initially expected them to have maps, and I thought for a few moments that Paizo had accidentally left them out of the published version.
About a year ago, GameGorgon/QueueTimes made a video about the "Bestial Alchemist" (mutagenist specializing in feral mutagen) that looked interesting and unique.
During their review of the second errata, they mentioned that access to medium armor would improve their build by quite a bit.
If I wasn't already playing a bomber at that time, I would have tried it out. :)
On a side note, while alchemists can be seen as "lagging" compared to other classes of the same level, I've found that their strengths make them ideal characters for Organized Play, especially once they have a few reagents to spare (around level 4-5). No healer in the group? Prep some elixirs of life and distribute them to the party every morning! Doing a scenario focused on exploration and scouting? Make a big batch of eagle-eye elixirs and give them to the main scouts so that they'll have the buff the whole day! Facing a social skill challenges where you can't risk a critical failure? Brew up a silvertongue mutagen or two to help out the more awkward of your party members!
In short, alchemists are great at shoring up the weaknesses of your particular party composition, and are arguably the most versatile and adaptable class in the game.
Just a quick side note: I played in Tonya Woldridge's game during Con-Current, which she ran on Foundry (the table was actually hosted on Paizo's servers and she was connecting to it remotely from her home laptop).
She chatted quite a bit with the group during the session, including a mention that she had presented a business case to officially support Foundry, and that people at Paizo were impressed at the adoption rate of Foundry for their RPGs. If I can paraphrase her summary: Roll20 is content on maintaining its market position by focusing on the main rulebooks, but doesn't really want to 'waste' resources on adapting too many adventures. On the other hand, Foundry is eager to fill that gap, but must rely on a group of volunteers to achieve its goals.
I just wanted to mention that the thumbnail for this post and the previous one (Pathfinder Society Intros) on the home page is broken on my browser. I'm running Safari 14 on macOS Big Sur.
Thanks! My read is that this particular boon would cease to function once Fame goes away at the end of the year, as we don't really have a way to discount AcP purchases in this way. I'll mark it down as something to discuss internally in case we want to do something else, but for now you should operate under the idea that it won't work once there isn't Fame to discount anymore.
That makes me a sad panda. :( I was lucky enough to get his boon for my only SFS character, and I already planned out a dozen of cool options to take when I got the Fame for it.
If I can make a suggestion on how to adapt it to the new system: Have it automatically give a certain reputation tier (2? Maybe even 3?) with ALL factions. It won't replicate the "discount" part of the boon, but at least it will give you access to a whole bunch of faction boons that would otherwise be difficult to get, which is really the essence of Lone Agent, in my opinion.
I've been GMing monthly "unofficial" PFS2 games for my friends since December in order to get some practice before running actual PFS scenarios by the time PaizoCon comes (basically, I've assigned them OP numbers so that I could get GM credit when running PFS2 scenarios for them).
One problem I've had is creating the Chronicle Sheet for them. Apparently, the Organized Play webpage has a long-standing bug that prevents GMs from downloading the Sheets directly from there.
The remaining option is to extract the Sheet from the scenario PDFs, but they're edit-protected, which means I have to go through a few hoops before I can get a final product:
- convert to image format
- extract the Chronicle Sheet page
- convert to PDF
- fill out for each character
The end result is a bit fuzzy in terms of image quality. I was wondering if there was a better way to proceed?
I would recommend reading this thread where I asked a very similar question to yours.
Bottom line: It might be a while before Adopted Ancestry is opened up for the Uncommon or Rare ancestries that have been published since the Lost Omens Character Guide.
I played this yesterday during Bahlicon. It's a very good implementation of the hexploration rules where Nature- and Survival-based characters will truly shine (we had a druid and ranger in our group, so we were covered). However, any group can undertake this scenario, provided they prepare properly -- getting extra rations and supplies, having the right gear, etc. It also helps if the GM is willing to spend a bit of time at the beginning to see how you're set up to handle the exploration routine, otherwise I can see this scenario becoming tedious and frustrating with some groups.
The encounters featured an interesting mix of opponents, including an obscure classic from first edition, and they were set up in dynamic locations with difficult terrain and other environmental hazards.
All in all, if you like exploration and blazing a path through the wilderness, this is the scenario for you!
I didn't think that was how signature spells worked. Doesn't each signature spell have to come from each spell level? That's how it reads in the CRB to me.
That is correct, but as Raven Black explained, it doesn't have to be each spell's base level.
For Elsir, he should have 5/4/4/3 spells for a 5th level Sorc. Also, what are his signature spells and what spell should he have prepped from his spellbook...
Logged in to comment exactly that. However, I selected the following for his signature spells:
1) hydraulic push
2) illusory disguise
3) magic missile
This allows all his signature spells to have a meaningful effect at his current level.
As for his Arcane Evolution spell, given his scroll and wands, crashing waves is the only one that would add anything to his selection. Once he's used his scroll of blur (and assuming the adventure spans more than a day), I would probably choose blur instead.
- Attacks of opportunity: These are exceedingly rare. Go ahead, move through a creature's threatened space or cast a spell right beside an enemy! 95% of the time, you won't get punished.
- Shields: Your shield doesn't add to your AC automatically; you have to spend an action to Raise a shield, and it only lasts 1 round.
- Minions and pets: Creatures you summon or that follow you (familiars, animal companions) don't act independently. Instead, you have to command them on your turn by spending an action; this gives them two actions.
- Multiple spells in a round: You're free to cast as many spells in a round as you want, as long as their casting times add up to 3 actions. The vast majority of spells have a 2-action casting time, making 1-action spells like the shield cantrip quite useful.
- Heightening spells: Many spells can be heightened, i.e. have an improved effect by using a higher spell slot.
>> Cantrips: Cantrips are automatically heightened to your highest spell level you can cast.
>> Prepared casters: You automatically learn all heightened versions of a spell, but you have to decide which version will be used when you memorize them. For instance: "I'll memorize one 4th-level fireball and two 3rd-level fireballs today".
>> Spontaneous casters: You have to learn each heightened version separately, as if it was a distinct spell. For instance: "I know dispel magic as a 2nd-level and 4th-level spell".
- Recall knowledge on creatures (for PFS): In Pathfinder Society (1e) play, you would get a set number of questions about a creature's abilities, depending on the result of your check. Now, you'll a general overview on a success.
Creating the Adopted Ancestry II (and other boons in its category) will be a LOT of work for the Org Play Leadership Team. I don't know if you read Adopted Ancestry I, but it curated what feats you could choose from your ancestry.
Oh, thanks a lot for the info! The text wasn't included in the PFS FAQ, so I just assumed it gave access to most feats - if not all - from those ancestries.
That is quite a bit of content to go through and evaluate, I agree. I might just shelve my character for a bit once he gets to 5th level, just to see if that boon line gets updated.
Wow, I didn't expect these boons to be available this quickly -- great job by the Org Play team!
However, I notice that there's no "Adopted Ancestry II" boon... (the first one allowed you to take Adopted Ancestry with the Uncommon races from the Lost Omens Character Guide).
I hope this is a simple oversight, because I was planning on making my fledgling shadow sorcerer extra gloomy by taking some fetchling feats once he gets to 5th level.
Guess my time and money will just have to go to GenCon this year.
I expect all the big conventions will be virtual this year also; the health situation is just too uncertain right now, and will remain so for at least a year.
The Organized Play Committee did an amazing job last year with virtual cons -- PaizoCon, Gen Con, Pax, etc. -- including support for disabilities and lots of opportunities to socialize virtually. I felt it was as close to a real con as possible considering the circumstances.
When you compare alchemists to the other classes, they stand in stark contrast in how they're designed: they focus on quantity over quality. In other words, they're really good at creating craploads of low-grade stuff (I'm talking about level 3-4 onwards; before that, you'll need most of your reagents to fill your basic function).
The other niche they have is elixirs. With the removal of the vast majority of classic buff spells, especially those that affect combat, elixirs are now the best way to improve your party's abilities in terms of duration, frequency and raw capabilities, both in and out of combat.
(Side note: Because of these two factors, I find alchemists are ideally suited to Organized Play. The typical 4-hour scenario will have 2 combat encounters and 2 social or skill encounters, which means you should have just enough resources to handle combat, while still being able to help in the noncombat portions.)
In terms of subclasses, I think the bomber, the mutagenist* and the toxicologist are all roughly equivalent. Chirurgeons are quite lacklustre for most of their careers; they excel at out-of-combat healing and recovery, but anyone can do just as well with one or two skill feats, and for in-combat healing, you'll be outclassed by bards, champions and divine and primal casters.
* GameGorgon/QueueTimes made a video a few months ago on a feral mutagenist build that looks really fun!
As breithauptclan pointed out, you already have a DC 15 flat check to end any persistent damage (rolled at the end of each of your round).
I would allow the following additional solutions:
- Using a positive energy effect to directly interfere with the persistent negative damage instead of its normal effect (healing the target, usually). I would treat that as a counteract attempt.
- Using the residual positive energy to help the target shake off the persistent damage. The positive energy effect gets its normal results (heals the target) and the target gets an immediate DC 15 flat check to end the persistent damage.
OR
- Using the residual positive energy to help the target shake off the persistent damage. The positive energy effect gets its normal results (heals the target) and the target's end-of-round flat check is reduced (either by a fixed number, or based on the level of the positive effect).
In other words, I wouldn't allow the positive effect to both give an additional flat check AND reduce the DC.
Doctor Evil : "I will allow you to create a hobgoblin character... for only TWELVE MILLION points! Mwahahahaha!"
(For those who are curious, the error occurred after I redeemed that boon for the standard cost. Probably some temporary crossed wires in Paizo's servers.) :-)
As a side note: if you're using a virtual tabletop to play (like Roll20 or Foundry), I would recommend treating dispel magic as an attack spell that does no damage, and also add the counteract results table in its description. That way, the VTT app will automatically roll your counteract check, and you can quickly figure out what level of effect you can dispel.
The same goes for other spells that can counteract effects, like remove fear, remove paralysis, neutralize poison and quench.
Our GM also allowed Medicine to be used to Earn Income in our home game. I think it should become at least an official variant rule -- it would make a lot of sense in Organized Play, in particular.
I officially GMed a PFS scenario for the first time yesterday! It was a private event for my friends in our home campaign, since I'm still getting used to the VTT system we're using. (I was the only one who is part of the PFS, so I downloaded some PFS numbers for them, and they used pregens).
When I did the reporting, I was asked to assign credit to one of my characters. The system automatically added the Reputation, Fame and Achievement Points to that character. Do I also get Downtime, XP and gold?
I chose a first-level character; could I have chosen a higher level one? What about one above the level limit for the scenario? How do I determine the downtime and gold reward he gets in that case?
You're looking in the wrong place. It's in the Equipment section:
Formulas wrote:
You can buy common formulas at the Price listed on Table 6–13, or you can hire an NPC to let you copy their formula for the same Price. A purchased formula is typically a schematic on rolled-up parchment of light Bulk. You can copy a formula into your formula book in 1 hour, either from a schematic or directly from someone else’s formula book. If you have a formula, you can Craft a copy of it using the Crafting skill.
While we're also talking about it, Quinn's level 5 pregen is missing a bunch of expert skills that he should have (I think, like, four or five more skills should be expert).
Indeed...
Quinn (level 5)
- He should have 4 more expert skills, for a total of 5.
(Based on his background and skill feats, I would suggest the following array: Deception, Diplomacy, Society, Stealth, Thievery).
I just went over Feiya's character sheet in preparation for a one-shot our GM is doing this weekend, and I found the following error:
Feiya (level 1 and level 5 versions)
- The "spells known" paragraph in the Spells section lists disrupt undead. That cantrip is not on the occult list, and it would also give her 11 learned cantrips, which is over the limit of 10.
-----------------------------------------------
Hopefully, other errors in the pregen characters will be added to this thread so that it's easier to correct them when they're updated.
Then, to complete the list, at 3 actions, you affect all targets in a 30 foot emanation for 1d8.
Note that this mode will heal every living creature in the area, including enemies! It's great to quickly patch up your party after a fight, though, or when you're fighting groups of undead.
Now, I don't know where to find those PFS adventures, but I am quite interested.
You can find season 1 scenarios here and the season 2 ones here (also, I misstyped in my previous post: 2-00 is actually called The King in Thorns; "The Thorned Monarch" was the name of another lead-up scenario). You might need to click on the "All Products" tab to see all the scenarios.
I just remembered that 1-09 Star-Crossed Voyages and 1-23 The Star-Crossed Court also take place in southwestern Garund (the name of the continent where the Mwangi Expanse is located), although they're mostly concerned with a newly rediscovered island populated by an ancient colony of lizardfolk.
The second adventure in the Age of Ashes Adventure Path -- Cult of Cinders -- takes place in the western part of the Expanse, around a settlement of Ekujae elves. It includes rules for jungle survival and exploration.
PFS2 1-20 The Lost Legend takes place in the border between the Sodden Lands and the Mwangi Highlands. It will give you a good idea of the geography and the type of encounters you can expect in that area.
PFS2 2-00 The Thorned Monarch is a follow-up to 1-20. The first two parts take place a little deeper into the highlands and jungle, and has many examples of the challenges you will face there.
You can find this list by searching for the Downtime trait on Archives of Nethys. You can find a full description for each of them here (it's under Actions/Activities > Downtime).
Hmmm... looking at the results, it seems they have missed one I know about: the "Befriend a Local" activity in the Age of Ashes Player's Guide. I've notified them about it.
Otherwise, that list should be complete (at least, from what I know and have access to).
I've been playing a cloistered cleric in Organized Play for about 7 months, and he's now 8th level, so here's my perspective. I also use a ranged weapon (halfling sling-staff) as my fallback attack, by the way.
Character level 1-3
- Magic weapon is indeed the best-in-class choice. Remember that you can't target weapons that already have a +1 enchantment.
- Bane and bless won't have an effect in most fights, since you'll be away from the frontline. Fear or command are the better choices, in my opinion.
Character level 4-5
- Heightened spirit link on a frontline combatant with a good armor will help spread the damage, allowing your party to last longer. It also remains relevant as you level up, just by heightening it. I would avoid shield other due to its range restrictions.
- Calm emotions has an insane range, an effect even on a successful save, and has a chance to completely disable fights against mooks before they can close in on your party (don't try it against leaders, however, since it's an incapacitation effect).
Character level 6-7
- I tried out heroism, but frankly, I've been underwhelmed by it. On the other hand, safe passage has turned out to be stellar in two instances, so I now memorize it any time I suspect environmental dangers might come into play (overland expedition, abandoned ruins, etc.)
- Heightened fear is amazing, especially the fact that it affects multiple targets that you select. The only downside is that they must be within 30 feet of you when you cast it. I got a wand with it as soon as I could to be sure I always had it available!
- Air walk can give a lot of mobility to your melee attackers (add heightened invisibility and a rogue to create an absolute terror!).
- Stay away from vital beacon; you don't want your allies to waste actions coming to you for healing.
Thanks, I appreciate it. I wonder if that's worth clarifying in the errata, since no other poison I've seen works that way. Unless creatures in the Bestiary use this sort of simple poison?
I've purposefully stayed away from the Bestiary since I'm playing in an Age of Ashes campaign and I want to be surprised by monster abilities, but I know some creatures deal extra poison damage without a save, such as some bullywug hunters.
Basically, the ability to create poisons was added so that it wouldn't force your character to purchase a heap-load of poison doses every time you go adventuring (or even worse, force you to multiclass into alchemist to brew them yourself).
I've been playing an alchemist since Gen Con, and I finally met another alchemist during PAX Online. When we discussed with our GM how we should handle the issue of trading formulas after the adventure, he came up with an elegant solution: since my fellow alchemist wanted to copy about 6 formulas from me (representing 6 hours of work), the GM decreed that we would both need to spend 1 day of Downtime to this activity.
I like this solution for three reasons:
- It means that there is still a cost associated with the activity (the lost revenue from Earning Income, or other benefit provided by a Downtime activity) affecting both the teacher and learner.
- There is a practical limit to the number of formulas you can copy (12 per day of Downtime seems reasonable).
- It preserves the fundamental elements of the existing rule: no cost in gold, no skill checks, no level requirements.
Official implementation of this rule would require two simple things:
- Defining "Copy a Formula from Another Character" as an Exploration or Downtime activity.
- Stating the maximum number of hours per day that can be spent for this activity.
I'm also playing a fighter in Age of Ashes, and that weapon has been INCREDIBLY useful. Just remember it's limited to taking the shape of a one-handed weapon. But besides that, it only takes 1 action to have a relevant weapon in your hand:
- I usually keep it in gauntlet form; that way I don't have to waste an action drawing it if I need it (also enhances my attacks when I just need to punch someone).
- Sap when we needed to capture someone.
- Hatchet to cut my way through a wooden cage.
- Dwarven war axe to cut down large poles.
- As a decoy for thieves looking for an important exotic weapon we had found.
I personally don't care about the extra costs, or the lack of immediate access for new spells for Clerics. I just hate the inelegance of the mechanics and the lore. Rarity tags have little value if you still have to look up other factors to determine how accessible something is. And how does the lore explain this? Deities grant their clerics the ability to cast certain spells. But some smaller number of spells are only available to those clerics who both please their gods AND have exchanged money with the proprietor of Midtown Spell Shack.
That's what is bothering me also. Going through the appendix of Gods & Magic, there's about 30 deities that grant spells from that book or the APG. It seems wrong to make clerics pay to cast the 'marquee spells' of a faith.
"Welcome to the Church of Sairazul, young initiate! The Crystalline Queen is eager to embrace you in her benevolent family. But before we go any further, let us discuss how you will pay to learn her initial mysteries. We have a very affordable payment plan for..."
Your specific class feature grants you explicit access. You shouldn’t have a problem.
Except what we're talking about isn't an access issue as defined by the CRB. You have access to all common spells from any book that is sanctioned. penumbral Shroud is a common spell. The issue is whether or not you get get it for free.
Yes, that was exactly my point; Access and "Able to be memorized by a specific character" are two different things.
In effect, the blog created a new tier of Access specifically for cleric and druid spells in Organized Play:
- Common (all common spells in the Core Rulebook): Free to all clerics and druids.
- Non-core (all common spells outside the Core Rulebook): Pay to learn each individual spell.
- Uncommon (all uncommon spells, no matter the source): Need explicit Access during creation or through a Chronicle Sheet.
- Rare (all rare spells, no matter the source): Need explicit Access through a Chronicle Sheet.
The fact that this new tier of Access only affects some spellcasters is even more puzzling.
I have an interesting corner case for my main PFS character. He is a cleric of Kerkamoth, a deity from Gods & Magic. Kerkamoth grants its clerics the penumbral shroud spell at 1st level. Since that spell is in Gods & Magic, does that mean that I have to pay to learn it?
I have a two suggestions regarding the new system:
1) For the Hireling and Hireling Translator boons (Pathfinder Society section), as well as the related hireling boons (Game Rewards section): On the PDF, include a space to write the 2 skills or languages you take or improve with the boon, similar to what was done for Avid Collector and Esoteric Spellcaster.
2) For the summary list of the boons you've purchased at the bottom of the Boons tab: Have a way to sort by character name. That way you can easily see what each character has purchased.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the spell magic weapon yet. You could probably prepare this spell in every slot at level 1-2 and not regret it.
I thought about it, but held off for two reasons:
1) We don't know the party composition. Maybe there's no tank, or none of the strikers use enchantable weapons (alchemists, casters, monks).
2) By second level, +1 weapons should start appearing (or will appear very soon). You can't use magic weapon on a weapon that has a rune of any kind.
Your party size and composition will greatly affect your performance; if there's a role that's missing (melee tank, striker, control/support), you'll each have to do your part to fill it as best you can.
As a cloistered cleric, you are definitely a control/support. As such, your spells are your primary tool, and you should try to maximize the amount you have -- which is exactly what your Divine Font ability gives you. Instead of going for an 18/10-14 ability score mix, consider doing 16 in Wisdom and Charisma. This will give you an extra heal spell each day, for the small cost of getting a -1 to your save DC (very few divine spells are spell attacks, so the -1 penalty to them doesn't have much of an effect).
For defense, you (and the rest of your group) might consider using your general feats to get Armor Proficiency. Everyone gets a general feat at 3rd level, but humans have a heritage and an ancestry feat that gets them one at 1st level. Magical bonuses to armor and weapons are few and far between in PF2E, so getting access to a better category of equipment is the best way to improve your combat effectiveness, especially at low levels.
Also, if the shield cantrip isn't enough (it takes only an action to cast, but lasts a single round and provides only a +1 to AC), you could equip a shield as Deadmanwalking suggested.
For class feats, I would suggest these as especially interesting for a cloistered cleric: Healing Hands (1), Reach Spell (1), Rapid Response (2), Radiant Infusion (4), Magic Hands (6).
Speaking of healing, Treat Wounds is quite powerful for a skill action. To maximize its effectiveness at low levels, at least one other party member should be trained in Medicine. In addition to Battle Medicine, the Continual Recovery and Ward Medic skill feats (both level 2 and requiring expert in Medicine) will speed up the healing for your party in-between fights without expending any spells.
Lastly, if you're looking for purchase suggestions, I would recommend the condition and spell cards available here. The spell cards are especially useful to clerics and druids, since they have access to their entire spell list every day. (Note that the spells from Gods and Magic are not available on any spell card, and those from the Advanced Player's Guide will come out in a few weeks.)
For run-of-the-mill items (+1 weapons, common consumables like potions, etc.) you can give strong hints about their nature (healing potions are always bright green, for example), or just handwave it after a certain point (x number of sessions, character level higher than the item, etc.).
You could also identify items in a batch: Roll a skill check vs the average DC of the items, and use the result to determine how many are identified.
Your friend might not need to divert his focus on bows:
- Attacks of Opportunity are fairly rare, so shooting in melee range is quite possible. (And even if you trigger an AoO, you can still shoot as normal in most situations).
- As others have mentioned, longbows do have a penalty when shooting nearby, but that can be offset by Point-Blank Shot, or maybe by just using a shortbow.
- You'll also have to occasionally shoot at an enemy engaged with an ally. Your ally will then provide lesser or regular cover to your target, but you can usually reposition yourself to avoid that issue. It's only a +1 or +2 to AC in the worst case, so it's not the end of the world.
Also, regarding the Archer Dedication some have mentioned, the only exclusive feat that is relevant for that character is Quick Shot; all the others are either situational, not applicable or redundant. Notably, the Dedication feat itself doesn't give you anything. Your friend should carefully consider whether it's worth it for his character.
For stats, you essentially have two options: 18 in key ability, 14-10 in the rest; or a double 16 with 14-10 in the rest.
General FYI: I just noticed the Chronicle boons are now listed on the "Boons" tab of the "My Organized Play" web page. Only the boons from scenarios and modules are listed (in other words, PFS2 1 through 25, 2-00, Fall of Plaguestone and Ages of Ashes AP), and there's no cost or points to spend yet, but you can see how it will work eventually.
