dpb123's page

While I played 1e, 3.5, Dnd 4e and 5e, as well as other TTRPGs like Shadowrun, Mutants & Masterminds, I very much like 2e's 3-action economy. But what made me choose to seek out 2e games over 5e games was character creation/advancement and real choices that allowed me to bring to life a variety of character concepts. 5e and their paucity of choices - especially wrt to skills - was utterly stifling and all my characters started to feel the same mechanically. With that said, advantage/disadvantage is a rather elegant game element.

Thank you, Nicholas Storm and PossibleCabbage. I thought that the answer might be yes but wasn't sure if I was missing some other interaction that would make it no.

Hi all,

I couldn't seem to find a definitive answer in the forums/online but does the Psi Strikes feat work with ranged weapons? For instance, if my Psychic casts Shield and then uses a longbow to make a ranged attack, does that attack get the +1d6 force damage on a success?

Thanks for you help.

Another idea I've had for improving/incentivizing AC is to have it mimic the Barbarian's Instincts specialization ability so at 7th level something else unlocks.

Perhaps AC's damage can go up more than it already does along similar (but more modest) lines at 7 and then again when you get great weapon specialization

Or perhaps everyone gets Runic Impression as a free conflux spell at level 7 or 8 (so it's no longer a feat) that can be used only if you're in AC

Or perhaps each hybrid study gets some extra something Bluemagetim suggests:

Aloof Firmament extra damage after Fly/Leap/High Jump/Long Jump lasts until end of turn (not just next strike before end of turn)
Inexorable Iron can add Shove or Trip or Disarm trait to their two-handed weapon
Laughing shadow extra movement is +10-foot bonus to Speed and +15-foot bonus to Speed if unarmored (+20-foot bonus to Speed too powerful?)
Sparkling Targe - don't know, any suggestions?
Starlit Span - able to add AC's damage to ranged strikes
Twisting Tree - don't know, any suggestions?
Unfurling Brocade - don't know, any suggestions?

One thing I think happens when classes get those kinds of circumstance bonuses to skills is that they begin to break the difficulty curve.

This is very much the case with Furious Bully on barbarian. It gives +2 circumstance bonus to athletics and after looking at reflex saves of every monster on archives of Nethys after level 8 its clear that feat makes tripping a reasonable chance even against the high reflex DCs for +3 solo bosses.

To be clear about what I mean by breaking. It gets you into the 13 and up range before buffs and debuffs against the best reflex saves. most creatures are going to be easier than that.
And it means the same tactic works reasonably well even against foes that are best against that tactic. I feel that options lose balance when you can build to make one option work all the time against anything.

Good point and articulates my intuition that it was likely too powerful. I'm more interested in smoothing out Arcane Cascade. It adds nice flavor but can be clunky to use and often doesn't offer enough to incentivize players to enter it.

Athletics and acrobatics are some of the most common skills for martials that fit hybrid studies because well... those are the most direct "martial" skills.

And having a recharge feature (or anything) relying on other skills like intimidation and so on might be an issue because of stats and MAD and all.

You can divide things up accross specific actions within those skills:

For example Inexorable Iron could get Shove and Trip while Laughing Shadow gets Feint and Disarm. Could also get Dirty trick or other stuff based on Thievery.
I mean Aloof Firmament gives you the benefits of a feat while in the stance, a revamped Laughing Shadow could give you Dirty Trick while in the stance.

Would have to see which subclass would fit Demoralize the most, or more niche actions like Seek.
Hide and Sneak are also valid. But the issue is you'd automatically know if you've hidden from someone if that recharge spellstrike, so I guess it'd have to be something like just rolling to hide recharges, unless you roll a nat 1. But then the immunity applies to every ennemies who was observing you when you hid. That'd only be once per fight then, but given it'd most likely be for Starlit Span, which already has an easy time recharging spellstrike, it wouldn't be much of an issue really.

Yes, I can see going for specific actions for the various Hybrid Studies like Demoralize with Inexorable Iron, Trip for Spinning Staff, etc. But I like the more general to allow for more freedom in character concept but that's my preference. Also not a fan that entering AC recharges spellstrike but I supposed that is a matter of my playstyle which is to cast shield in my first round and enter AC before taking my third action.

What I'd like to see is for Arcane Cascade to be easier to use and incentivized. I think with the recent errata opening up save spells for Spellstrikes, we've gotten the most Paizo is probably gonna give with the base Spellstrike. I can imagine a reworked Expansive Spellstrike class feat that along with allowing AOEs (which it already does) also gives a +1 to Save DC at Master in Arcana and a +2 at Legendary. This still might be too strong but I think because it's gated behind proficiency (which requires investment) and levels (7 for first access to Master and 15 for access to Legendary) it mitigates the "too strong" concern a bit.

As for AC, I like the idea previously proposed that if you Cast A Spell in your first round after rolling initiative, entering AC is a free action. This goes with the action compression someone mentioned seems to be the direction Paizo is going in and it is similar to how they made Rage easier to enter for remastered Barbarian.

I also like the idea of getting a +1 circumstance bonus to Athletics, Acrobatics, or Recall Knowledge checks (choice upon entering AC) while in AC. I was toying with the idea of having a different Skill for each hybrid study (e.g. Deception for Laughing Shadow) but then realized that I was defaulting to Athletics or Acrobatics for the vast majority of studies. The Acrobatics/Athletics/RK triumvirate fits the overall Magus theme IMO but also incentives using RK checks to find out a creature's weakness and then casting a spell targeting that weakness to enter AC to be able to continue to exploit that weakness. In other words AC would reward investing in Int if that's the way you want to go but still gives you something if you don't or delay said investment.

I've played a Starlit Span magus to level 10 (campaign ended) and am currently playing a level 2 Str-based Laughing Shadow magus. I'm having great fun, using spell slots for buffs and cantrips for spellstrikes. My normal routine is cast shield, enter arcane cascade and move to a flank position if I can. All of this is a set up for a round 2 spellstrike. It's not terrible but doesn't feel great either and I think a nice fix would be to have Arcane Cascade as a free action upon casting a spell. There's precedence for something like this with the remastered Barbarian getting Quick Tempered which allows them to enter rage as a free action upon rolling initiative.

Deriven Firelion wrote:

Multiple stances doesn't boost damage, so not sure why people want that. It's a cool style thing, but it should probably be an innate monk ability than something they have to spend feats on considering it is such a minor, almost insignificant power boost.

I'm with Deriven Firelion on this and I agree with his assessment that FoB be one of the main things that gets tweaked. Something like a level 7 class feature that mimics Flurry Ranger in that FoB MAP is –3 (–2 with an agile weapon) on the second attack. Then at level 1 the class feature upgrades so that both attacks in FoB use the current MAP.

Sorry I meant level 11 not level 1 for both FOB attacks to use current MAP

Multiple stances doesn't boost damage, so not sure why people want that. It's a cool style thing, but it should probably be an innate monk ability than something they have to spend feats on considering it is such a minor, almost insignificant power boost.

I'm with Deriven Firelion on this and I agree with his assessment that FoB be one of the main things that gets tweaked. Something like a level 7 class feature that mimics Flurry Ranger in that FoB MAP is –3 (–2 with an agile weapon) on the second attack. Then at level 1 the class feature upgrades so that both attacks in FoB use the current MAP.

Looking at other classes, you're right about crit specialization so I think crit specialization with Unarmed Strikes should be a level 5 class feature so it matches when Fighters, Barbarians, etc get it.

I understand what you're saying about mobility enhancing feats being too powerful as class features although I do think that Dancing Leaf should be a class feature. I can be won over to what you're saying re: combining them and I'd make the combined Water Step + Wall Run available at level 6.

I love Monks. Of my last five characters, 4 have been different kinds of Monks. Some things on my wish list for Monks Remastered are:
• FoB getting an upgrade as a level 5 class feature that allows the two FoB strikes both use the current MAP as Themetricsystem suggests. By making this a class feature it can’t be poached by others gaining FoB via Archetype dedication so Monks are “better” at FoB than a Fighter with FoB via Monk Archetype
• Ki Strike and Ki Rush are combined into a single focus spell that allows one to do one or the other (but not both) when the focus point is spent. Call it something like Tap Ki.
• Ki Strike damage scales like Rogue’s Precision damage and if that’s too aggressive make Ki Strike damage be a 1d8 and have it scale like Precision Ranger’s Precision damage.
• Monastic Weaponry is a class feature at level 1
• Crit Specialization with Unarmed Strikes is a class feature at level 1
• Brawling Focus can then be reworked (and renamed) that gives crit specialization with Monk Weapons
• If the devs want mobility to be the Monk’s schtick, then certain Monk feats that enhance mobility should be made class features such as Dancing Leaf, Guarded Mobility, Wall Run, Winding Flow. These can become class features at the same level as their current feat levels. Full disclosure, based on my game play experience, I don’t think the Monk’s extra speed is a major feature/boon like the devs seem to think it is, but turning some of the mobility feats into class features could help make the Monk’s mobility something special and unique to them.
• Agree that Stance Savant and Master of Many Styles come on waaaaaaay too late. I’d like to see Stance Savant as a level 4 Feat and Master of Many Styles a level 8 or 10 feat.

Thank you Guntermunch and Darksol. I realize I was also reading Dangerous Sorcery incorrectly and erroneously inserting the "if your next action is cast a spell" clause. But since it's much simpler with just "when you cast a spell from your spell slots" it's exactly as Darksol described

Hi all,

I have a Fighter/Eldritch Archer with Sorcery FA. Let's say I chose to use a sorcery spell slot to cast Shocking Grasp with my Eldritch Shot ability. My reading is that the use of Shocking Grasp in this scenario doesn't trigger Dangerous Sorcery and thus I don't add extra damage should my Eldritch Shot it because the cast a spell action is a subordinate action of Eldritch Shot. Is this correct?

Many thanks for your help.

Thank you both. I thought that was the case but wasn't sure if I had missed something.

Hi all,

Let's say I have an Int-based Elf Psychic who took Otherwordly Magic to get Produce Flame. At level 2, the Psychic takes Ancestral Mind.

Does Produce Flame effectively turn into a Psi Cantrip via Ancestral Mind? Or does Ancestral Mind just make the Produce Flame an Occult spell with which I can use Int as the casting stat instead of Cha?

Thanks for your help.

Thank you all for your responses. Thank you @breithauptclan for the breakdown as that made it very clear. It's what I thought it was and not the broader 'any Perform' check I was hoping for :)

Hi all,

I have a battledancer swashbuckler close to leveling to 10. I'm having a hard time understanding what Derring Do applies to.

I understand that it applies to Tumble Through and Performance checks when I use Fascinating Performance. I assume it applies to Performance checks when I use Leading Dance too (although I'm not even sure this is true). What I'm wondering is does it apply to any Performance check I make? The parenthetical "...any skill actions listed in your swashbuckler's style" makes me wonder.

I guess what I'm wondering is what is the range of actions Derring Do applies to.

Thanks for your help.

Hi all,

I'm putting together a character for a new campaign. He's a human with an 8 Intelligence (I'm using voluntary flaws for backstory reasons). I've never played such a low INT character so I'm not sure if he starts with 2 languages or just 1 language. Here's my reasoning for each possibility. What do you all think is the correct interpretation of the rules.

2 Languages - under the Human ancestry entry it states Humans start with Common and "Additional languages equal to 1 + your Intelligence modifier (if it's positive)" Since my mod isn't positive, I don't add the -1 modifier from my 8 INT and thus I get the "Additional language equal to 1"

1 language - The "+ your Intelligence modifier" takes precedent over the parenthetical which means my -1 modifier does negate the additional 1 language

As I think about it more, I believe the 2 languages reading is correct because otherwise I'd have to completely ignore the modifying phrase "if it's positive". But my GM can have strange reasonings at times and I want more than my word and a reading that benefits me to back me up.

What is the wisdom of the boards?

@Gortle,

If you aren't already aware, there are something like 80+ monk builds here: 101 Monk Builds

You can even cast line spells backwards and with meteoric spellstrike, double dip on that line damage.

Nice! I hadn't thought that far enough ahead to see that interaction. Thanks for pointing that out.

Thanks aobst128. The more I study that clause the more I think it *must* be the case that I can choose the directionality because:

1) I can choose any square adjacent to the target as the source AND
2) the target must be in the area

So if I'm 30 feet south of the target, and I choose the square to the left of the target and it needs to be in the area, by definition, the cone/line is moving from left to right (aka east to west).

Hi all,

I plan on playing a Starlit Span Magus and am looking at Expansive Spellstrike as my 2nd level feat which opens up some nice cone and line AEO spells. With that said, does the feat allow me choose the direction of the cone/line (e.g. sideways/backwards wrt to the target of my Strike) or must it always move "away from me" (i.e. direction is unaffected just the origin point is the target of my Strike as opposed to me)?

Basically, I'm wondering if the following clause "if you're not adjacent to the target (using a reach weapon or starlit span, for example), choose any square adjacent to the target as the source" allows me to choose the directionality of my cones/lines?

Thanks in advance for your collective wisdom.

Thanks Graystone. If the familiar had Independent and Manual Dexterity and I'd be willing and able to wait a few rounds for my item, my familiar could get me that scroll and place it in my hand. Correct?

But if I'm looking for economy of action and needed things pronto, then Valet is the way to go.

It can grab them with Valet.

But not with Manual Dexterity?

So I understand that a familiar with Manual Dexterity isn't able to pour a potion into my mouth or the mouth of an ally because to do so requires the ability to activate the potion and familiars can't activate items.

My question is can said familiar with Manual Dexterity grab a scroll from my quiver of scrolls and place it my hand?

Thanks for confirming Asethe. I appreciate it.

Hi Boards,

Imagine I have a Starlit Span Magus with a wizard dedication via the free archetype rules ('cause my GM is awesome that way). And let's say that at level 10, I'm thinking of taking Advanced Arcana for Bespell Weapon. So here's my question:

Does the non-cantrip spell I cast via Spellstrike serve as an appropriate trigger for Bespell Weapon?

I think the answer is no because the cast a spell action is a subordinate action of spellstrike.

But on the off chance that the answer is yes, do I get the extra damage from bespell weapon on the spellstrike itself or just on a normal strike I make before the end of my turn (which admittedly would be a -10 MAP).

Thanks for your help!

Can you provide the names and brief descriptions of new cantrips on the Occult list?

dpb123 wrote:

Bird animal companion has a support action that adds persistent bleed damage to targets that bird's companion successfully Strikes

The bird's master.

It's also quite good when the bird becomes nimble.

Thanks for catching that HumbleGamer. Moral of the story is don't forget to proofread your post before hitting submit lol!

Bird animal companion has a support action that adds persistent bleed damage to targets that bird's companion successfully Strikes

dpb123 wrote:

Can you provide more information about fey eidolons and their advancement paths? I've heard of redcap or unicorn eidolons but I might be confusing this with something else, but if not, would love to hear more about that.

Trickster Fey: 12/18/12/12/8/16

Skirmisher Fey: 14/18/14/10/10/12

Abilities of both are equal, only change the stats. Fey gift that gives the enchantment and Illusion from Arcane and 2 cantrips, Fey Mischief that grants the feat that gives a feat that gives a few spell slots and Fey chicanery that gives you a free contingency spell.

Many thanks Kyrone! This info makes me happy and I'm already thinking about character concepts!

Can you provide more information about fey eidolons and their advancement paths? I've heard of redcap or unicorn eidolons but I might be confusing this with something else, but if not, would love to hear more about that.

dpb123 wrote:

Can you describe the two monk stances and any follow on feats that support those stances? Thanks!

water is 1d6 finesse, disarm, agile, trip, unarmed, water, nonlethal. +1 circumstance to Athletics checks to Disarm, swim, trip and +2 bonus to Reflex save to avoid disarm/trip

lvl 8 - Reaction where you're hit by something you can see in reach. Step and then do a Disarm or Trip on the person that hit you.

lvl 12 - 2 action, Trip every creature in a 10ft emanation.

Fire is 1d8 slashing, forceful, nonlethal, sweep, unarmed.*if you have crit spec they do 1d6 persistent fire on crit instead of normal. Speed bonus.

6- Gain cold and fire resistance equal to half level. any creature that hits you with unarmed, or grab/grapple or touches you takes fire dmg = WIS mod.

10 - 3 actions - stride 2x make Strikes on up to 4 different creatures within reach at any point during movement. Attacks do fire instead of slashing.

Thanks Vlorax, Interesting that water is agile + finesse but fire is not. Thematically I guess that makes sense and I'm liking that level 8 reaction for water and the level 13 trip burst. It pushes towards Str as secondary stat and boosting Athletics to expert and beyond as soon as you can....yeah...ideas are already forming :)

Can you describe the two monk stances and any follow on feats that support those stances? Thanks!

I went with Rogue FA for my Monk (Stumbling Stance naturally). Sneak Attacker provides great synergy and Mobility, as Deriven Firelion notes, is amazing on a monk especially as you get faster and faster. Skill Mastery also opens up some nice avenues for both combat and encounter-focused prowess.

Thanks for the detailed explanation shroudb. That really helps.

I went back and re-read Cooperative Soul and even if I could use it with Inspire Courage (for example with the scenario you describe above) it wouldn't get me anything extra since Inspire Competence already gets you an automatic success on the Aid check (except on critical fails that is, then Cooperative Soul would kick in)

Hi all,

If I'm a bard that has both Cooperative Nature and Inspire Competence does that mean I get a +4 to my Performance check to Aid?

Also what, if any, interaction is their between Cooperative Soul and Inspire Courage? Let's say I'm not an expert in Athletics but am an expert in Performance. Can I apply Inspire Courage to use Performance in place of Athletics to Aid an ally in tripping?

Many thanks for your help

@Unicore, I'm glad you liked the Death Roll idea. Along those lines, I'd like to suggest the following as a way to expand on the Bikanga Crocodile Stance feat tree. NOTE: the below is inspired by Tiger Rend (feat 8), Disrupt Ki (feat 12) and Mountain Quake (feat 14)

Crocodile Death Grip Feat 12 or 14
Monk
Reaction
Prerequisite: Death Roll
Requirement: You are in Crocodile Stance and a target you have applied the grabbed condition to uses the Escape action to get out of the grab
Whether or not the target succeeds in its attempt to Escape your grab it takes persistent Bleed damage equal to your Strength modifier. If it critically fails, the persistent Bleed damage it takes equals 1d4 + your Strength modifier.

Special: If you have this feat, you gain a Swim speed equal to your Speed while using Crocodile Stance

Monk is my favorite class and since 2e has come out, I've exclusively played various monk builds in 4 different campaigns. From my POV, this is a well-balanced level 1 stance feat. I can image a 2-action level 6 companion feat that gives a free grab after a successful strike to up the crocodile flavor. Something like the following which is modelled after Wolf Drag

Crocodile Death Roll - Feat 6
Monk
2-action
Prerequisite: Crocodile Stance
Requirement: You are in Crocodile Stance
Make a crocodile maw Strike. Your crocodile maw gains the fatal d12 for this Strike, and if the attack succeeds, you grab the target. The target remains grabbed until the end of your next turn or until it Escapes, whichever comes first.

Build 87: I’m Rubber You’re Glue

This build focuses on monk feats that give out-of-turn retaliatory attacks (i.e. Crane Flutter and Arrow Snatching)

Build 14 Redo: “Mantis Style” Monk/Medic

My first stab at this accidentally treated Medic’s Treat Condition and Holistic Care as class feats instead of skill feats. This build corrects for that earlier mistake.

Thanks. I thought that was the case but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

Because the Rogue Dedication feat doesn't allow you take a racket, that means if I take Basic Trickery I can't take feats that have Racket prereqs like Brutal Beating or Unbalancing Blow. Is that correct?

I'm currently playing a lvl 4 human bo staff-using monk and it is a BLAST. My starting stats are: Str 18 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 12 Cha 10. I wrote up the build I'm using as Basic Bo Becomes Iron Forest.

My basic tactics are:

Round #1 - Move so I'm within 10ft of target, (reach) Trip, Flurry. Yes the Flurry is -5 and -10 but offset by the target being prone so it's equivalent to -3 and -8. If any of my flurries hit, I may stun the target due to Stunning Fist but that's gravy since Stunning Fist has incapacitation trait, so I don't count on it.

If target uses a move action to stand up or crawl away, I use Stand Still reaction to get an AOO strike with no MAP

Round #2 - [if they stood up] Trip, Flurry, Activate Bo Staff Parry trait' [if they didn't stand up], Flurry, Strike, Activate Bo Staff Parry

I'm looking for decent damage, but more looking to mess with the target's action economy by tripping and potentially stunning. I also use my superior speed to get to back row casters and archers but that's more of my and my party's tactics than a feature of the build so YMMV depending on your party.

dpb123 wrote:

Build 83: Student of Perfected Elemental Archery

This build is all about combining monk Ki powers with eldritch archery so that we can deal a wide array of energy damage at will.

** spoiler omitted **...

If you're going for elemental archery, wouldn't you want to just get Ki Strike at 2nd and Elemental Fist at 4th? Let's you deal elemental damage whenever you ki strike with your bow. It would also allow you to get Eldritch Archer dedication two levels earlier.

You could certainly go that route but I didn't want the elemental damage the build could dish out to be limited by the number of ki points it happened to have access to in any given encounter.

Granted, this build could be achieved without going the SoP route, by doing as you suggest and then training out of Elemental Fist at 9 when Multitalented comes on line. But I like the way one could reflavor Perfect Strike to seem more magical (e.g. whizzing past the target then reversing course to to seek it out anew).

I suggest you head over to the 101 Monk Bulds thread, specifically Build 76: Avatar of Nature since it's Leshy focused. However there are a lot of other builds that don't depend on specific ancestries that can provide ideas/guidance.

Build 83: Student of Perfected Elemental Archery

This build is all about combining monk Ki powers with eldritch archery so that we can deal a wide array of energy damage at will.

cavernshark and lemeres, many thanks for all this information. VERY helpful

Edit 2:

And I just now read we're doing Elven fighters. My bad. I got excited when I remembered that Minor Magic exists.

I think your best bet is Wildborn (1st), Ancestral Paragon at 3 for an additional feat (Otherworldly Magic), and...

No need to apologize, this is all still very helpful. Many thanks!