Adventuring Wizard

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RPG Superstar 7 Season Star Voter, 8 Season Star Voter. ** Pathfinder Society GM. 270 posts. 3 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 21 Organized Play characters.


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Driftbourne wrote:
Wei Ji the Learner wrote:


Now the important question:

Was it Rye, pumpernickel, hardtack, or some dried out ol' loaf someone had been keeping in their extradimensional storage space for years?

Any way you slice it, that is indeed an important question!

Another important question, what will happen to game balance if 1st level characters get access to bread?

I thought hardtack was Item 0. I’m not sure what level those others are, so they must be in rule book that I don’t own. I bet that rye is at least Item 4.


The Contrarian wrote:
Travelling Sasha wrote:
What part of the game did you unexpectedly like?
The end.

Groetus? Wasn’t he around in 1e?


I’ve used the Harrow deck as a reading to foreshadow future events. It was a set up reading rather than random, so the alignment issue really didn’t come into it.


These posts are a good prompt / reminder for me to sit down and recreate my PFS pre-remaster witch. It sounds like there were a lot of improvements and now witches are more reliable at lower levels.


QuidEst wrote:

Just chiming in to say, what you're asking for is definitely a Rahadoum setting book, not something that would go in Divine Mysteries.

But, just to rattle off some answers...

- "Moral neutrality" isn't something that's gonna be covered much going forward, since alignment is being dropped.

Mostly, I'm looking forward to getting access to domain spells without needing to deal with the hassle of Cleric or Champion...

By ‘moral neutrality’ I did NOT mean in the sense of the archaic alignment system of gaming systems of yore. I meant it from the perspective of a literal reading of the words. (This is one reason I’m glad we’re moving past the old ways, but it’s going to clearly take a new generation of gamers until that’s not the first thing that prrople think about in reference to those terms.) Morality is simply thinking about yourself more so than others, or commit yourself to something larger than yourself with similar orientations.

The Lady of Graves’ minions are dedicated to confirming the process of judgment on mortal souls and the delivery of soul stuff to its proper location. That is a morally neutral stance. Similarly, the Laws of Man are uncommitted to the deific battle for belief and consequently souls. If Paizo wants to truly move past the archaic alignment system, they need to provide interesting options for their dieties who follow this line of thinking, which also has implications for other parts of the setting.


Fantastic post, and I look forward to the next 9 revelations! This is a great boon for home games as people can take it or not, allowing the development of this (or ten other possibilities) to drive the story and character arcs.

However, I'm curious as to what this means for Pathfinder Society (PFS) characters. I'm very excited about the remaster cleric and am planning a new PFS PC to revisit my favorite class. Now I am hesitant to make him. Will any affected PFS characters be able to rebuild for free after this campaign-shaking event plays out in Golarion?

1/5 **

sanwah68 wrote:
Although, there is a little solution past 1st level, as some of the older 1xp quests were replayable, including 1 in the 3-6 tier, and there are also 4 3rd level quests.

Thanks! It looks like there are a couple in the the 3-6 tier, which is perfect. Quest #7: A Curious Claim or Quest #9: Wayfinder Origins will work. I'll have propose GMing those at a local store.

1/5 **

After discussion with our local VC, I'm a bit baffled and not sure I understand how the application of experience works with bounties and quests. If you play a pregenerated character at a table for a bounty, can't you apply that experience to a higher level character of your own, using your character's level for appropriate treasure? If not, then your character can be stuck at an odd experience amount if they played three bounties in games at 1st level, and then played in other games and leveled up before getting that 1 XP from a fourth bounty. Your character is then always stuck at 1 XP less than leveling up if you can't play a pregen for a low level bounty or quest to apply as catchup to the 4 XP per scenario standard.


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Although I usually use milestone leveling, I generally say they need a full night’s rest before they can level. The assumption is that they’ve been incrementally working on new battle actions, trying new magical formulas (not necessarily literal alchemist formulas), researching things related to their class, etc. At a certain point all that training results in everything clicking and the PC waking up refreshed with some new tricks. I’ve allowed that to happen in dungeons or the middle of outdoor exploration - whatever works for the campaign.


I hope there are some pantheons listed in Divine Mysteries as well. It would be nice to have options for my new cleric that aren't necessarily constrained by one deity.


After seeing a thread about how this upcoming book could positively build from Gods & Magic, I was reminded of something that's been bothering me since the early 2E books were released. Simply put, in a world that is so suffused with deities (including some that have ascended from mortals!), we should have more resources on those people who don't believe in the gods' divinity. This is a uniquely Golarion dynamic, especially since there is a nation, Rahadoum, built on the Laws of Mortality. These laws renounce the gods' divine mandate, and would not exist without the real presence of accessible deities.

I don't mean to use Rahadoum as a knee-jerk reaction against the gods, but rather it would be fascinating to explore the nuance that occurs when people acknowledge divine beings exist, but refuse to worship them as deities. What does a culture that grows from the roots of spurning the divine magical tradition look like? Sure, the Gods & Magic book gave us one page on the Laws of Mortality that described the Pure Legion, whose adherents move to extreme rejection of gods. But I'm thinking about the less severe approaches to the Laws of Mortality.

For example, do all believers in the Laws of Mortality reject divine healing magic? If so, that cuts out a _lot_ of PCs who might be traveling in diverse adventuring parties (e.g., the Pathfinder Society specifically).

Furthermore, is there a monk philosophy that elevates the mind and body without a spiritual focus? Although this could already be made with the current rules, how might that tradition be different than others on Golarion when started during the Oath Wars?

What about those citizens who leave or dwell on the margins of Rahadoum? How does culture impact their interactions with others? I imagine a sophist archetype who understands the rhetoric and power of the divine, thereby using/poaching it from a variety of gods to fuel their own magic or power. Not necessarily cannibalizing it (and thereby making themselves a threat to organized religions), but just acknowledging it and using it for their own non-divine purposes.

Also, is there a venn diagram where atheists in Rahadoum and Pharasma's moral neutrality overlap, as alluded to in Gods & Magic? What does that look like if it's not worship or use of the divine magical tradition?

I'd like to see a little more on this, and some crunch for character options. What about you? Is there anything you would like to see in the upcoming Divine Mysteries that we're currently lacking?


It's gotta be an urbane bard. I'm envisioning a thespian playwright similar to Shakespeare, but with whatever roleplaying angle you want to take them in. He could be both support for his personal "troupe" and sharp of wit with his enemies - enough to take the wind out of their sails (and penalize them with debuffs).


I'd like to see a mythic archetype that is focused on passing the Starstone test. I'm guessing there are a few demigods in Absalom hoping to gain godhood. That could provide a very unique spin on the city and would likely encourage me to use the Lost Omens guide to the Absalom.

keftiu, I totally agree about the hero-gods!


Doesn’t an Age of Ashes books visit one of the other planets?

I agree that the tone of Starfinder is much different, and I would rather have a dark fantasy setting with sci-fi elements sprinkled in than a straight up science fiction and added swords.


Lots of good things to think about as I decide if I want to rebuild my PFS monk post-remaster. Thanks for the insightful comments!


Now that the Remaster is out, I searched Paizo's site to see if their new sheets had been made available for download and printing. I couldn't find new sheets. Does anyone know if they'll be providing digital copies as they have in the past?

I'm assuming we'll have a character sheet pack released after Player Core 2 comes out next year. In the meantime, I'm hoping they'll at least offer the basic sheet as a download. Thanks!


I’m getting ready to rebuild my witch for PFS, so will return to this thread once that is done. Yes, part of the challenge/benefit of the Remaster is that previous spells can still be used unless they are banned for some reason.


Yaaaaassss! Jello is smurfing delicious!


kvltjam wrote:
Why doesn’t Class DC get a TEML Strip?

First, what is a TEML strip?

Second, will Paizo be posting the character sheet online when the physical books are released?

I'm hoping to update one of my characters before the next game, but am not sure how soon my local gaming store will be getting the new books despite me putting in an order many months ago. Plus, it's nice to have a digital version so I don't have to break the spine of my Player's Core to make a scan of the character sheet.


Extra reactions are pretty significant! I usually don’t shield block because my reaction is used to debuff enemies. I can’t wait for that extra reaction.


I wish they would have added some options for human ethnicities. For example, I find it odd that the Shoanti as a culture don’t have a feat allowing access to at least a short bow at the start. My Shoanti Druid feels strange having his primary ranged weapon being a crossbow.


I’m interested in fey that aren’t in the OP and how they stack up. The later example of nuckelavee demonstrates there are probably some not on this list, including from APs. Thanks for posting this! I’ll try to add some thoughts after looking at other Paizo published options.


Squiggit wrote:
There's a lot of performance in the remaster, but less substance than I'd like... and I feel like some of the people on this forum who have been hyping up the remaster as a whole new game are going to be incredibly disappointed with the final result.

Interesting, as I haven’t seen seen all of this remaster performance. It’s too bad if people think that it’s a ‘whole new game,’ because you’re right. It ain’t going to be that. I’m excited that it’s going to be the same game with some cleanup - rather than Pathfinder edition 2.5. Perhaps it’s more like a 2.1 update? Are some of the changes (mostly renaming) annoying? Sure, but I’ll take that with still being able to use all my current resources!


ShinHakkaider wrote:

But I think the remaster project will be my jumping-off point with Pathfinder and probably Paizo. I've been around since the Dungeon / Dragon Magazine days. And that's fine. Maybe I'll change my mind once it's in the wild I'm not completely inflexible.

I see the positives for all of the things that I'm not a fan of. I just disagree with those changes.

So you’re not a fan of the changes that were forced by another company (the same one you who was the precursor to Pathfinder). I’m kind of curious, do you have ideas on how they could have changed these things so that you would keep playing the game you’ve enjoyed for the past 10+ years?

I’m excited about many of changes I’ve seen for PF 2.1!


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Lots of great experience and ideas here! I really appreciate the OP’s idea to show spell casters some love.


nephandys wrote:
Not sure if you're interested but there are many player-created versions that might appeal to you. In my drive, I have at least 6 different versions for my players. Unfortunately, I don't have any links to these outside my drive but you might want to look around and see what you find.

I am interested, I’ve looked around, and I am currently using other sheets. The whole point of this post was to beg Paizo for usable sheets so I don’t have to look other places. I want to be creating great character concepts or awesome adventure ideas rather than spending time scouring the internet for functional character sheets (and often having to cobble different options together).


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For those of us grognards, and those without access to cool tools like Pathbuilder (my young son), please make a character sheet that is not taken up with a bunch of ‘designed’ dark space and lines in the wrong locations. We need space to scribble all the rules on the sheet and then write notes in the margins. Additionally, when preloaded sheets for the specific character classes come out, please have an editor look over the feats and class abilities to confirm they are in the correct spaces/levels. Thank you for all the hard work you do to facilitate our fun!


I recently saw a post mentioning that monks could work well using shields because they still have decent damage output with Flurry of Blows. Has anyone had any experience with this type of build and how did it go? I’m thinking of switching out my low level Bo wielding monk as she enters mid-levels.


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SuperBidi wrote:
magnuskn wrote:
A Champion doesn't have "Champion" stenciled on his brow, neither.
No, they have high AC. When the monsters fails an attack that should hit everything else, they know they face a tank and switch target. So the Champion will take an attack or 2 before being ignored. That's not metagaming, that's tactics.

That’s absolutely good tactics, to those creatures smart enough to figure it out! But as you pointed out, that should take at least a couple of attacks, or rounds, to determine (if your GM is not metagaming) and that could be 50 hit points of damage not going to someone else at mid-levels. In fights that usually only last four or five rounds that’s pretty significant.


This is a great idea! It could fill some of the niche archetypes that people have been asking for, expand options for some classes, and ‘fix’ others by adding options to make up for some of their weak spots. The last of these should only be examined after we’ve all had some time with the remaster to try out the newer class options.

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roll4initiative wrote:

The links for the PF Society scenarios just bring me back to this thread.

I do look forward to playing them, though!

Likewise about the links for the PFS scenarios. The titles are certainly evocative.


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Eberron is one of my favorite settings and I’m shocked I haven’t seen this post over the years as I enjoy collecting conversion sources for when I finally get that Eberron campaign started. Thanks for your work on this and I plan on returning to dig deeper when I have more time.


Dubious Scholar wrote:


Normally, a consumable activated item is consumed when you activate it, and takes effect immediately with that action. That doesn't make sense for ammunition, unless the activate action were Strike (like it is for bombs).

Also of note - the general rules for activation via interact requires touching the item (a held item has to be wielded, but ammo isn't a held item). This poses an issue for ammunition in guns (but not crossbows) for obvious reasons.

My read of this is that you spend an action to activate the ammunition, which will boost it, and then spend an action to Strike with it. It’s similar to casting a spell, (which are often 2 actions). Here you are using two actions to have a much more effective strike with your normal weapon (if you hit).

In my mind, worrying about how ammunition in a firearm is being activated is way too much in the weeds. We play a game that abstracts a LOT of the real world. Why split hairs too much on something if it’s punishing some builds more than others (e.g., firearms vs. bows and crossbows)? Make something up so they’re not punished. Maybe they only need to quickly dump some powder into the barrel and the gunpowder and bullet already in ithe gun delivers the alchemical boost? Be creative with your storytelling. That’s the name of the game!


Will thumbnails of the maps be added to this page so we can get an approximation of what the maps look like?


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Thanks all, as there are a lot of really good ideas here!

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Dancing Wind wrote:

In the description of each scenario there is a list of the maps for that module.

It is spoilered, so you have to click the little triangle to the left of the words "[Scenario Maps spoiler - click to reveal]".

No, I mean a list of all the maps matched to the scenarios, so you know that one particular map is used for both scenario A and scenario B. See the list in the link I made above. Then click on the "PFS Scenarios by Map" sheet and you will understand what I mean.

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There were extensive lists of the maps used in Pathfinder Society scenarios for the 1st edition. Does anyone know where I could find the same for 2E? I've found Flip Mats and Map Packs listed here, but only for the playtest scenarios and some of the earlier modules.


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Admittedly, I wasn't a big fan of the eldamon but this contest has me very excited for the next Battlezoo Bestiary. The categories of elements should make it easy as a GM to find the right monster for a lot of different contexts.


There are no 7th level pregens?!? I guess the table I'm GMing this weekend at our local con will need to bring their own characters within the levels of 7-10. If there's a wide range of levels they'll just be stuck with what they've got.

1/5 **

This thread clearly has spoilers as the request asks for details regarding chase scenarios in 2nd edition PFS. Stop reading here if you do not want spoilers, as this is one long spoiler…

The chase rules have significantly evolved since the 1st edition, moving from more individual actions for progressing in a race, to cinematic group experiences. The rules in the Gamemastery Guide allude to these improvements, yet I haven’t seen them in play so don’t know if they work well at the table. I’m aware of many scenarios in 1E that use the rules but have not encountered any 2E Pathfinder Society scenarios with the new ruleset. I’m trying to find examples to use as inspiration for creating a race in my home game.

First, have you seen any 2E scenarios (or adventures) that use the new chase rules?

Second, have you played at a table with these new rules? If so, please tell us what you thought and how they worked.


I’m planning on setting up an epic race in my home campaign using the chase rules. The Gamemastery Guide updates the 1st edition rules so they are less about individuals moving through the chase – and possibly getting stuck at various points – to more cinematic group experiences. Have you used the chase rules in your game and how did it go? Did you use the GG rules as written? If so, did they work for your purposes? If not, did you just alter them or go your own way? Please give details.


Any chance this will be updated to Parhfinder 2E? It looks like a great supplement, but I’m looking for ready-made fey. How much of the page count is given to describing the different courts of the fey?


Onkonk wrote:
Here is a link to the archives for it

Thanks, Onkonk. I didn’t realize they’d statted him up for the updated Kingmaker AP.


The Gold Sovereign wrote:


PF2 has yet to stat anything above level 25. Even level 25 creatures are something rare in PF2, so much that the Lantern King's avatar is a level 24 foe. And we are talking about the avatar of an Eldest.

Where are the stats for the Lantern King’s avatar located? That might be a good way to extend my EC campaign since I have already taken them to the First World.


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Danger, Will Robinson! Here there be trolls!


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That is indeed insane. But insanely wonderful, as in well-developed. I'm curious as to what others think regarding the balance of this thorough porting of Eberron into 2e.

One of my favorite campaigns to GM was the Age of Worms AP that I set in Eberron. Thanks for sharing this!

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I have now both played and GMed a scenario that grants the unique boon, Stalwart Shield. However, I don't see that in my list of boons. Should I be looking for it someplace other than the Pathfinder Boons?


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There’s a lot of really good ideas in this thread. I want to also request a tech book, but with a broader focus. My two reasons are that, first, future tech is fun and opens up interesting options (including making it easier to port Iron Gods over to 2E). Second, I want to see an update on the campaign world going into more detail on the Lost Omens story thread in the region after some major upheavals in the area (e.g. dethroning of the Technic Guild, closing of the Worldwound, stabilizing of Irrisen by a queen from another world, etc.).


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The only time I've seen something even close to temporary abilities being used is when they're integral to an encounter. For example, if there's a fire that is clearly spreading during a fight and burning down the building they are in, then the PCs might use some of the surrounding props to put it out.

It seems that if temporary abilities are going to be used, there needs to be a strong motivation to overcome the usual actions of the PCs. That motivation should be somehow built into the encounter.


That’s a great idea. One thing I have emphasized since day one of my AP campaign (ok maybe day two or three), is that entering _encounter_ mode doesn’t necessarily mean there is going to be a fight. If I say, ‘we’re entering encounter mode. Roll initiative,’ now the group knows time is of the essence, they can’t have long conversations, and diffusing the situation is going to take a little more creativity and quick thinking.

That being said, I really like how you turned this into an exploration activity with the actions of the NPC!