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Is there any discussion or possibility that Society will move towards Free archetype (maybe with restrictions)? I have heard that this is a very popular mode of play and it might increase interest in society play. Of course, if society play is already doing fantastic and growing by leaps and bounds then that is another story

Here we are at 2 the 2 year mark and I was wondering what was the highest level PC you have in PFS2 play?

I have a level 9 (with a L6 being second)

Follow-on question - When do you think we will get enough Level 11+ scenarios to level past 9/10? (given we are starting season 3 and many character concepts take until this level to start the real fleshing out)

My apologies but I cannot find the large thread where it is discussed that all regional languages are uncommon. Would someone link me the thread please.

I was trying to understand the value of the "Hireling Translator" Boon. If all regional languages are Uncommon, then what two common languages would the translator be able to speak?

Why would anyone take the L3 spell "Threefold Aspect?" It only changes your age (adult, young - adult - adult, elderly). It does not appear to impact anything really. Is this meant for some niche campaign? Or does it provide something that I am missing?

With the introduction of the 3rd level spell Cozy Cabin, it appears that the item Explorer's Yurt has become MUCH less desirable. Why would you spend over twice the price when you could just buy a wand?

Given that no penalties apply when using assurance, is my assumption that you can track at full speed without impact correct RAW. Thus, if your proficiency was +10 (6th level expert) you would get a 20 even if moving at full speed.

I know that as a sorcerer you can make 1 spell of each spell level a signature spell. My question is whether I can take a heightened version of a spell and make it a signature spell for the heightened level.

For example - Dispel Magic is a 2nd level spell. I could make it my signature spell for 2nd level spells. If I take the heightened version (level 3), could I make that my 3rd level signature spell?

The reason could be if I want to make another 2nd level spell a signature spell (e.g. Calm Emotions) even if that is not optimal

Do we have a ruling as to how to use staffs if you are BOTH a prepared and a spontaneous caster?

1) Do you need to be able to cast the actual spell on the staff at the same level or
2) do you just need to be able to have spell slots of the same level and have access to the list(either MCD or basic spellcasting)?

I assume the second answer is correct but that is just interpretation

I am about to buy a staff and want to make sure I can use it

Since it appears that a staff is basically an efficient set of wands ( spell levels staying static and balanced by requiring invest and spell level charging), I would assume that it uses the wand rules in those cases

Assume that both the allies and the enemies have bless operating. If you then cast Bane, can you have it counteract only the enemies Bless or does it attempt to counteract both blesses? I assume that you can choose to only counteract the enemies but I have learned that the rules are spread out so you have to look in 4 different places to get the entire picture of any one item so I want to make sure I did not miss something

Is there a rule against casting charm and then using Diplomacy to make an Impression? It would seem possible to take an indifferent person and make them friendly via charm followed by using diplomacy (glad hand maybe) and make them Helpful

Charm makes a person helpful while Diplomacy improves attitude

For my edification, what is the purpose of Magic Fang? It cannot be cast on yourself (target is your ally and they made it clear you are not your own ally) and it is nigh useless on an animal companion.

Follow-up question: Why is one of the two spells for the sample wild druid (p134) Magic Fang when it has no value to him? (p134 - he has no companion, no summons, no bonded animal feat)

I am looking at the CRB and the errata, and I was wondering if I was correct in my understanding that Magic Fang was not intended to benefit Animal Companions?

There is still the restriction that they can only benefit from item bonuses to AC and speed. Since Magic Fang provides a +1 item bonus, they cannot benefit from the +1.
A mature animal companion (lvl4) gets 2 attack dice so the magic fang does nothing (grants 2 if you have only 1)

If I am an Occult caster and take the druid dedication (without taking basic spellcasting), can I prepare and charge a Staff of Healing?

Also, since the spells take on "my tradition," would that be Occult or Primal?

I cannot remember if there was a decision or not about how items are upgraded for PFS 2 (PF2.0 ruleset).

Example: Say I already have an animal staff which cost 90 gp and want a greater animal staff which costs 460 gp. which scenario do I use for the cost of the higher level staff:

1) 370 gp or the difference (460 - 90)
2) 415 gp or sell back lower level staff for 45 and then buy the higher level staff (460 - 45)

Am I correct in assuming that a summoned creature has to stay within 30' of the caster the entire time they are summoned (turns after the initial one) or can they move out of that range? If they can move, is there a limit?

My questions revolve around wearing multiple armors at the same time. The rules explicitly state that a PC wearing plate is also wearing padded armor (p276) so it is clear you can wear multiple armors at the same time. It is also clear that if you invest the heavy armor you can benefit from its runes even if not wearing it (p276). Finally it is clear that positive qualities such as Comfort only apply if not wearing armor without the quality.

My questions

1) Am I correct in assuming that multiple items which affect the same modifier would only benefit from the highest one? For example, item bonus to AC

2) If I have Bracers +3 AC, can I enchant explorer leathers with property runes (of course put the fundamental rune on first) and get the +3 item bonus to AC from Bracers and get a rune of Shadow from the padded armor

3) If I have mage armor with the +1 AC/+1 to saves, can I combine it with +1 runed studded leather armor (which gives +3 item bonus to AC) so I would have +3 AC/+1 Saves

I am not assessing whether it is more efficient or "better," rather I am trying to figure out how multiple sources of armor will interact according to the rules

I was thinking about giving my character a spyglass which he could use when scouting in the wilderness or on the ocean. However, there seems to be no mechanical advantage to using a spyglass over the naked eye in the system. I know that I can get a GM to come up with some advantage but I would have liked the item to have some kind of rule built in. What am I missing? (I know you see 8x farther but that actually does not provide any advantage since I do not find any early/mid spells with LOS range, it does not reduce range penalties, or anything else)

My problem is that this cool ;little bauble costs 20 gp which is competing for a whole lot of other things at lower levels. Does it provide any use/advantage? If not, I will wait until 8-9th level when a waste of 20 gp is not a big deal.

I understand that a hireling has 2+your level as the modifier for a single skill when first purchased. Also, I understand that the hireling cannot increase the modifier by the use of class abilities or spells

Questions

1) Am I correct in assuming that the hireling can use necessary equipment for the skill (I would expect the player to purchase this equipment)? Take the Healer's tools for the use of Medicine as an example

2) Would the hireling be able to gain any additional benefit from non-magical items that might increase the modifier (e.g. if the character provided the Expanded Healer's Tools)? Or would the expanded healer tools be just a very expensive set of regular healer tools in the hireling's hands

Question - Does the mighty bear (or any animal) rearing up to intimidate an PC/NPC take the -4 circumstance penalty to demoralize or am I missing something?(It looks like RAW it does)

Relevant section from demoralize:
"If the target does not understand the language you are speaking, you’re not speaking a language, or they can’t hear you, you take a
–4 circumstance penalty to the check."

What does this figurine actually give the possessor?

The description states " ... it won’t use plane shift or its other abilities on behalf of its rider."

I understand that it will not use it's Divine Innate Spells but what is included in "its other abilities?" Does it also preclude Smoke Aura, Flaming Gallop, Attacks, Flying, etc. (since these all appear to be abilities it possesses)

If it does exclude them, this seems to be just a ridiculously expensive horse that you pay to show off

If I wanted to upgrade an item to a more powerful version, do I pay the difference or buy completely new.

For example,
I buy a Ventriloquist's Ring at level 3 for 60gp.
I am now level 9 and want to buy Greater Ventriloquist's Ring.
Do I pay 670gp or 610gp?

I am confused about what level items my PC can purchase

1) In the "Organized Play Basics - Pathfinder Society (2nd Edition)" under Purchasing Guidelines it states that you can buy common items of your level or less as well as your level +2 for chronicle items

2) in the "Player Basics - Pathfinder Society (2nd Edition)" under Purchasing Equipment it states that that you can buy common items of number more than your level+2 with the chronicle granting access to uncommon items

Which one is correct?

My gut feeling is that they meant to say "you can buy common items no higher than your level +2 and any items that appear on the scenario sheet regardless of level"

Ring of the Ram (p615) does 3d6/action damage to one creature or 9d6 for 3 actions. It says you can also create a cone and target multiple creatures if you use 3 actions.

If you have 4 creatures in the cone, how much damage does each take? A) Do all of them take 9d6,
B) Do you apportion the 9d6 anyway you want
C) Do you apportion the final damage evenly across all creatures?

Do they also all have the same DC?

I am wondering if taking the Druid MC with 2-3 AC feats is viable. Intent is to use the 2 action spells and then 1 action to command the AC. For what I can figure out, the AC is very fragile but it would seem that it would provide more extra damage for the 3rd action than alternatives (such as archery). What am I missing? Alternative MCs would be appreciated. This would be for PFS

I have read the boon and know that it allows "... fulfilling prerequisites and Access conditions for uncommon character options ..."

Problem is that I cannot find where it is useful for anything other than picking a language.

Thus the question is: What are some uncommon character options where this would apply other that access to some languages?

There do not seem to be Traits anymore. Is this something regarding the ACP things you can earn?

I think I can do the following but wanted to make sure that I was not missing something

1) I could cast a 2 action spell (w/o material component/Focus) and then shoot an arrow (without having a MAP)

2) I could cast a 2 action spell (w/o material component/Focus) and then swing a 2Handed Weapon

p294 CRB says that most animals panic and flee in combat (frightened 4). However, warhorses and war ponies are combat trained so they do not flee.

RAW, this appears that Guard dogs are NOT combat trained and would flee when attacked (or stay and cower for 4 rounds until attacked). This seems to make the "guard" dog pretty useless in its role.

Am I missing somewhere that a guard dog has the combat training or am I able to give it combat training by the rules?

*EDIT*
Not looking for DM ruling but whether I am missing something in the rules (I assume not because guard dogs are cheap but riding dogs cost as much as a war trained pony)

Looking to do something like Level 1 buy an animal. Level 3 upgrade it to Bonded animal, Level 4 (via MC) upgrade to animal companion. White Fang like progression

Confusion about what is that value of Read Aura if you have detect magic to identify items.

You can detect magic an item (since you can ignore known magic) and determine it is magical. You can then run thru you Occult/Arcana/etc skills to determine what it is (maybe). From what I can read, Read Aura provides only the additional ability to tell if it is an illusory magic item and the school.

What am I missing?

In PF1, bleed damage would be stopped with any healing. I cannot find that language in PF2 and only find the Medicine skill impacting bleed. Can someone let me know where in CRB, it might mention healing stopping Bleed damage (it would be very odd if it did not)

I understand that feats can only be taken once unless otherwise specified. My question is around the Halfling ancestry feat "Cultural Adaptability."

A halfling who takes it at level 5 gets 2 feats (adopted Ancestry, and L1 Ancestry feat) which could be used for Human and either a General Feat or a Class feat

In the case of a human taking the Adopted Ancestry (Halfling) feat at level 1 (Versatile Heritage), am I correct in assuming that the Adopted Ancestry feat derived from Cultural Adaptability would be void and in addition I would be required to take a L1 Halfling ancestry feat?

It would be interesting if, since the Adopted Ancestry feat is derived from another feat, I could choose another race but I doubt it.

Trying to think of ways to get more than 3 Ancestries (1/2 elf with adopted) legitimately and not house ruled (I do not think there is a way)

It looks like humans should start with Common and the regional language before intelligence modifiers based upon the Ezren pregen (and it owuld make sense that you start with your birth language)

If an ability lowers the resistance of a creature (e.g. Destructive aura), how does that work with a creature with no resistance? Does it have no effect (i.e. resistance stays at 0) or does it "wrap' and introduce a weakness (i.e. the creature takes x additional damage from that type of source)?

If an ability lowers the resistance of a creature (e.g. Destructive aura), how does that work with a creature with no resistance? Does it have no effect (i.e. resistance stays at 0) or does it "wrap' and introduce a weakness (i.e. the creature takes x additional damage from that type of source)?

I was unsure which forum to place this is since it is both a rules question and a question on how it is interpreted for PFS

My search-fu has let me down. I cannot find an answer to the following question about the interaction of two classes in Pathfinder Society Play for the ability Inspire Courage

I plan to have the following: Dawnflower Dervish/4, Cavalier/1, Battle Herald/5 (I am not asking about a better way to get a concept or anything like that - only what does the character have in way of Inspire Courage abilities)

Dawnflower Dervish (DD) modifies Bardic Performance of Inspire Courage. While it is a little unclear whether it modifies it by adding an option for a self buff only (Battle Dance) or substituting it, I will assume that it actually substitutes the self buff for the party buff (so the DD does not have the party buff performance of Inspire Courage). It uses a Bardic Pool to fuel Bardic Performances

Battle Herald (BH) gets an Inspiring Command of Inspire Courage. BH says that Inspiring Command can Inspire Courage like the Bardic Performance and that BH and DD levels have limited stacking (only purposes of determining the bonuses of Inspire Courage). It uses a Command Pool to fuel Inspiring Commands

Note: Rounds of Bardic Performance can be used to issue Inspiring commands BUT rounds of Inspiring Command CANNOT be used for Bardic Performances. Thus there are two different fuel pools

Since the Bardic Performance Inspire Courage and Inspiring Command Inspire Courage are different abilities and do not fully stack, I am unclear about what Inspire Courage abilities the character has. If the BH did not include the line that there is limited stacking, I would have treated them as two separate and distinct abilities with different pools and characteristics (similar to how you may have 2 pools of different levels/variants of Channels from two different classes). But the limiting stacking statement combined with the statement that the fuel pools are not interchangeable leaves me wondering

Option A
Only have the one Inspire Courage ability which is a Self-Buff with bonuses as a DD/9.
Fueled by both a Bardic Pool and a Command Pool. When fueling it from the Bardic Pool, I can start as a Move Action (DD/4) but when fueling from the Command Pool, I can start it as a Swift Action (since BH/5)

Option B
Have two Inspire Courage abilities – Self Buff with bonuses as a DD/9 AND Party Buff as a BH/5 (stacking bonuses on ONLY the DD)
Each is fueled by their respective pools and follow the rules above for starting

Option C
Have two Inspire Courage abilities – Self Buff with bonuses as a DD/9 AND Party Buff as a BH/9 (stacking bonuses on BOTH the DD and BH)
Each is fueled by their respective pools and follow the rules above for starting

My assumption is Option C since the two abilities have only limited stacking but is there any ruling or official input on how this works (since it is for PFS) or do I expect table variation

My search-fu has let me down. I cannot find an answer to the following question about the interaction of two classes in Pathfinder Society Play for the ability Inspire Courage

I plan to have the following: Dawnflower Dervish/4, Cavalier/1, Battle Herald/5 (I am not asking about a better way to get a concept or anything like that - only what does the character have in way of Inspire Courage abilities)

Dawnflower Dervish (DD) modifies Bardic Performance of Inspire Courage. While it is a little unclear whether it modifies it by adding an option for a self buff only (Battle Dance) or substituting it, I will assume that it actually substitutes the self buff for the party buff (so the DD does not have the party buff performance of Inspire Courage). It uses a Bardic Pool to fuel Bardic Performances

Battle Herald (BH) gets an Inspiring Command of Inspire Courage. BH says that Inspiring Command can Inspire Courage like the Bardic Performance and that BH and DD levels have limited stacking (only purposes of determining the bonuses of Inspire Courage). It uses a Command Pool to fuel Inspiring Commands

Note: Rounds of Bardic Performance can be used to issue Inspiring commands BUT rounds of Inspiring Command CANNOT be used for Bardic Performances. Thus there are two different fuel pools

Since the Bardic Performance Inspire Courage and Inspiring Command Inspire Courage are different abilities and do not fully stack, I am unclear about what Inspire Courage abilities the character has. If the BH did not include the line that there is limited stacking, I would have treated them as two separate and distinct abilities with different pools and characteristics (similar to how you may have 2 pools of different levels/variants of Channels from two different classes). But the limiting stacking statement combined with the statement that the fuel pools are not interchangeable leaves me wondering

Option A
Only have the one Inspire Courage ability which is a Self-Buff with bonuses as a DD/9.
Fueled by both a Bardic Pool and a Command Pool. When fueling it from the Bardic Pool, I can start as a Move Action (DD/4) but when fueling from the Command Pool, I can start it as a Swift Action (since BH/5)

Option B
Have two Inspire Courage abilities – Self Buff with bonuses as a DD/9 AND Party Buff as a BH/5 (stacking bonuses on ONLY the DD)
Each is fueled by their respective pools and follow the rules above for starting

Option C
Have two Inspire Courage abilities – Self Buff with bonuses as a DD/9 AND Party Buff as a BH/9 (stacking bonuses on BOTH the DD and BH)
Each is fueled by their respective pools and follow the rules above for starting

My assumption is Option C since the two abilities have only limited stacking but is there any ruling or official input on how this works (since it is for PFS) or do I expect table variation

After careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that adding the CORE campaign is a decision that I would not have made. It forces the organizer’s to choose between groups as to who can play in any given week. This impact is not just on new players but for veteran players also. Here is a recent example of why I feel this way.

I am a casual gamer who gets to play every 2-4 weeks. In a recent experience, I signed up for a 1-5 scenario stating my pc levels available. After I signed up somebody requested a core table so the organizer repurposed the 1-5 to core and tried to shoehorn people to other scenarios if possible. A couple of new players had to be turned away since they did not want to play core. I was asked if I could play in a 3-7 and I agreed since I had a couple of L3. I asked later what subtier it was shaping up and the organizer guessed 3-4 (best person since they knew who was signed up). On the day of the event, I and another player with L3, L4 characters were placed into a tier 6-7 subtier scenario (4 other people had previously signed up with 6 and 7s).

My options were to play a character with 20 hp and level 1 spells in a 6-7, run a pregen in a 6 person table, or bow out since they had 5 people without me. While I have played a pregen a number of times when the group is short, I find them to be rather painful to play. In addition, my limited playing schedule means it would be 6 months to a year before I could apply this chronicle sheet to a character. I have DM’ed a number of times (8-10 depending upon whether you go by my chronicle sheets or the official count) which is about 10% of my total scenarios but it was too late to consider that option. If I had known that the previous signups were 6-7 meaning the scenario would be 6-7, I would have cancelled. Thus, I chose the least palatable option to me of bowing out since I knew my frustration could color my interactions with other players badly especially in a mid-tier, 6 player table. I knew that with a 5 player table excluding me, this would not impact their ability to play the game. I thought long and hard about this since I have never previously bowed out of a table, instead sucking it up with a pregen when necessary. {Would I feel this way if the table had been cancelled? No, but that is not the same thing in my opinion)

The impact of CORE on my playing PFS is already decided. Coupling this experience with a number of previous events, I will only be playing PFS when my son is around. Playing for my personal enjoyment is over. I put forth my thoughts since I want to make sure that people know that there are at least some people who feel CORE as a solution to frequent players not having anything to play caused other problems

I received an item

Question: Would it be able to fit a large tiger animal companion (or could it be made to fit)? I know it would fit any player character but not sure about the animal companion. Would it make a difference if I enchanted it to +1?

Assumption: PFS play so looking for rules/rulings/official blogs

Situation: My character is a hunter with a pet (lets say wolf who has 1 big attack with a free trip special ability). My character has taught his animal companion both tangling attack and rattling strike from the skirmisher trick list (since the rules say he can teach his animal companion skirmisher tricks). Additional kicker, INT was raised to 3 and the AC took a point in linguistics to understand a language

Question: Is there a limit to the number of tricks/special abilities the animal companion can do on a single attack?

Illustration: Could the wolf on a successful hit cause damage, a trip attempt, an automatic entangle for 1 round, and an automatic shaken for 1d4 rounds (all of them)? The rules say the special abilities are all free actions. I could see getting ready with all before the attack - prepping so to speak - so it appears that they could. Logically, however I would think they shouldn't since the you probably would only be able to cause them to do 1 at a time. This being a magical world system with hyper intelligent pan-dimensional ... (ok maybe not that far but still abnormally intelligent) animals who understands that you are saying, it could be possible to teach the animal a unique style that combines them all. Would the fact that it has both IUS and dragon style have any impact on the ability to use these tricks (wouldn't think so but had to ask)

Follow-up question: If it was a big cat pouncing would that be on all five attacks (I assume that the durations would not stack in any event since these types of things do not usually stack)

Situation: I play in Pathfinder Society and I have two groups of DMs interpret the interaction of Pounce and Rake quite differently. Since this is an interpretation of rules and NOT a Pathfinder specific situation, I put this thread in the rules section. I mention Society since the normal answer “DMs have the right to interpret rules differently in their own campaign as long as the PCs know the interpretation. ” is not a sufficient answer for Society play.

Example: A Lion is charging and uses its pounce ability to get a full attack. It has the Grab ability on the x1 Bite and but no grab ability on the x2 Regular Claws.

DM Group 1: The Lion gets 5 attacks (x1 Bite, x2 Regular Claws, x2 Rake Claws). It does not matter if the bite or the two regular claws hit nor does it require a successful grab attempt.

Rationale [UPPER CASE added for specificity]: Rake is general rule presenting one example of when a creature gets the x2 Rake Claw attacks [ “Rake (Ex) A creature with this special attack gains extra natural attacks under certain conditions, TYPICALLY when it grapples its foe…”]. Pounce is a specific rule which provides another time when a creature gets the x2 Rake Claws [“Pounce (Ex) When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can make a full attack (INCLUDING rake attacks if the creature also has the rake ability).”]. Thus, the grappling requirement is irrelevant during the pounce attack since the grappled condition is only necessary during the typical situation (i.e. non-pounce).

DM Group 2: The Lion gets 3 attacks (x1 Bite, x2 Regular Claws). The tiger then gets to make the grab attempts for any attack with the grab quality that hits (in this case, only the Bite). If the grab attempt works, then it gets x2 Rake Claw attacks. If there is no successful grab, then the tiger does not get the x2 Rake Claw attacks

Rationale [UPPER CASE added for specificity]: Rake is a general rule which LIMITS when a rake can occur [“Rake (Ex) … a monster with the rake ability gains two free claw attacks that it can use ONLY against a grappled foe … ”]. Thus, the target must be grappled to get the rake attacks. Pounce is a specific rule which allows a rake attack if the target is grappled during the pounce as opposed to waiting until the next round [“Pounce (Ex) When a creature with this special attack makes a charge, it can make a full attack (including rake attacks if the creature also has the rake ability).”]. Thus, the rake attack consists of the required grab and then the claws not just the claws without a successful grab.

Problem: I cannot just show the forum response since most DMs tend to hold strong opinions that their interpretation is correct (which is a good thing since it means that they want to adhere to both the letter and the intent of the rules). However, since these opinions are based upon their own due diligence, they will tend to feel that others are interpreting the rule interactions incorrectly. Using the forums to show that other individuals support one view over another does not sway them since there belief is that they are correctly interpreting the rules while others are not. Only if you can show an official Paizo staff member or an official Pathfinder Society interpretation will they agree with an interpretation.

Question #1: I am confused about using a staff. The rules state that this is a spell trigger activated item (similar to a wand). In order to activate the spells in such an item you either need to have the spell on your spell list (or future spell list if delayed acquisition class) or perform a UMD check of 20. My confusion is that some staffs contain spells which are exclusive to different class lists (e.g. Staff of Defense with Shield and Shield of Faith). Does this mean that if your character does not have access to both spell lists, they would need to make a UMD check for the spells not on their spell list?

Question #2 (edited for style): are the gloves of first aid (from the pathfinder society primer) spell trigger items or can anyone use them? They are not stated to be spell trigger so I assume any character can use them without a UMD check.