Following in the tradition of the most popular Pathfinder Player Companion of all time, Adventurer's Armory 2 is a comprehensive guide to equipment of all sorts. Containing a wide array of new adventuring gear, alchemical items, armor, clothing options, magic items,poisons, tools, traps, and weapons to outfit any character, this guide is a welcome addition to any armory. Whether you're looking to gain the edge in combat or fit in to a social situation, Pathfinder Player Companion: Adventurer's Armory 2 has you covered!
Inside this book you'll find:
New feats, spells, and skill tricks to allow any adventurer to get the most out of the equipment they already own.
Armor and weapon modifications, allowing smiths or skilled adventurers to customize equipment on the fly to meet specific needs.
New construct familiars known as poppets—stuffed or wicker dolls crafted to carry out simple tasks at their masters' bidding.
This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-945-5
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I first read "Adventurer´s Armory" and then this book. The first one is superior in every single way.
GOOD:
-The Spider-Silk Bodysuit is very useful if you are a drow with high dex and not enough money for bracers of armor.
-The Dwarven war shield is nice if you always wanted to play a dwarf with two shields.
-The Drow Razor is great for sneak attacks and criticals.
-The Sanpkhang is a poison-users weapon of choice.
-Gnome Piston Maul & Gnome Ripsaw Glaive are both fun and useful.
-The Orc Hornbow is very powerful, but it´s an exotic weapon for everyone without orc-blood.
-The tools and kits are good as are the poisons.
-The six spells are all very flavorful and useful.
-The Alchemical Wares.
-Concoctions are fun, especially if you drink too many.
BAD:
-The traits are all much too specialized.
20 out of the 25 new weapons are bad.
-The Ladder, Lantern, Lamp, Mirror and Pole Equipment tricks are very special and far away from the usefulness of the Heavy Blade Scabbard and Shield tricks from AA.
-The new Clothing, magic items and Alchemical Equipment tricks are of very limited use or costly.
-The Equipment from Abroad items are underwhelming.
UGLY:
-Equipment Packages are clearly overpowered for 1st level characters. For instance, the "Holy Warrior Package" is worth 1245 gold pieces - more than a 2nd level player character has!
-Armor Modifications give very minor special boni but impose larger penalties.
-The Butchering Axe is way overpowered, i wouldn´t allow it in my games.
-The Weapon modifications are very pricy, give minor boni and often may need a feat to use.
-The nine feats are all bad.
-Out of the 18 Adventuring Gear items, 17 are very special and one is overpowered (Spring loaded scroll case).
-Nalinivati´s kiss got cut from the book but is still listed on the interior back cover.
-Poppets, while being a nice idea, are too cheap and easy to construct, their capabilities are held too vague. Their whole existence undermines the craft construct feat and would change the way manual labor is done on Golarion significantly. This is not well thought out.
To me 21 of 30 pages are useless, 9 are interesting.
While i am used to the fact that most of the Player Companions have 50% good and 50% bad content, this one is weaker than most.
Following the recent trend of compiling, repackaging, and nerfing of material from other books this product also adds a lot more unnecessary and very niche gear to further contribute to Pathfinder bloat. This is compounded further with the fact that every interesting item features a drawback and Feat tax to avoid said drawback. The only standout items in this book are the Equipment Packages and the Poppets, but these aren't really enough to justify the cost and further game bloat.
For the most part this is a very solid book. The equipment packages are a great idea for players who want to get started fast without hunting through pages of items for the prices of cheap equipment (and are a good value to boot), I want one of those waifu body pillows for the Butchering Axe, the Poppets are a great idea as cheap, easy-to-build, handy constructs, and I absolutely adore the new equipment tricks. There are also a number of reprinted items, but at least there's enough new material that it doesn't feel as egregious as when the Adventurer's Guide did it.
However, a bunch of the stuff seems like it was toned down or otherwise weakened in the interest of playing it safe. The biggest examples of this are probably the Armor/Weapon Modifications that were included. The basic idea is great, giving some customization options to players who want to add new effects or shiny bells to their equipment, but the system needed more room to grow and display what it could do rather than two pages overall. Most of the armor modifications aren't worth the price for the modification because the effects seem almost nerfed by committee, like the modification which dazzles a creature once per day if they fail a (admittedly good) DC, or the one which has a chance of sickening a creature if they happen to be using power attack and their mother just called last night and complained about how much better their brother is doing as a monster in The Dragon's Crypt, and have they met any nice goblin girls yet? The weapon modifications are a bit better off, but most of the modifications are miniscule bonuses that could have been boiled down to some additions to the Weapon Design Rules (from Weapon Master's Handbook) and a note on how to attach those additions to already existing weapons. As much as I'd want those rules to be expanded and refined into something really worthwhile, they're most likely just going to be forgotten as a bunch of weak non-magical weapon "enchantments".
It just feels... too toned down, in a way that's kind of hard to voice properly. Like the entire book was restrained, or the writers couldn't make a bunch of cool weird items for one reason or another. The first book had the feeling of being a treasure box of items that made your mind spin with the possibilities for each one. This one feels like a store shelf, where everything's been placed out for display in a very specific way, and you're just browsing for something that you want.
tl;dr Not the best book, but it's still fairly solid and has some good ideas and new tricks.
1. Weapon-slot enhancer for unarmed strikes.
Just because your character is based on unarmed strikes doesn't mean you should be compelled to sacrifice an Amulet of Natural Armor. This one has been a long time coming. Balance it however you want - make it more expensive, avoid it from applying to natural attacks, whatever you may have it. But just let me have that neck slot. It's very weird that my Brawler power spikes when playing with Automatic Bonus Progression.
2. Make Strength great again.
Strength is viable for melee builds, but it's not sexy. Finesse playstyles are so popular, in my opinion, because they represent a venue for self-expression, while most STR weapons blend together blandly. This is your chance to introduce non-magical, mundane weapons called something like Colossus Sword, Titan Axe, Greatbow, Grandhammer, etc. Make these weapons that have a minimum STR requirement to be used proficiently, and provide bonuses which include high damage dice (and perhaps unique crit rates like 19-20/x4 or 18-20/x3), and also other interesting boosts (such as the Greatbow always adding STR to damage like an adaptative bow, or the Grandhammer dealing damage even on misses).
:GASP!: :DROOL: :D AA1 was my favorite Player Companion. I ordered the hard copy as soon as it came available and ended up not being able to wait for it to arrive so I bought the PDF while I was waiting. :D
:GASP!: :DROOL: :D AA1 was my favorite Player Companion. I ordered the hard copy as soon as it came available and ended up not being able to wait for it to arrive so I bought the PDF while I was waiting. :D
Given the steep discount AA1 is currently at, I'm thinking of buying a pile of them for my local PFS group. ^_^
For 1 I think the best way to word it is the way 3.5 did Necklace of Natural Attacks (which is actually better for fists while Amulet of Mighty Fists is better for natural attack) except not blowing the amulet slot. It applies to a single natural attack or you unarmed strike, which can be your unarmed strike. It's short, effective, and usable for builds that will use a single natural attack that otherwise have the same problems.
As for strength, more damage is kinda bland. Dex is popular because it does something other than make you hit harder, which the bonus for 2 handing and power attack already does. Most dex builds have other sources of damage (shocking grasp, sneak attack, double strength inspire courage)
For new weapons, there's lots of candidates which haven't yet been brought into pathfinder. I just finished reading A History of Weapons: Crossbows, Caltrops, Catapults & lots of other things that can seriously mess you up. It's a mix of humor and history, but had a few weapons I've never heard of before, as well as all of the standard fare (including some of the more exotic weapons already in Pathfinder.) It could be a good source of ideas of things to include.
I'd love to see a brandistock and lantern shield. Sleeve arrows are also pretty cool.
I'd love to see a brandistock and lantern shield. Sleeve arrows are also pretty cool.
Yep, rules for some of the things which can't easily be re-skinned from existing items would be nice. In addition to the above that could include;
Hand Buckler (the hand-held style buckler)
Buckler Sword (wrist-worn buckler with a blade extending over the back of the hand)
Sword Shield (combination tower shield and double spear)
Double Spear (haft with spear blades on each end)
Metsubishi (tool for blowing various powders in enemy's face)
For those asking for specific and obscure weapons, please note that not all freelancers are as historically knowledgeable as yourselves. When making these requests, I recommend linking to succinct and easily-parsed descriptions of these weapons and their uses. This increases the chance of such requests becoming reality.
Personally, I would appreciate seeing an item that is both an Amulet of Mighty Fists and an Amulet of Natural Armor, following the usual rules for pricing added effects. I mean, that's something you can craft yourself under the Core rules alone... but an official version would be nice. XD
Strength is viable for melee builds, but it's not sexy. Finesse playstyles are so popular, in my opinion, because they represent a venue for self-expression, while most STR weapons blend together blandly. This is your chance to introduce non-magical, mundane weapons called something like Colossus Sword, Titan Axe, Greatbow, Grandhammer, etc. Make these weapons that have a minimum STR requirement to be used proficiently, and provide bonuses which include high damage dice (and perhaps unique crit rates like 19-20/x4 or 18-20/x3), and also other interesting boosts (such as the Greatbow always adding STR to damage like an adaptative bow, or the Grandhammer dealing damage even on misses).
Yeah I was just thinking of something like this for a character concept I was working on the other day.
I had an idea for a Great Mace and a Grand Mace. High damage dice and high crit multiplier were what I was thinking not so much on the high crit chance. The Grand Mace would be the better of the two and could do Bludgeoning or Piercing damage. Actually I was thinking all three types from the image in my head but that might be hard to balance. Maybe the slashing does less damage? I do like the high str to use idea especially for huge blunt weapons.
When making these requests, I recommend linking to succinct and easily-parsed descriptions of these weapons and their uses. This increases the chance of such requests becoming reality.
Unfortunately, many of these are obscure enough that it is difficult to find much about them online. Turns out there IS still info that can only be found in books. I've provided images and descriptions of each.
Handheld Buckler - A small metal shield with a crossbar gripped in the fist. Used for blocking and punching. Not sure what to call this. Historically, it was just a buckler... and the Pathfinder 'buckler' might more often have been called a small targe. The term 'buckler' comes from a French word for 'boss' (aka 'umbo'), the round raised area on center grip shields, because the buckler was essentially JUST the boss without the rest of the shield. Thus, maybe 'boss' or 'umbo' could be used since 'buckler' is taken. Or go full on role reversal and call it a targe. :]
Lantern Shield - Combination spiked gauntlet / gauntlet sword / buckler (Pathfinder style) / lantern holder with a little port in the shield which could be opened to let light out. Meant to shine light in the opponent's eyes to distract them or ruin night vision.
Buckler Sword - Pathfinder style buckler with a blade extending out over the back of the hand.
Sleeve Arrow (Xiu Jian) - A spring loaded tube which could be strapped to the forearm and triggered to launch a small spike. One shot short range weapon surprise weapon.
Brandistock (buttafuore, feather staff) - A wooden haft, sometimes formed into a cane or walking stick, with one long or three shorter collapsible blades hidden inside. Blades deploy and lock in place if the head of the staff is swung down (like a gravity knife).
Metsubishi - Name given to three different types of devices for deploying various powder weapons (e.g. powdered pepper to irritate the eyes, ground glass and metal shavings to cause blindness, sneezing powder, itching powder, choking powder, inhaled poison, flash powder, et cetera). The different forms were; egg shells or other fragile containers filled with powder and thrown at the victim, short tubes (e.g. bamboo) swung at the victim to deploy the powder, or a sort of powder blow gun. All were essentially limited to melee range. The tubes would probably be easiest. Was most often used to create a distraction allowing escape or open attack on the target.
Double spear (shuang qiang) - Two weapons just like the existing Pathfinder short spear and long spear, but with spearheads at each end.
Sword Shield (hackenshild) - A tower shield attached lengthwise to a double spear. Used two handed to bash or stab while providing solid defense.
For those asking for specific and obscure weapons, please note that not all freelancers are as historically knowledgeable as yourselves. When making these requests, I recommend linking to succinct and easily-parsed descriptions of these weapons and their uses. This increases the chance of such requests becoming reality.
Thank you! ^_^
I did link to a book which had 1 page on the weapons I mentioned. It's half humor half fact, but 100% entertaining. I'd recommend it for all gamers - it has stuff as basic as rocks and spears to the outlandish exotic weapons I mentioned and more (though only some, not all that CBDunkerson mentioned).
I'll be curious to see whether Equipment Traits are included. It did seem like Paizo wanted to retcon them out of existence when Ultimate Equipment came out, seeing as how they were basically the only thing not compiled. Then again, opinions can change in four years.
I'll be curious to see whether Equipment Traits are included. It did seem like Paizo wanted to retcon them out of existence when Ultimate Equipment came out, seeing as how they were basically the only thing not compiled. Then again, opinions can change in four years.
I think there's still some stuff left untouched from AA, although I could be mistaken. Were any of the Equipment Trick feats or alchemical power components compiled elsewhere?
I think there's still some stuff left untouched from AA, although I could be mistaken. Were any of the Equipment Trick feats or alchemical power components compiled elsewhere?
Isabelle Lee wrote:
In any case, I'm certainly a fan of Equipment traits - I even included some in a recent turnover. ^_^
Posting with two different aliases to hide the fact that you are double posting is deliberately misleading. No one should ever do such a thing!
I don't know ANYONE other than Kalindlara who makes multiple posts in a row with different aliases. I certainly would never do such a thing. It almost becomes painful to read after awhile...