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
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
For reminding me to review this book! Anyway, AA2 collects some of the more interesting and obscure gear from books printed since AA1 and UE, but it also adds several new great elements. Three standouts for me:
1. Weapon/Armor Mods - non-magical means of enhancing your arms and defenses with new feats to go with them. A very interesting system which hopefully will be expanded in the future (Ultimate Equipment 2, please!)
2. Equipment packages - a step up from kits, these are complete "starting loadouts" for various groups of classes (eg. Holy Warrior Package = cleric, inquisitor, paladin, warpriest). They require having a trait (or a generous GM) but also serve as a great checklist for starting purchases. This is going to solve so many "so what gear do I need?" questions from newbies.
3. Poppet familiars - customizable construct familiars, about time.
If you where looking for an Adventure's Armory part 2, THIS IS NOT THE BOOKM FOR YOU. Well, to be honest, I guess to be fair, it depends a lot on just what you liked about Adventure's Armor (or Ultimate Equipment).
It you liked crap like Item tricks, a lot of less than useful gear to take up space, and niche options that are generally too costly to use, this is the book for you.
If you like the best options simply being reprints from prior books, INCLUDING Adventure's Armory 1, this is the book for you.
All in all, I really found this book a step below "meh". None of the spells or traits stood out at all. The single item I'd actually really consider buying is the Spring-Loaded Scroll case, and that is only because Paizo's answer to the Spring-Loaded Wrist Sheath question for years in regards to scrolls has been silence.
Gone are the days when we get some essential adventuring gear like the Masterwork Backpack, but now we get extremely niche gear and a bunch of overpriced options for improvised stuff. (Isn't that sort of the opposite of what we should see in Adventure's Armory???).
We really need a Zero Stars options, because I really do not recommend this book. I realize this review will probably be deleted or I might be banned, but yes, it's really that bad.
Actual review coming in the morning, sleepy time now.
Edit (nearly a year later)
Wow I dropped that ball there. *cough* anywho...
BUTCHERING AXE! I love this thing, especially with how the "prerequisites" are handled in how you are able to wield it.
Related I love the Hornbow (good Demon's Souls memories there), for when you want to impale a jackass to a wall and you left your ballista at the other keep.
Drow Razer gives me even more of a reason to play Drow, never have before, need to change that, while the sickle sword is lovely even as my brain wanders in how to picture it hehe.
The equipment packages are useful if you want to load up your players at the beginning or if you're starting at higher level and just want to grab a bunch of "essentials" without having to hunt everything down.
The Alkenstar Fortress Plate is nice, cause f&*! guns. So is the Erutaki Coat (it's fluffy and you can take it off fast), Spider Silk Bodysuit (swoon), and then you have the Varisian Dancing Scarves and Chain Coat, one I like more than the other.
The weapon and armor modifications are also a nice breath of fresh air, for everyone who was tired of their character wearing and wielding the same types of armor and weapons.
(I'm surprised it took this long to get a treasure chest into the game)
And possibly my favorite item, the Mirror Ball. It's a mirrored ball. You can roll it. Or throw it at someone's head if the fancy strikes you (and then them).
I am glad that crutches and wheelchairs have finally been statted out as well ^w^
Wing Sheaths are neat, as well as the Thief Trainer, which i can see plenty of people picking up even if they're not thieves.
(That Pharasman lantern is fancy as all f@!% and I want one)
Bear traps, yay! Moving on.
Corsets! Stiletto boots 9yes you can use them as improvised weapons)! Courtesan outfits! Squeeeeeee!
The expanded improvised weapon effects list is nice and something I had been interested in for awhile.
CONCOCTIONS! Who loves pretty and delicious drinks? Who loves miscibility tables?
and finally, POPPETS! Who wants to make their adorable little friend to help them out? No really, I about died when I saw them, they're beyond cuddable.
This was just some stuff that stuck out to me on a long overdue reread through, but it's not even a 1/3 of all the neat and useful things that are in this book. Well worth the money and highly recommended.
It seems a bit weird that the waveblade is a monk special weapon but isn't in the monk fighter weapon group. It's not unprecedented since the knuckle axe, bich'hwa, and temple sword alsohave this issue, but those also seem weird to me.
Thank you for the reply King :), but that's if I want the Modified Weapon Proficiency feat. I'm asking about Exotic Weapon Proficiency, as follows:
Adventurer's Armory 2 wrote:
After being modified, a weapon’s category (simple, martial, or exotic) increases by one step. While a character proficient with all martial weapons can use a modified simple weapon without additional training, modified martial weapons require the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat to use without taking penalties.
I think you answered your own question. Only a modified earthbreaker is considered exotic, so Exotic(modified earthbreaker) only applies to modified versions. You would need Martial Weapon Proficiency to be proficient in regular earthbreakers.
KingOfAnything has a pretty good handle on the modified weapons' proficiency system, it looks like. ^_^
Gisher wrote:
It seems a bit weird that the waveblade is a monk special weapon but isn't in the monk fighter weapon group. It's not unprecedented since the knuckle axe, bich'hwa, and temple sword alsohave this issue, but those also seem weird to me.
The waveblade is just an updated bich'hwa, if it helps.
KingOfAnything has a pretty good handle on the modified weapons' proficiency system, it looks like. ^_^
Gisher wrote:
It seems a bit weird that the waveblade is a monk special weapon but isn't in the monk fighter weapon group. It's not unprecedented since the knuckle axe, bich'hwa, and temple sword alsohave this issue, but those also seem weird to me.
The waveblade is just an updated bich'hwa, if it helps.
That does help. :)
Edit: Looks like the only difference is the increased threat range.
I think the biggest issue I have AA2 is the lost potential with weapon and armour modifications for mundane crafters.
As is it's already a laborious process for Master Smiths to get access to creating Magical equipment and the like and, when I first heard of the new mundane modifications, I thought that Craft (Xsmith) would finally have somewhere to shine.
Sure if you throw down a pair of feats you can, eventually, grant some modified equipment to the rest of your party and not just yourself and even then only temporarily. I'm curious why there wasn't the option to actually craft these modifications yourself, permanently, with the various Craft skills while the "Creative Xsmith" feats instead serving as ways to remove the drawbacks and add additional modifications, which admittedly Modification Mastery does temporarily.
Honestly it's just a bloody sad waste of potential and I hate trumpeting the "Martials don't get nice things" line of thought but this all just feels like a fun flavorful option let down by awful mechanics.
Beyond that the book seems fun, I like the different weapons and armours introduced as well as the new, and old, alchemical items.
Hi guys, I have two questions to ask. I hope someone can help me, thank you very much!
1.
Quote:
SPIDER-SILK BODYSUIT
This exotic form-fitting garment is woven entirely from alchemically treated silk harvested from giant spiders or other arachnid creatures. If you have the drow's weapon familiarity racial trait, you treat the spider-silk bodysuit's maximum Dexterity bonus as 2 higher.
Can I make the SPIDER-SILK BODYSUIT with any special materials? Such as darkleaf cloth, mithral..etc, or because it's made of silk, so it can't be made of any special materials?
2.
Quote:
Versatile design
Cost +500 gp Weight —
Description
A weapon with the versatile design modification is easier to wield for those skilled with other weapon groups. When versatile design is added to a weapon, choose a fighter weapon group. The modified weapon is considered to be a weapon of that weapon group (such as for the fighter's weapon training class feature). A melee weapon cannot be considered part of a weapon group for ranged weapons, and vice versa.
If I use the versatile design to modify a weapon(any weapon, such as Machine Gun, Greatsword, Butchering Axe..etc) to a monk weapon group, so I can use the modified weapon to perform flurry of blows?
If the answer to the question is yes, isn't it too powerful? Because versatile design modification is so cheap.
In regards to number two, being part of the monk weapon group does not give it the monk special weapon quality, which is what allows you to use it with a flurry of blows.
Blast! I was about to make a flurrying Machine Gun Unchained Monk.
Also you can't switch Machine Gun to the monk weapon group, 'cause you can't shoehorn ranged weapon into melee groups and vice-versa... unless someone finds a loophole, in which case I'm going to come back to this concept... somehow..
Blast! I was about to make a flurrying Machine Gun Unchained Monk.
Also you can't switch Machine Gun to the monk weapon group, 'cause you can't shoehorn ranged weapon into melee groups and vice-versa... unless someone finds a loophole, in which case I'm going to come back to this concept... somehow..
With that said, the Brawler's flurry is based on weapon group. If you can get your weapon of choice into the Close group, it can be used.
With Ascetic Style into Ascetic Form though, you can flurry with any weapon from the Monk group, provided you are at least Monk 5. This includes Versatile Design (Monk) weapons.
Blast! I was about to make a flurrying Machine Gun Unchained Monk.
Also you can't switch Machine Gun to the monk weapon group, 'cause you can't shoehorn ranged weapon into melee groups and vice-versa... unless someone finds a loophole, in which case I'm going to come back to this concept... somehow..
With that said, the Brawler's flurry is based on weapon group. If you can get your weapon of choice into the Close group, it can be used.
With Ascetic Style into Ascetic Form though, you can flurry with any weapon from the Monk group, provided you are at least Monk 5. This includes Versatile Design (Monk) weapons.
Yeah, it's possible to make some interesting builds with it, but it's going to require more investment than just spending 500 gp to modify your weapon...at least several feats. So I don't really have a problem with it off the top of my head, at least...
Also you can't switch Machine Gun to the monk weapon group, 'cause you can't shoehorn ranged weapon into melee groups and vice-versa... unless someone finds a loophole, in which case I'm going to come back to this concept... somehow..
The line about "melee weapon groups" and "ranged weapon groups" confuses this somewhat, what with the presence of shuriken in the monk weapon group. I can't say one way or another.
Good time to practice your gun-kata, though, I suppose. ^_^
As always, I am just a writer, and have no actual rules authority.
All I can do is discuss intent and study the existing rules. ^_^
Ziegfeld wrote:
1.
Quote:
SPIDER-SILK BODYSUIT
This exotic form-fitting garment is woven entirely from alchemically treated silk harvested from giant spiders or other arachnid creatures. If you have the drow's weapon familiarity racial trait, you treat the spider-silk bodysuit's maximum Dexterity bonus as 2 higher.
Can I make the SPIDER-SILK BODYSUIT with any special materials? Such as darkleaf cloth, mithral..etc, or because it's made of silk, so it can't be made of any special materials?
It should be ineligible for special materials, unless you can find one that modifies silk.
Ziegfeld wrote:
2.
Quote:
Versatile design
Cost +500 gp Weight —
Description
A weapon with the versatile design modification is easier to wield for those skilled with other weapon groups. When versatile design is added to a weapon, choose a fighter weapon group. The modified weapon is considered to be a weapon of that weapon group (such as for the fighter's weapon training class feature). A melee weapon cannot be considered part of a weapon group for ranged weapons, and vice versa.
If I use the versatile design to modify a weapon(any weapon, such as Machine Gun, Greatsword, Butchering Axe..etc) to a monk weapon group, so I can use the modified weapon to perform flurry of blows?
If the answer to the question is yes, isn't it too powerful? Because versatile design modification is so cheap.
As others have noted: the gp cost isn't the full cost of entry, unless you're a member of the right class; also, the monk weapon quality is what determines eligibility for a flurry of blows. Monk would have to be part of the tactically adapted modification. (Brawlers are a different story. It appears to work just fine for them.
As always, I am just a writer, and have no actual rules authority.
All I can do is discuss intent and study the existing rules. ^_^
Ziegfeld wrote:
2.
Quote:
Versatile design
Cost +500 gp Weight —
Description
A weapon with the versatile design modification is easier to wield for those skilled with other weapon groups. When versatile design is added to a weapon, choose a fighter weapon group. The modified weapon is considered to be a weapon of that weapon group (such as for the fighter's weapon training class feature). A melee weapon cannot be considered part of a weapon group for ranged weapons, and vice versa.
If I use the versatile design to modify a weapon(any weapon, such as Machine Gun, Greatsword, Butchering Axe..etc) to a monk weapon group, so I can use the modified weapon to perform flurry of blows?
If the answer to the question is yes, isn't it too powerful? Because versatile design modification is so cheap.
As others have noted: the gp cost isn't the full cost of entry, unless you're a member of the right class; also, the monk weapon quality is what determines eligibility for a flurry of blows. Monk would have to be part of the tactically adapted modification. (Brawlers are a different story. It appears to work just fine for them.
The list of qualities available through the Tactically Adapted modification doesn't include the monk quality, so that one doesn't work either.
So, here's my question. Armor Adept lets you ignore two armor modification drawbacks. Great. However, it specifically states that "A suit of armor can bear only one modification." So, why two drawbacks? If I can pick two, why can't the armor have two? Is it in case one suit of plate armor is nimble and I also decide to sink gold into a burnished set of plate? This is like having 12 hot dog buns in a bag and a 8 wieners in another package. They don't mesh. That's a total waste of a feat. This makes even less sense when you read the Modification Mastery feat which lets you add a modification to armor that already has a modification.
Please someone explain to me how this is actually supposed to work?
