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Wow, this is quite the interesting set of abilities. Really liking what I'm seeing all around.
Fighters' combos and the revamp to Familiars are especially interesting. Also, that Ultra Invisibility for Rogues...dang.
Interesting.
Shouldn't the discussion thread for this blog be under Pathfinder Playtest?
Anyway, these are very interesting revelations. I am eagerly looking forward to anything else that may slip out at this weekend's panels.
So is Holy Smite the spell gone in favor of this apparent replacement for Smite Evil (or just another power to go with it - just figuring this looked like a clear case for replacement)?
Though, really interested in seeing how powerful the Holy Smite ability will be.
I hope there are ways to boost your familair's HP.
Herrrz the duck-duck!
I'm just in the middle of the fighter, and I think it's awesome
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Shouldn't the discussion thread for this blog be under Pathfinder Playtest?
Anyway, these are very interesting revelations. I am eagerly looking forward to anything else that may slip out at this weekend's panels.
There will be a TON of info coming out of the panels this weekend, and entire pages of final text revealed at the preview banquet tomorrow night.
Should make for a lively weekend on the forums. ;)
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Wow, there's a lot of cool ideas in this thing. My favorite part is certainly the one about familiar. Familiar as an option for every gnome: Pure genius. And here I was, looking forward to the playtest already...
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The most exciting news is Fighters-As-Combo-Kings, I think. That's a very interesting direction to go for making Fighters more cool and unique. The Familiar stuff is really nice too, it seems like you're striking a good balance in making familiars more fun but less powerful (gone are the days of just grabbing a greensting scorpion and forgetting it exists beyond being a free Improved Initiative).
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I love the fighter stances and combos. Giving the fighter a real niche is fun. Also familiars with variable powers sounds pretty good. I think pocket dimension hiding should be an option for a power as well since having a familiar get caught in an AoE is terrifying.
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I think I'm actually the biggest fan of the Fighter stuff. That's super neat and picking new Class Feats every day is powerful and very cool (as well as mimicking an optimal Fighter strategy in PF1).
For Clerics, more Domains are nice to hear about. Secrecy's second power is great for a secret cult, as it should be, and the rest seem neat and effective mechanically as well (from what little can be determined of them). Reducing damage based on Str is a particularly neat Might effect.
The Rogue stuff is also awesome. Rogues having Master Will Saves eventually is pretty much a dream come true (ie: Rogues with Good Will Saves), and the other stuff sounds neat as well.
For Paladins, making Smite semi-optional and tied to the weapon would be a lot more of a bitter pill if you couldn't get a second Righteous Ally. As-is, I'm cool with it. And a lot of the bonuses listed seem pretty hardcore in terms of effects, so that's nice.
The Gauntlet is...interesting. It's difficult to tell how much stuff is 'because it's an artifact', but my bet is that non-artifacts can give you +5 to Skill Checks and quite possibly +2 to an Ability (the latter maybe restricted to really high end stuff). This would strongly indicate diminishing returns on level up points and a max Ability score of 22 for PCs sans magic (24 with magic stuff). That's workable and interesting, if not quite what I was expecting.
The Familiar stuff seems nice, though I'm interested if you can get a bonus ability or two for your Familiar (ie: does an Owl who's always stuck with flying have a way to get two more abilities).
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Hell. Yeah. Those high level rogue abilities are exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for. Also, glad they are getting a good will save.
Fighter flexibility sounds pretty amazing. I'm into stances, opens, and presses. Shield Paragon sounds REALLY good.
Man, Paladins punish you for EVERYTHING. A paladin with a shield and AoO is too tanky to attack, but smacks you if you leave it and smacks you if you hit anyone else, and then her whole team gets to smack you too?
Cleric abilities... well, good to see some more. Not quite as titillating as the other parts.
Familiars sound fun. I hope there are some class agnostic ways to get a familiar too.
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Interesting. I like the take on familiars. Would I be wrong in assuming the Summoner's schtick might end up being a path for any familiar-haver, rather than (or in addition to) its own class?
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The combo system for fighter might finally give something to the fighter that it's trully unique for him, instead of doing exactly the same than everyother martial, who got their own unique things (like favored enemy, rage, smite, etc).
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So, in PF1, I have pretty much never chosen a familiar over a bonded item. For classes that have familiars, I've either actively avoided them or sought out archetypes which trade them away for something else.
But man, now that they're optional and (like seems to be a glorious refrain in PF2) customizable I could totally see myself picking up a little talking owl like Archimedes. It's got to be some weird psychological thing, I guess, or maybe it's just the potential for having a talking familiar from the word go makes all the difference. I dunno.
I, too, love the stances and combos for fighters. It sounds like a really great way to make all of the different tactical decisions you can do with the 3-action system all blend together into something much greater than the sum of their parts. The shielded stride ability is cool, but man the shield paragon is just amazing! I like the use of traits to denote without confusion how each part of a combo fits together. I really can't wait to see more of the options and play around with snapping them together.
The cleric, rogue and paladin stuff is also pretty interesting. There's some really good stuff there, like rogues getting good will saves and the way paladins really customize how they approach being a holy warrior and make both dealing with them as bad of an option as ignoring them. It sounds like there's some pretty broad diversity between the possible options granted by domains. And I think I like it even more knowing that you basically never have a domain power that you don't want or never use.
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Shield paragon fixes a lot of issues some people seemed to have with the new shield mechanics. If you are a shield fighting style focused person it seems pretty easy to utilize the shield without eating too many actions.
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Combos have a great flavor for fighters. Instead of one-trick ponnies, where you went all-in with a certain maneouver or combat style (be it power attacking, or trip, or whatever) and then rinse and repeat.
With enough class feats, and enough versatility, it's easy to see the fighter swapping stances, and chaining combos depending on the circumstance.
I worry a bit if there will be enough of them to do more than 1 at the same time, but the free "learn it in the morning" feats help I think
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You're welcome, and thank you, Paizo!
Fighter content:
Heck yes! Combos are good. It seems like you'll probably want a combo or two, and then some nice passives? A flexible feat is fantastic, though! Given retraining is easier, that's great.
Cleric content:
Heck yes! Oh man, Might getting abilities that scale with strength is really flavorful. Secrecy's abilities are pretty nifty, too. I look forward to eventually being able to play a kobold Cleric of Mammon with the Wealth domain!
Rogue content:
Heck yes! I'm so glad to see Rogue getting good saves. Those action efficiency feats were what I was looking for in the blog, and I'm glad to see stride and strike combined for a pretty reasonable cost! Those high-level abilities… mmm… I have a Rogue that will definitely be grabbing some of those!
Paladin content:
(This is a class where the stuff I was looking for was already covered- I'm more defensively/healing inclined when it comes to Paladins. I'm happy that all the smiters out there get some nice stuff!)
Familiars:
Yesss. Well, my Wizard can have a talking cat at level 1. That's all I wanted- and now I can trade out delivering touch spells for another ability! My friend was also overjoyed to find out that Druids could get a leshy familiar. I'm quite happy with this! I'm hoping that we'll eventually get non-gnome options for more broad familiar access, like a familiar-centric archetype, but this is plenty for the playtest, and even the CRB.
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Reactions:
Fighter:
- Combo Attacks are great
- The Open trait... is that before any other attacks that round or that combat? There are places that seem to say one way, and others that seem to say the other, so some clarification would be much appreciated.
- RIP Randyll
- Shield abilities seem cool so far. Shield Paragon seems like it might wind up becoming a "must have" for Board fighters.
- Flexible Feats are cool, and will become even cooler as more Fighter feats are released.
Cleric:
- Soothing Words power from the Family domain seems like it will be awesome to combine with a Psychic caster if/when they return to the game, assuming they still have the "Emotion effects block Emotion components" drawback.
- Enduring Might is hilarious to me. "Look at my muscles, they're so big they make me bulletproof resistant.
- Money Talks is making me wonder when (other than Material Components) it might come up. Not saying it doesn't seem useful, just... interesting encounter ideas.
Rogue:
- Good Will Saves, Praise be to the Gods. PF1e's Rogue only being good at Reflex sucked when I played one in Crimson Throne, that save stopped being useful just before I got Evasion.
- Action Economy, Poison, and Trap Stuff: Neat
- Sense the Unseen is awesome. And please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems it's the only thing that can counter Hidden Paragon. Hidden Paragon seems like the Improved Uncanny Dodge of Invisibility, only other Rogues (or others with similar ability *coughBarbariancough*) can stop you.
- Cloud Step is amazeballs. The other high-level stuff is cool too.
Paladins:
- Finally, some mechanics
- The default Sacred Bond Righteous Ally (Weapon) seems kinda... situational. Disrupting, if it's like in PF1e, will be completely useless to those who don't favor Bludgeoning weapons, while Ghost Touch only matters if you fight incorporeals. But then new!Smite is locked behind it. Hopefully you can get enhancing Feats for it quickly so it doesn't spend too long as a point of embarrassment if you're a sword-wielding Paladin fighting anything other than ghosts.
- Aura of Faith provides yet another reason to oppose the idea of Weakness capping out at original damage, given that weakness seems to be one of the cornerstones of this ability (kinda like splash damage as shown so far.) Other Auras seem interesting, especially the Justice/Vengeance combo with the right party.
Gauntlet:
- Still disappointed it's not the Infinity Gauntlet, though I know the reasoning.
- That Strength-boosting feature is cool, and will be downright fascinating if it's not a unique feature. The drawback though... kinda stings if you lose the contest. And you can't even use the thing as loot.
Familiars:
- Not quite sure, do you have to use a canon animal from the shortlist for Familiar, or can you just pick any creature of appropriate size and it gets adjusted to appropriate power? My CaptainSparklez fan-character and his Slime familiar need to know.
- 4 HP per level seems kinda low, but then it's not like Familiars should be on the front line. And hopefully any future Mauler translation will provide more HP for your pet.
- Does the Familiar also use your char level for Attacking if it does need to attack for whatever reason?
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Lots of info. Thanks to all who contributed
Fighter sounds good though complicated in all its specificities. Not a beginner's class I think
I love the Rogue's stuff
I will regret PF1 1st level Smite Evil. I will definitely need to try the new Paladin chassis to see how it fits
Still feels strange that the master of armor can get an ally spirit in everything but armor
Finally I too got an eidolon feel from the description of the familiar
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- The defaultSacred BondRighteous Ally (Weapon) seems kinda... situational. Disrupting, if it's like in PF1e, will be completely useless to those who don't favor Bludgeoning weapons, while Ghost Touch only matters if you fight incorporeals.
Those are definitively examples, not the whole list. I think mention has been made of flaming as another possibility (though I could be misremembering that part...either way it's definitely not just those two).
The open and press attack actions make me worry for the viability of shield use, since they already need to use an extra action to ready their shield.
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So Fighters are Brawlers now? Nice. I'm excited to try out some of the new stuff they can do.
I'm also excited about the Rogue options. Sounds like Unchained Rogue, but with even more cool and powerful stuff stacked on top at high level.
Not quite sure, do you have to use a canon animal from the shortlist for Familiar, or can you just pick any creature of appropriate size and it gets adjusted to appropriate power?
I'm also curious about this. The blog implies that characters have free choice of animal, but it's not directly stated.
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I am disappointed that gnomes are the only ones that can get familiars for any class.
I noticed the Brawler aspect for Fighters as well. It does make them more versatile, I'll say that.
What I find interesting is what wasn't talked about: Counterspell.
I mean, let's take a look at the Familiar for a moment. There are several Class Feats that can be taken to enhance the Familiar further so it has abilities that are quite handy. So then... are we going to see something similar with Counterspell? Is it going to stop being a Situational Wonder and instead be something that with a couple bonus Feats can be used for any spell slot instead? Hell, it might be interesting if the final Unlock for Counterspell is using a spell slot of LOWER level to block the spell - sort of like what I commented on with a level 3 Fireball used against a level 9 Fireball and reducing the damage... well, maybe a level 8 spell could be used to block a level 9 spell if the Wizard fully unlocked the Counterspell Feat Chain.
Though one thing does worry me: it seems hinted at that the only reason why we got the blog entries today is because of donations? So we're paying for information? (Hopefully for charity. But even so...)
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I...I want to play a fighter.
Send help.
Well, I liked ALMOST everything here: It was all good until I saw bulk... :P
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Though one thing does worry me: it seems hinted at that the only reason why we got the blog entries today is because of donations? So we're paying for information? (Hopefully for charity. But even so...)
Donating to a charity to get extra details early. There's a kid with a bed to sleep on as a result of me wanting Rogue and Fighter details now, and I'm okay with that. X)
Is it just me or does 24,000 gp seem rather cheap for the Gauntlet? Can we assume a less exponential WBL for PF2?
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Though one thing does worry me: it seems hinted at that the only reason why we got the blog entries today is because of donations? So we're paying for information? (Hopefully for charity. But even so...)Donating to a charity to get extra details early. There's a kid with a bed to sleep on as a result of me wanting Rogue and Fighter details now, and I'm okay with that. X)
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Is it just me or does 24,000 gp seem rather cheap for the Gauntlet? Can we assume a less exponential WBL for PF2?
Silver-based economy. In PF1 terms, it’s closer to 240k. “Ten thousand gold pieces!” is being given a little more heft to it.
Is it just me or does 24,000 gp seem rather cheap for the Gauntlet? Can we assume a less exponential WBL for PF2?PF2 uses a silver based economy, with 1 SP about on par with a GP in PF1. So that's 240,000 gp in PF1 terms.
Oh cool, I missed that piece of info.
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Yessss. Very happy with virtually all of this. :) Glad to have contributed and thank you to everyone else who did too, especially whoever that awesome $1000+ donor was!
Fighter: I am extremely pleased to see them finally get a niche of their own, and to crib some stuff from the book of fightan weebaoo magick, which I loved. Stances and combos are great! Though this also seems like a Monk baliwick, so it will be interesting to see if stances and combos are cross-class feats...
The shield style seems great. And I'm also glad to see Flexibility put in an appearance. I like that a lot of abilities like this - including the paladin's righteous ally - seem to be "pick at the start of the day, lasts all day" instead of only being a short duration. Good stuff!
Cleric: Probably the weakest part of the blog, and I was hoping to see some actual class abilities rather than solely domain examples, but still decent. Some of the abilities seem a little weak - Forced Quiet isn't actually silence and they can still talk / cast spells, while Acquisitive's Fortune could stand to trigger on any failure instead of only a critical failure. All of the upper-tier domain abilities look good though. Safeguard Secret is great. When I first read Money Talks I thought it was just a creation power that transmuted money into an item, but now I see it replaces a cost - I imagine this will primarily be used to substitute for the material components of rituals or the "summon bribes" of various outsiders, which could be quite handy.
Rogue: Really liking the abilities here. I like that they get a number of feats to "combine actions" into one action. Rogues now get Evasion for Will saves, if I am understanding the higher proficiency saves correct. I also quite like the higher level skill feat options, especially Cloud Step, Trickster's Ace and Hidden Paragon. Glad to see that high proficiency skills will be awesome!
Paladin: I'm curious how the actual Smite Evil ability works given that Blade of Justice has taken its PF1 role. Retributitive Strike is a great defender ability, basically drawing aggro without actually using an artificial "aggro mechanic" like an MMO. As I mentioned above, I'm happy that abilities like Righteous Ally will be all day. I like the auras and other abilities to help coordinate a party.
Gauntlet: You could stand to condense some of those tags into a single line with commas to reduce the space this takes in print. This confirms that stat increasing items are in the game, so we now know what our third required "Big Three" item is after weapons and armor...
Familiars: I'm glad familiars are more useful now and that they can talk at first level! Even if talking takes up an ability slot, sad face... :( I think they could stand to get bonus HP at 1st level with the +4 HP/level being on top of that. Otherwise everything about them looks great so far. I'm hoping there are still Improved Familiar options to get things like Quasidragons or Imps, and I'm looking forward to feats to help improve the little guys.
Overall, great blog! Thank you. :)
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Well, let's be honest. Gauntlets of Ogre Power are a staple of the game - at least before 3rd edition. These Gauntlets add +2 Strength so it's not a huge difference and it seems they have a story behind them so they're closer to being minor relics than a generic magic item.
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Is it just me or does 24,000 gp seem rather cheap for the Gauntlet? Can we assume a less exponential WBL for PF2?PF2 uses a silver based economy, with 1 SP about on par with a GP in PF1. So that's 240,000 gp in PF1 terms.
Where did you hear that? It make a lot of sense with 15gp starting gold would have been about 150gp in PF1
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I'm wondering now more than ever whether the class feats such as those presented for the fighter are [Fighter] feats or are they [Shield]/[<Weapon Class>] feats, tied to said proficiency, that fighters can use their class feats on. I'd certainly like to be able to take martial oriented feats on a Paladin. Otherwise I imagine there will be duplication between classes to achieve similar effects, albeit with slightly different flavour text.
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the more I read, the more I think „I‘m too old for a new edition“
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Though one thing does worry me: it seems hinted at that the only reason why we got the blog entries today is because of donations? So we're paying for information? (Hopefully for charity. But even so...)
Well, no.
Other people made donations to charity.
You, however get FREE information that you didn't have to pay anything for.
So little kids get shoes and food and real beds instead of a mattress on the floor, and you get information.
All because generous people made donations on your behalf and unlocked more information. You WIN!!
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Where did you hear that? It make a lot of sense with 15gp starting gold would have been about 150gp in PF1Is it just me or does 24,000 gp seem rather cheap for the Gauntlet? Can we assume a less exponential WBL for PF2?PF2 uses a silver based economy, with 1 SP about on par with a GP in PF1. So that's 240,000 gp in PF1 terms.
Podcast interview, I believe.
The Fighter Open and Press feats remind me of Drop Dead Studios' Prodigy from Champions of the Spheres, sans magic of course, which I like. Combos are a thing that haven't really been codified in the rules after all, though some feats and abilities function in similar ways (like Cornugon Smash and Shatter Defenses or Hurtful). I'm reeeeeeally looking forward to the preview pages!
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But man, now that they're optional and (like seems to be a glorious refrain in PF2) customizable I could totally see myself picking up a little talking owl like Archimedes.
Get a dog instead. Name them Barkimedes.