So in some of the blog posts the devs have mentioned many different things that high level martial characters are going to be able to do, like jump over buildings or live with no air in a void. These are all really cool! I like that they're balancing the martial and magic classes better!
Here's the problem: They haven't given any reason as to WHY people can do this stuff at high level. I'm hoping that they have some sort of explanation that they just haven't told us yet, but at the moment it seems like all that matters is just being a high level grants you seemingly magic abilities for no reason.
I really like the abilities they're giving us, and even with no explanation I'd still be fine with using them, but I'd much prefer if they actually gave us reasons as it'd be a lot more fun. Here are some of my ideas:
-Your character gets some sort of power given to them by the gods or some demons.
-Your character gets infused with magic. Maybe in Golorian everyone has a bit of magic inside of them from birth, and high level characters are just able to unlock it and use it better, and for different things.
-Your character stops becoming human and becomes something higher up, but not yet a god, or even a demi-god really.
If you have any other ideas be sure to share them so we can start brainstorming the best one!
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My character is just that good
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I'm in, maybe not necessarily the demigod camp, but something close to it. By the time you reach legenday, you're just that: legendary. You are the heroes of myth and legend, and your feats of skill reflect that.
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To quote myself:
Batman is not magical in-universe despite doing things that are impossible for real life people to do. He does those because, in the DC universe, human capabilities clearly have a higher cap than they do in real life.
Iron Man is not magical in-universe, again despite doing things that are blatantly and obviously impossible for human beings in the real world. He lives in a world where a non-magical person can do those things, because baseline human capabilities are simply different from the real world in the world he lives in.
Indiana Jones and almost every action movie protagonist ever also do things that are flatly impossible in real life and yet are not superhuman or magical in-universe. They do them because they live in a universe where, once again, people are capable of such things without magic.
Pathfinder is such a world. It's a world where someone can do things that seem impossible to us with raw determination and/or natural ability, no magic needed. And there's no reason to find that difficult to believe given that giants (basically a physical impossibility) exist, griffons and dragons can fly in an AMF (this is also physically impossible), an average 8th level Fighter can out-wrestle a rhinoceros, and tough people can survive being immersed in lava.
Or another version:
Here's another way to look at it:
A radioactive or high gravity environment has effects on the development of creatures who live in it. Over generations they will adapt to said environment, so that even though they may not exude a personal gravity field or be radioactive (indeed, in real life they will never do either of these things), they are nonetheless physiologically different from similar creatures that have not lived in such an environment for generations.
In the same way, a high magic environment could have certain effects on creatures that develop within it. Some, like Dragons, would gain the ability to actually actively use magic, but others would simply display certain physical differences to allow them to survive such an environment better. Humans on Golarion, despite not being magical in and of themselves, are thus the products of an environment in which they must be capable of achieving a degree of competence that human beings on Earth simply don't need to be capable of, making the heights humans on Golarion can achieve quite a bit higher as they must be able to compete with magic in order to survive.
A certain amount of magical eugenics is also very possible (I mean, the Azlanti were definitely the products of such a program, and after so long pretty much everyone is related to them by this point, and thefre could've easily been other such programs), and if the magic was used to effect people on the genetic level, might well leave lasting changes that do not require ongoing magic to have an effect.
These aren't the only possible explanations by any means, but if you want one, I think these follow fairly logically.
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Physical limitations in a high magic fantasy setting aren't the same as the real world. Which is why that guy over there can summon a horde of angels, that guy over there can jump really high, and that guy over there can kill a 50 ft tall giant by stabbing him really, really hard in the heel with a dagger.
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Heroes and villains accrue badassery through their heroic/villainous careers by doing various badass things. The more badassery you have the more badass things you are capable of achieving. Only the best and most badass are capable of accruing the amounts of badassery required to perform the most badass acts possible.
Here's another way to look at it:
A radioactive or high gravity environment has effects on the development of creatures who live in it. Over generations they will adapt to said environment, so that even though they may not exude a personal gravity field or be radioactive (indeed, in real life they will never do either of these things), they are nonetheless physiologically different from similar creatures that have not lived in such an environment for generations.
In the same way, a high magic environment could have certain effects on creatures that develop within it. Some, like Dragons, would gain the ability to actually actively use magic, but others would simply display certain physical differences to allow them to survive such an environment better. Humans on Golarion, despite not being magical in and of themselves, are thus the products of an environment in which they must be capable of achieving a degree of competence that human beings on Earth simply don't need to be capable of, making the heights humans on Golarion can achieve quite a bit higher as they must be able to compete with magic in order to survive.
That's something I was thinking about, and makes sense to happen in the setting. It's just that I'm still used to the PF1 setting where martials couldn't do cool things and were boring, so this stuff feels like it needs more of an explanation. Hopefully the rulebook talks more about this stuff, because it'd be cool if they explained some of the world's lore in the CRB.
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I think they might leave it purposefully vague. Some of the abilities in Starfinder were like this, so that you could choose if the power was technological, magical, or some achievable through other means. I think they might give various suggested lore, or options but in the end leave it up to the players so that each character could decide on their own. That way canonically their are multiple reasons to have this ability in Golarion but your character isn't tied down to one specific flavor.
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I kind of hope they don't explain it. It's one of those areas that should be left fluid so an individual can explain it in a way that suits that character.
It should be fine for this guy to be blessed by angels, while that woman is just innately awesome and the dwarf over there has spent so much time around magic it has infused his body.
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I don’t know that the stuff they’ve covered is that unbelievable in a fantasy setting anyway. I believe a fantasy mystic can live on a mountaintop without food or water, inhaling in the morning and exhaling in the evening. Heck, a first level Internal Alchemist could basically do that last part. As for the vacuum of space, that’s only more problematic if you apply a lot of un-fantasy-ish knowledge. An invisible master Rogue should be able to take a few minutes subtly loosening armor straps before stealing the armor. The best doctor in the world being able to treat blindness is hardly a stretch.
My character is going to claim to be divine, but with a definition for that that doesn’t really line up with actual deities.
I suspect they're not going to give exact reasons, but perhaps they might have a little box mentioning possible sources for those who want them?
Where unexplained I'm personally probably going to blame petty divine dabbling, but it's possible that some of my players might want to blame specific background things (e.g. a former experiment with magical springs in their heels for Catfall) or story events (e.g. meeting a shady alchemist to have said magic springs implanted).
My character is going to claim to be divine, but with a definition for that that doesn’t really line up with actual deities.
Razmir is drinking his own koolaid and legitimately believes the things he can accomplish make him a deity. And tbh, he's not necessarily wrong, when compared with the power level of the feats ascribed to deities in the vast majority of real-world religions.
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Dragons and other equally physically implausible creatures make an excellent example of non-casters being superhuman; a dragon caught in an anti-magic field does not suddenly implode on itself due to the Square-Cube Law, or suddenly become unable to even walk or crawl; it does become incapable of visible magical effects, but it still can carry its own weight and attack with its jaws and claws.
How much more so for a legendary human be able to survive a fall from an impossible height, or jump, grab a large Wyvern dive-bombing him, and body-slam him?
If we remove legendary capabilities at high level, we should also remove dragons that are above size large, and certainly remove their flying skill.
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If you asked them, I'm sure your Legendary-level character could explain to you exactly how they can do this stuff at high level... but they're too busy being awesome!
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Aboleths did it.
Shhh! Your not suppose to talk about them.
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The age of myth 2: electric bogalio has begun. We just don't know it yet. And will forget it later when the gap happens.
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I'm in, maybe not necessarily the demigod camp, but something close to it. By the time you reach legenday, you're just that: legendary. You are the heroes of myth and legend, and your feats of skill reflect that.
By the time your PC reached Legendary, you're not playing his actual adventures but the tall tales people will be talking about for ages
Other possibility : the character is so awesome that the universe itself takes notice and adjusts its laws accordingly
Reminds me of when we tried to explain away how our PCs went from 1st-level zeroes to universally acclaimed 15+-level heroes within the few months of an AP
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It's just that I'm still used to the PF1 setting where martials couldn't do cool things and were boring, so this stuff feels like it needs more of an explanation.
I'll just quote myself here.
Things PCs could do in PF1 without magic:
*Gain resistance to energy
*Deflect bullets with your hands
*Snatch bullets out of the air with your hands
*Smash spells out of the air
*Survive a fall of any distance
*Survive being immersed in lava
*Take no fall damage regardless of distance because you were next to a wall
*Jump humanly impossible distances
*Flying Kick around 90 degree corners or even 360 degrees in a circle.
*Punch so hard it bypasses all DR and Hardness
*Rip out multiple vital organs with your bare hands without killing someone
*Roar so loudly people take damage as if you punched them
*Have Daredevil style vision while blind
*Empower your fists with elemental damage
*Pin a creature regardless of it's size compared to your size.
*Learn up to 40 languages overnight
*Become a master at any profession overnight
*Become an expert in any subject overnightThings NPCs could do in PF1 without magic:
*Literally become a god.I don't think PF2 is really changing what kind of things are possible without magic in the setting.
Unless the PCs somehow develop omniscience I don't really see any reason to bother explaining.
If they do, you've got bigger problems to worry about.
You mean your characters won't be taking Lore(True Nature of the "World")?
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You mean your characters won't be taking Lore(True Nature of the "World")?Unless the PCs somehow develop omniscience I don't really see any reason to bother explaining.
If they do, you've got bigger problems to worry about.
Part of me worries that if my players saw this they'd get ideas, the other part of me wants them to get ideas so I can amp up the horror.
My explanation to why my high level Chara ter does incredible things is...
Why he should not?
It has been this way for years. My high level fighter always has been chewed by dinosaurs and survived.