Merciful Weapon Rune / Nonlethal Damage Options?

[Rhapsodic College Dropout]

I just started playing in a new game and I am playing a Redeemer Champion and was wondering if there is a weapon rune that allows for normally lethal weapons to do nonlethal damage instead (like the "merciful" weapon ability from Pathfinder 1E)?

I carry around a sap with me as an extra weapon for pacification situations, but was hoping to utilize a scimitar to fall more in-line with my character's faith. Thanks for any help!

[Moximus]

The closest currently out in official stuff is the "Pacifying" rune, in the Agents of Edgewatch book.

Doesn't change your own damage - but once you damage a target, they have to save or take a penalty when making attacks that aren't non-lethal, while receiving a psychic message that they should stop doing lethal damage.

[TiwazBlackhand]

APG Bounty Hunter dedication chain. The Lvl 4 feat grants Bolo, Sap, and Whip proficiency, but more importantly for you, lets you make nonlethal attacks with a normal weapon without penalty.

Note: You can always take a -2 to attacks to deal nonlethal damage with a normal weapon. Base rules CRB.

[Taja the Barbarian]

Note that nonlethal damage doesn't really matter until your opponent goes down:
If the attack that dropped him was nonlethal, he is unconscious.
If the attack that dropped him was lethal, he is dead (or dying).

Outside of that (and creatures specifically immune to nonlethal damage), lethal and nonlethal damage is treated the same in PF2E, so no matter how carefully you sap your foe, if the attack that actually takes him to 0 HP was lethal, he dies...

Chapter 9: Playing the Game / General Rules / Hit Points, Healing, and Dying / Knocked Out and Dying wrote:

Source Core Rulebook pg. 459 1.1

Creatures cannot be reduced to fewer than 0 Hit Points. When most creatures reach 0 Hit Points, they die and are removed from play unless the attack was nonlethal, in which case they are instead knocked out for a significant amount of time (usually 1 minute or more). When undead and construct creatures reach 0 Hit Points, they are destroyed.

[Abyssiensis]

Level 4 is the earliest you can get guaranteed nonlethal melee strikes for all classes,
there are 3 ways
Gladiator Archetype
Bounty Hunter Archetype
Investigator Archetype

All of these can get you there, also using monk stances, but that is less broadly applicable.

For magic only Wizards and multiclass wizard can do nonlethal spells, and only as a metamagic

[The Gleeful Grognard]

Melee weapons can take a -2 penalty to atk to make the blow non lethal. If you don't mind being a bit more brutal you can slice your way till they are low and just attack then non lethally when they look like they are going down.

Or swap to a non lethal trait bearing weapon when they are low.

Easy Tool Non-Lethal Link

[coriolis]

There's the Nonlethal Spell metamagic feat (wizard 2) from the new Advanced Player's Guide that should help you out.

For weapons, I would look at the Agents of Edgewatch Player's Guide (it's free!) and discuss with your GM if they would be amenable to include some of these options for your character.

[Castilliano]

Daze is also nonlethal.

I think it's important that the party can switch over, not just one PC since as noted, it's the final damage that matters.

[Rhapsodic College Dropout]

Thanks for all the great responses everyone, this if of great help!