Help me convince my gm to switch to pf2e by making a psychopomp themed musician?


Advice


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

My dm has this amazing fantasy western campaign prepped. Today, he mentioned that since pf2e has better gun rules than 5e, it might be worth switching systems. I want to play more pf2e, so I am super up for this.

A problem with switching is that all the pcs have character concepts picked out for the campaign. So I thought it would be fun to show off how good pf2e's character creation system is by building my character in pf2e and having him be more thematic than his original 5e version. However I don't know pf2e very well, so I could use your help!

For context, not-divine magic is illegal in this setting, and people will kill you if you show you have it. Jack was your classic scoundrel wanderer; with nothing but a guitar, he would lie and cheat his way from town to town. One day his luck ran out, and folks realized that he was using charms to be as charming as he was, so they shot him and left him to die in the desert. When the grim reaper came to pick up Jack's soul, jack challenged it to a game of poker; if jack won, he would be brought back to life; if he lost, he would go quietly into the night. Jack cheated, and the reaper noticed. The reaper revived Jack since he won, but since jack cheated, his flesh was rotted from the bone, leaving him a living skeleton, and the reaper left jack some chores he would have to do if he wanted a decent afterlife next time he passed.

Aka, he is the protagonist of where the water tastes like wine, lol. I just really wanted to play a skeleton with a guitar.

The character was a spirit bard with a dip in hexblade for eldritch blast, but I'm not tied to any of those mechanics (and he isn't supposed to be a gish). All I want is a bard with necromantic or psychopomp-themed abilities. The most important feature is the ability to hear the stories of dead people; 5e has tales from beyond; maybe this character can get some speak with dead power? Heritage is duskwalker. I didn't decide the ancestry yet. Anything cowboy or western themed is nice but not nececary. I want this character to be as death-themed as a bard can get, and I am willing to change his story to fit that more.

Any tips for making this character in pf2e?


Ancestry doesn't matter as much. Versatile Heritage choices can usually be taken by any Ancestry.

Duskwalker heritage is certainly one option for getting some of that undead feeling. Though I would also point out the recent Revenant background. It doesn't take your heritage choice and it gives you negative healing - which is cool (hard to play, but really cool). Though that does mean that you couldn't also take the Gambler background. You could even do both Duskwalker and Revenant.

Bard is a fine choice for class. Though there is also Oracle or Sorcerer that could fit the theme well enough too.

Rfkannen wrote:
The most important feature is the ability to hear the stories of dead people;

There is the Consult the Spirits skill feat, but it won't be available until level 7 at the earliest. Requires Master proficiency in Occultism to talk to spirits.

I think there are some options that come online earlier, but not as freely available. Ancestor Oracle could give you something like that immediately. Maybe take it at level 2 with the Oracle Archetype. There is also the Spirit Sense spell available to Occult tradition at level 2.

But you could also run it just that Perception and the Occultism skill are sufficient to be able to sense the presence of lingering spirits and be able to communicate with them for role-play only.


If you wait some time the Book of the Dead is supposed to come out with some playable undead. Which probably will include skeletons. This would be helpful for your character.

As for "psychopomp themed", well that is going to be pretty hard to do with default book stuff. Psychopomps in PF2 (aka Golarion) are SUPER anti undead creation. They would rather die then create an undead creature, meaning your character wouldn't exists.

On that note, the very premise of your character would straight up fail with the Grim Reapers and Minor Reapers described in the pathfinder books. Those thing are uncaring, cruel, and unrelenting manifestations of death. Related either to the creation of the negative plane or the personification of Abaddon itself. They are hated by both Psychopomps and Celestials

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With all that said PF2 characters are best built by thinking of the lore/aesthetics you want first then maximize around it. The exact feats and stuff don't really matter unless you are going for something highly specific.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
breithauptclan wrote:

Ancestry doesn't matter as much. Versatile Heritage choices can usually be taken by any Ancestry.

Duskwalker heritage is certainly one option for getting some of that undead feeling. Though I would also point out the recent Revenant background. It doesn't take your heritage choice and it gives you negative healing - which is cool (hard to play, but really cool). Though that does mean that you couldn't also take the Gambler background. You could even do both Duskwalker and Revenant.

Bard is a fine choice for class. Though there is also Oracle or Sorcerer that could fit the theme well enough too.

Rfkannen wrote:
The most important feature is the ability to hear the stories of dead people;

There is the Consult the Spirits skill feat, but it won't be available until level 7 at the earliest. Requires Master proficiency in Occultism to talk to spirits.

I think there are some options that come online earlier, but not as freely available. Ancestor Oracle could give you something like that immediately. Maybe take it at level 2 with the Oracle Archetype. There is also the Spirit Sense spell available to Occult tradition at level 2.

But you could also run it just that Perception and the Occultism skill are sufficient to be able to sense the presence of lingering spirits and be able to communicate with them for role-play only.

Revenant sounds awesome for a backstory! doubling up could be a ton of fun!

Wow consult the spirits is like... literrally everything I wanted this character to be able to do. Its nuts that its a skill feat anyone can take!!! that is DEFFINITLY going on the character!

Temperans wrote:

If you wait some time the Book of the Dead is supposed to come out with some playable undead. Which probably will include skeletons. This would be helpful for your character.

As for "psychopomp themed", well that is going to be pretty hard to do with default book stuff. Psychopomps in PF2 (aka Golarion) are SUPER anti undead creation. They would rather die then create an undead creature, meaning your character wouldn't exists.

On that note, the very premise of your character would straight up fail with the Grim Reapers and Minor Reapers described in the pathfinder books. Those thing are uncaring, cruel, and unrelenting manifestations of death. Related either to the creation of the negative plane or the personification of Abaddon itself. They are hated by both Psychopomps and Celestials

****************
With all that said PF2 characters are best built by thinking of the lore/aesthetics you want first then maximize around it. The exact feats and stuff don't really matter unless you are going for something highly specific.

Oh rad! this game is actually a fair while in the future (we are currently in the big arc of another gms game, then he wants to finish running a game thats been on a two year hiatus, and THEN we would play this, so it'll almost defenitly start after that book comes out!

In his homebrew setting theres only one psychopomp and it's name is death (I was just calling it the grim reaper for convenience) My idea for this character having undead stuff was less death intentionally giving him that power and more him getting some level of control over life and death by besting death at cards. Also I was considering him technically being alive but with no flesh, which might work with duskwalkers.


Duskwalkers in this case aren't bones but actual full on reincarnated creatures. They just so happen to have ash-gray to dark blue skin and pop out of cemeteries, so they can seem "corpse-like" to people who don't notice. But they would help in the mean time since they are "reincarnated creatures".


There is Tragedy muse in Wayfinder #21 as well that might have something of what you're looking for in terms of class features as well, but it's more sorrow than death.


I saw an official deadlands adaptation for pf2e a while back...

Savage pathfinder ? Basically it's a setting with mystical western feel and pf2e mechanics.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Sorcerers have a psychopomp bloodline, as well as an undead bloodline. Oracles also have the bones mystery. Your character sounds like they are probably some combination of the above. The way multiclassing works is you always maintain your base class and take feats to dabble in others. So that means your initial class choice matters a lot.

The case for Oracle hinges on whether you want divine casting as your main schtick. A bones mystery brought back by the reaper seems hella flavorful, and divine casting means you can legally use your magic in the setting. But maybe you WANT to keep using illicit magic, in which case you should main bard or occult sorcerer.

Do you want to use your guitar in combat and be a bit of a buff bot? Go bard, they are hella strong. If you don't want the guitar to be part of your combat routine, you could consider going sorcerer as your primary for extra spell slots.

Conceptually, starting bard and taking the sorcerer dedication seems most fitting.

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