What's the text for the Incorporeal trait like now?
What's the text for the Incorporeal trait like now?
Spirit, ghost touch, and force bypass it. If the creature is also undead, it looks like vitality is added to that list.
Anyone else find it odd mental damage never made the cut? I guess ghosts sort of have fractured minds already.
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What's the text for the Incorporeal trait like now?Spirit, ghost touch, and force bypass it. If the creature is also undead, it looks like vitality is added to that list.
Anyone else find it odd mental damage never made the cut? I guess ghosts sort of have fractured minds already.
Not really. I always pictured ghosts starting as having good, if situation limited, mind.
I find it odder on the "mad" ghosts like Poltergeists and Banshees
What do the saving throws for the golem replacements look like? Is there a status bonus to saves against magic, or do they only resist damaging spells now?
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I feel like, with the removal of the alignment system, the various friends and celestials are now best differentiated by the paths through which they uphold and represent good and evil, holy and unholy.
Angels are goodness through service. Sometimes service towards good gods, sometimes service towards innocent life or holy order.
Azatas are goodness through joy and self-expression. Freedom and connection.
Archons are primordial goodness. Directly born of holy power and untainted by humanoid ideas and norms.
Theoretically Agathions would be something like, goodness through nature and gentleness. Stewards of the sanctity of life itself.
As for fiends
Devils are wickedness through domination. They are the counterparts of Angels as they seek to chain others in service of them.
Demons are wickedness through hedonism. Incapable of empathy or restraint, they are the counterparts of Azatas.
Qlippoths are primordial wickedness. Their evil impossible to understand or empathize with, and their counterparts are obviously Archons.
Daemons are wickedness through malice. They appose life and hope in all it's forms, and their counterparts would be Agathions.
It's not quite as wrapped up in neat little boxes like the alignments used to be before, but it helps to conceptualize what their purpose is to the greater Holy and Unholy causes.
What do the saving throws for the golem replacements look like? Is there a status bonus to saves against magic, or do they only resist damaging spells now?
No bonus to saves against magic. What they have is "Resistances physical XX (except adamantine), spells XX (except YYY)".
This is identical to the Brass Bastion from Rage of Elements.
I think the reasoning is that as mindless constructs they already have a ton of immunities, so it would be unnecessarily punishing to also give them high saves so they always succeed or better on their saves.
Creative Director
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1. Does aboleth still appear? While it is an OGL monster, simply removing it would create a huge lore error since aboleth is the basic form of all alghollthus, according to page 74 of The Lost Outpost.
To address this question specifically... aboleths are not in the remastered game, nor are skum. Those are D&D creatures.
As mentioned above, the two alghollthus that are in Monster Core are the faceless stalker and the veiled master. There is no lore error—all of the things that in an OGL edition you would say "The aboleths did it" would say instead "The alghollthus did it—particularly looking at the vidileh, aka the veiled master."
The Lost Outpost lore that says "aboleth is the basic form of all alghollthus" is outdated now. If I were to use that same sentence in a remastered setting, I'd say "vidileth is the basic form of all alghollthus"... but I wouldn't say that, because alghollthus are a very varied family of monsters that we will continue to expand upon as we go forward.
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The sidebar on Kobolds and how their eggs pull power from nearby powerful beings, not just dragons, opens up some interesting possibilities for the Ancestry and Heritages in PC2
Kobolds who have a tribe around worshipping an Arboreal or Dryad, with their horns changing to resemble antlers and/or branches in their shape. Kobolds that work for a Hag, with oily iridescent scales and heterochromia similar to changelings. Kobolds who live in an abandoned fortress alongside ancient arcane constructs, with metallic scales and crystal-like horns. Lots of ways to mutate to match the enviroment/biggest monster.
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What are aeons like now? Did they fully absorb inevitables?
The Arbiter, which was an Inevitable, is now an aeon.
How are daemons doing? Apparently only Astradaemons, Cacodaemons, and Leukodaemons return in this + Venadaemons coming in from PF1. Particularly, curious what changes if any happened to Astradaemons (as they were very powerful for their level previously so would not be at all shocked if they had some of their abilities or numbers nerf'd) as well as what abilities Venadaemons have.
Is there a level 4 bear to fill the gap left by the absence of the stirgine bear? Like we have Black (2), Grizzly (3), Polar (5), and Cave (6) but is there a level 4 bear?
Is there a level 4 bear to fill the gap left by the absence of the stirgine bear? Like we have Black (2), Grizzly (3), Polar (5), and Cave (6) but is there a level 4 bear?
There is not. You would need to use the elite template to the grizzly bear to get a creature level 4. Also only the Grizzly(3) and Cave(6) are in the Monster Core.
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I'd note that Athamarus have previously been said to replace Locathah (they're coming in Howl of the Wild) and Sedacthy are replacing Sahuagin (they're in Monster Core, I believe).
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The sidebar on Kobolds and how their eggs pull power from nearby powerful beings, not just dragons, opens up some interesting possibilities for the Ancestry and Heritages in PC2
I didn't even think about that. That's a cool catch.
I will be happy if they have weaker and fewer weaknesses. I think the weakness numbers are far too high. Three or four characters or more with runes that can target the weaknesses adds far too much damage and makes the creatures seem weak. It can add up to an enormous amount of damage in a round.
Barghasts got a cool makeover. They don't seem to be goblin linked anymore and look more like... some kind of sleek fusion of a doberman with the muzzle of a rottweiler. Very cool looking.
I am surprised to see Will-o'-Wisps made it back in with like zero changes. Sorry kineticists!
Neat, so they are going back to the more traditional Celtic/English version of the Barghast. Probably the same reason the Will-o'-Wisp managed to get through as they are based off folklore and public domain.
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Neat, so they are going back to the more traditional Celtic/English version of the Barghast. Probably the same reason the Will-o'-Wisp managed to get through as they are based off folklore and public domain.Barghasts got a cool makeover. They don't seem to be goblin linked anymore and look more like... some kind of sleek fusion of a doberman with the muzzle of a rottweiler. Very cool looking.
I am surprised to see Will-o'-Wisps made it back in with like zero changes. Sorry kineticists!
I'm still surprised. The barghast's looks changed significantly and their mechanics changed too. The wisp looked unchanged and while their origins are mythological I can't imagine their magic immunity except for 3 very specific spells was anything but D&D. That ability has also become more problematic because of the kineticist which can't cast any of those spells and therefore can't use any impulses against it.
Did the Will-o-whip pick up any elemental traits?
Did the Will-o-whip pick up any elemental traits?
YES! It has the Air trait. While Extract Elements is still a spell (all impulses are spells) I would allow it, but YMMV.
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What changes have been made to ghouls? I hear that Ghoul Fever might have been removed given its ties to DnD Ghouls.
The ghoul was actually showcased in this new blog.
IMO, Forbidden Cravings is way creepier than Ghoul Fever. It sounds like a good change so far.
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Oh, and are there any liches? Demi or otherwise?
There are, including a "Creating a Lich" section.
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I feel like, with the removal of the alignment system, the various friends and celestials are now best differentiated by the paths through which they uphold and represent good and evil, holy and unholy.
I love this line of thought and it mirrors in a lot of ways how I think of the immortal "outsider" families, even prior to the divesting of alignment. Each family having a 'theme' from authoritarian control to sin to freedom only serves to make the identity and role of these creatures stronger, not to mention presumably inspire new ground that isn't picking random bits and bobs off the floor and smashing them together. Certainly you can make a demon flavoured after each of the 7 deadly sins, but once you're done with that there's more than enough room dozens of variations and shades of self-indulgence at the expense of others.
In my own estimation, though, I tend to focus on angels' roles as messengers. This does tie in with goodness through service--after all a messenger needs some message to carry and presumably somebody to send that message, but I'm fond of thinking of angels as goodness through sharing and communication--the message of goodness if you will--and I might be tempted to throw connection in there, especially since prior to the remaster they were somewhat unique for crossing alignment boundaries and not belonging defined by association with either LG, NG, or CG.
Moreover, I really like this idea of agathions being the holy stewards of all life, and therefore taking on such a range of diverse forms of living thing, and thereby being the natural foes of daemons who are the harbingers of death. That gives them an identity that clicks with me besides being enlightened souls of nirvana who happen to look like animals--even if it's purely headcanon that may or may not survive contact with further published agathion lore.
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The sidebar on Kobolds and how their eggs pull power from nearby powerful beings, not just dragons, opens up some interesting possibilities for the Ancestry and Heritages in PC2So they're no longer JUST smol dragon friends who are doing their best! Now they can be smol angel friends or kami friends or elemental friends who are doing their best! :DEggzactly!
Some may even be smol Sphere of Annihilation friends doing their best!
Well THAT'S adorably terrifying!
Kobolds who have a tribe around worshipping an Arboreal or Dryad, with their horns changing to resemble antlers and/or branches in their shape.
Suddenly the idea floated in Owlcat's adaptation of Kingmaker that forging peace between the denizens of the Old Sycamore results in some blended kobold and mitflit families becomes much more plausible.
Now I wanna play an oddly lumpy blue kobold druid or ranger who's like "you are not alone. theres bugs"
Is there anything notably different about Vampires? Are they included?
Vampires are included and look pretty similar to before. I think Paizo said something changed with them but I didn't see what.
Apparently all undead except Vampires now specifically list an immunity to bleed damage.
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Now I wanna play an oddly lumpy blue kobold druid or ranger who's like "you are not alone. theres bugs"
Now if only there were more bug/invertebrate animal companion options (that I like). IIRC there's only scorpions and medium/large beetles. Somehow there's no spider companion, but I guess I would ask my GM to say my scorpion is some breed of web-less spider like a jumping spider.
Interestingly, qlippoth are unholy but do not have a holy weakness as you'd expect. They just resistance to mental and physical damage (except cold iron.) I think the vibe is that qlippoth (and their transformed victims) are incapable of differentiating between right and wrong and not focused on the war against all that is holy.
Inquiring Clerics want to know.
1) Do all undead have the Unholy trait? The 1 previewed did.2) Do evil outsiders have that unholy trait?
3) Do undead, demons, or devils do extra damage to holy enemies like sanctified Clerics.
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Interestingly, qlippoth are unholy but do not have a holy weakness as you'd expect. They just resistance to mental and physical damage (except cold iron.) I think the vibe is that qlippoth (and their transformed victims) are incapable of differentiating between right and wrong and not focused on the war against all that is holy.Inquiring Clerics want to know.
1) Do all undead have the Unholy trait? The 1 previewed did.
2) Do evil outsiders have that unholy trait?
3) Do undead, demons, or devils do extra damage to holy enemies like sanctified Clerics.
1. All that I saw, including the ghosts. However, "Creating a Ghost" says that MANY ghosts become unholy, not all. So non-evil/unholy ghosts still look possible.
2. Outsider isn't a trait in PF2, but fiends have the unholy trait.
3. Not as a general rule, no. There may be specific abilities I didn't see, though.
Thank you!
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Interestingly, qlippoth are unholy but do not have a holy weakness as you'd expect. They just resistance to mental and physical damage (except cold iron.) I think the vibe is that qlippoth (and their transformed victims) are incapable of differentiating between right and wrong and not focused on the war against all that is holy.Inquiring Clerics want to know.
1) Do all undead have the Unholy trait? The 1 previewed did.
2) Do evil outsiders have that unholy trait?
3) Do undead, demons, or devils do extra damage to holy enemies like sanctified Clerics.
Player character skeletons (Book of the Dead) do not have the Unholy trait from their Ancestry, therefore all undead are not Unholy.
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3) Do undead, demons, or devils do extra damage to holy enemies like sanctified Clerics.
Some Celestials do additional damage to Unholy targets. Tabellia (angel) deal 1d4 spirit with their warhammer, 2d4 v. unholy target. Rekhep (shield archon) has the same.
Quetz Coatl's venom is treated as a curse for unholy creatures, its radiant wings have an additional affect against unholy targets on a crit fail.
All demons, devils, daemons, and Rakshasas have holy weakness.
Coarti's (devil) Despairing Shriek causes holy creatures to also be frightened 2 on a fail.
Holy creatures treat their save vs. the Diabolic Dragon's Hell's Sting ability as one step worse.
Herexen's Strikes deal extra 1d6 spirt to holy creatures.
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Thanks for compiling those. I'm going to add that info to my Sanctification guide.
Here's a fun tidbit. The diabolic dragon is immune to divine immolation, and its fire breath weapon functions similarly for counting as either fire or spirit damage.
So, holy effects are more effective against the things good damage was more effective against before, while not being more effective against the things it wasn't, and having easy access to it still comes with a tradeoff of being more vulnerable to creatures with unholy effects as long as a stat block specifies it does (such as, outside the Monster Core, the unholy rune and chilling darkness spell).
Some people are doom posting in other places about the removal of alignment damage but it honestly sounds like things will end up being more or less the same. Lawful and chaotic damage rarely came up and when they did it was annoyingly difficult to guarantee you had it when you needed it. Evil damage was rarely a significant part of a monster's damage profile as many PCs were immune. I don't think monsters have gotten significantly worse without it and I doubt that one family of celestials no longer being vulnerable to unholy effects for flavor reasons is going to make the rare campaign where a PC will want to blast a celestial with unholy energies any more awful.
Pretty much. The only real change is divine damage (alignment, attacks from fiends, flame strike, etc) is more consistent.
Qlippoth still exist? I thought they are created by D&D. Turns out they are purely Paizo's creation?
I'm very frustrated that kobolds now have nothing to do with dragons. I have liked them very much due to their resemblance to dragons. Is the depiction of kobolds as little dragons a creation of D&D too, and not part of the origianl mythology?
I do find it funny that thanks to ogl removal, the "sea devils" finally got better name than that
Not sure if I understood correctly, but does that mean you didn't like the name "sea devils" and like the new name "sedacthy"? I actually hate the new name very much, and am very surprised that Paizo cannot use the name sahuagin. Is sahuagin created by D&D as well?
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I'm very frustrated that kobolds now have nothing to do with dragons. I have liked them very much due to their resemblance to dragons. Is the depiction of kobolds as little dragons a creation of D&D too, and not part of the origianl mythology?
Mythological Kobolds were spirits/faeries of the earth, associated with ore and gemstones. The draconic link is a D&D-ism; you might know Warcraft's Kobolds as miners, while any Dungeon Meshi fans have seen them as poison-resistant dogfolk in that work.
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Qlippoth still exist? I thought they are created by D&D. Turns out they are purely Paizo's creation?
If I understand the story correctly, the qlippoth are a creation of James Jacobs and actually predate the version of them that appears in D&D--there called 'obyriths'--which James also created. Rather than filing off the serial numbers to make qlippoth, the qlippoth had serial numbers added to them when they were incorporated into D&D.
As for sahuagin, I suppose they could always go back to the roots of the name and create a more true-to-the-myth version of the monster... but I don't know how I feel about Franciscan friars added to the Monster Core, much less the small spanish town of Sahagun. This one is most certainly a D&D-original and I'm not very sad about no longer having to decide how to pronounce sahuagin