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Pathfinder 2E: "The Time of the O.R.C. has come."

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Posts

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited January 2023
    I guess folks are really after purple skin/white hair, and why shouldn’t they, but would it be any better if they varied it up some?

    mhsk8bcgqxbo.png

    “When an elf becomes a drow their skin and hair are altered by the transformation. It is unknown if this is merely a haphazard side effect or a legitimate part of the curse designed to separate them physically from their own family. Due to this both drow and elves use elaborate face paint to express their true allegiance.”

    zascuz5sx2bj.png

    Endless_Serpents on
  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited January 2023
    What if elves are just mood rings? Elves are mood rings. TM me. Do not steal, you must license this from me by whispering your request to a frog on a Tuesday. If you see two crows on a Friday, you may use this at your table. Three crows for a commercial license.

    Endless_Serpents on
  • The Zombie PenguinThe Zombie Penguin Eternal Hungry Corpse Registered User regular
    What if elves are just mood rings? Elves are mood rings. TM me. Do not steal, you must license this from me by whispering your request to a frog on a Tuesday. If you see two crows on a Friday, you may use this at your table. Three crows for a commercial license.

    Crows arent native here, asshole. Dont be encoruaging invasive species.

    That said, i'm assuming i can substitute Kaka for Crows.

    Ideas hate it when you anthropomorphize them
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  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    What if elves are just mood rings? Elves are mood rings. TM me. Do not steal, you must license this from me by whispering your request to a frog on a Tuesday. If you see two crows on a Friday, you may use this at your table. Three crows for a commercial license.

    Crows arent native here, asshole. Dont be encoruaging invasive species.

    That said, i'm assuming i can substitute Kaka for Crows.

    I meant Chronomantic Robotic Orbital Warmechs. Should have capitalised.

  • ZonugalZonugal (He/Him) The Holiday Armadillo I'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered User, Transition Team regular
    edited January 2023
    So, continued development of my Star Wars inspired Pathfinder 2E campaign setting:

    #1. -- Instead of it being set in space (or the Astral Sea or what-have-you), it's going to be set on a cosmically, gigantic aquatic world filled with millions of continents that each stand-in for planets from the franchise (eg: Tatooine would be it's own desert-focused continent). Rather than the world being solid at its core, it's going to be fully aquatic and as a result the primary way to travel from continent to continent is underwater sailing. This largely allows me to maintain the three-dimensional ship combat & exploration of the franchise (but in a fantastical way).

    #2. -- The only spellcasting class is the Psychic. The Bard, Cleric, Druid, Magus, Oracle, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch & Wizard classes are banned. Accessing non-psychic spells via ancestral and class features is still permitted though.

    #3. -- The Psychic's subconscious minds feature is being remixed a little. I'm cutting Wandering Reverie, and I'm altering Gathered Lore to be Wisdom-focused. I know there is some debate over this probably being too overpowered (as Wisdom is just more powerful as an ability score in PF2E) but by doing this I can offer a trinity of Int, Wis, & Cha approaches to psychic spellcasting. I'm also debating cutting The Oscillating Wave, The Tangible Dream, and The Unbound Step from the Psychic's conscious minds feature, leaving just the other three that focus on Telekinesis, Telepathy, & Psychic Divination. I feel these three are more in tune with the franchise, and also this creates a three-by-three offering when paired with the remixed subconscious minds feature.

    Zonugal on
    Ross-Geller-Prime-Sig-A.jpg
  • MonwynMonwyn Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. A little bit of everything, all of the time.Registered User regular
    Zonugal wrote: »
    #2. -- The only spellcasting class is the Psychic. The Bard, Cleric, Druid, Magus, Oracle, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch & Wizard classes are banned. Accessing non-psychic spells via ancestral and class features is still permitted though.

    You should really, really rethink this unless you plan on spending a ridiculous amount of time hand-tuning each monster. A lack of reliable in-combat healing and ranged crowd control is an excellent way to accidentally kill your party, and you've removed basically every avenue for that.

  • ZonugalZonugal (He/Him) The Holiday Armadillo I'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered User, Transition Team regular
    Monwyn wrote: »
    Zonugal wrote: »
    #2. -- The only spellcasting class is the Psychic. The Bard, Cleric, Druid, Magus, Oracle, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch & Wizard classes are banned. Accessing non-psychic spells via ancestral and class features is still permitted though.

    You should really, really rethink this unless you plan on spending a ridiculous amount of time hand-tuning each monster. A lack of reliable in-combat healing and ranged crowd control is an excellent way to accidentally kill your party, and you've removed basically every avenue for that.

    These are fair concerns/critiques, thanks!

    I will think about how to try to navigate/resolve them...

    Ross-Geller-Prime-Sig-A.jpg
  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Given all the feats and what not, how important is specialization in Pathfinder?

    Age old 5e stance was there were a few classes you shouldn't multi because then you're behind (e.g. Wizard). Others there were some multis where you got more powerful with the right mix. And then anything else was that you're willing to be behind for the flavor.

    Given how easy it is to make tons of different choices in pathfinder, is there a similar feeling? I've seen some places that say it's built so that broad builds are successful, and others that say that specialization is what matters because of how many choices there are.

    I'm building a Magus and at 4th level, I don't specifically like any of the class feats, so I'm thinking of taking a dedication, but giving up a special spellstrike to do it and I just can't figure out if that's a mistake.

  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Starfinder does Jedi pretty well. The Solarian can be built as basically a lightsaber warrior, and the setting's magic can easily be interpreted as psychic power. Mystics have some innate psychic abilities, and their spell list can be built in that direction. The Precog class can even emulate a Jedi's Force prediction ability, and that's what I call pod racing.

    More importantly, Starfinder does away with the need for a dedicated healer by having Stamina regenerate after a 10 minute rest, with HP being lost more rarely.

  • WhelkWhelk Registered User regular
    I mean, the Alchemist is ripe for Star Wars action. They have reliable in combat healing.

  • webguy20webguy20 I spend too much time on the Internet Registered User regular
    For complex character building games, you should just get a free respec if things aren’t working out right or the character isn’t living up to its concept.

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  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    webguy20 wrote: »
    For complex character building games, you should just get a free respec if things aren’t working out right or the character isn’t living up to its concept.

    In my Starfinder campaign, I just let everyone respec whenever they wanted. The envoy/solarian was disappointed in her damage output, so she went full solarian. The ysoki mechanic evolved into a skittermander technomancer over time and nobody blinked.

    Unless you're going for gritty realism (and if so PF/SF might not be your best choice of system), locking players into builds they don't like is a completely unnecessary frustration point.

  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    Thawmus wrote: »
    I'd take a look in Pathbuilder and see if taking a dedication and not taking a class feat locks you out of or delays taking a class feat down the road that you really want.

    Really good point. Looking ahead, I'm not seeing the feat as a prerequisite for anything else, so I don't think it actually affects the build.

    My general idea was to build Magus and do a dedication to Psychic to allow me to pickup Shield as a free cantrip along with being able to cast it on others with Tangible mind. I'm pretty worried the group transition over is going to be rough and people are going to get beat up as they figure out p2e over how they played 5e.

    This is also why I made sure to train in medicine and took the medicine assurance feat at level 3 because I have a feeling that I'm going to need to Treat Wounds constantly.

  • MonwynMonwyn Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. A little bit of everything, all of the time.Registered User regular
    Zonugal wrote: »
    Monwyn wrote: »
    Zonugal wrote: »
    #2. -- The only spellcasting class is the Psychic. The Bard, Cleric, Druid, Magus, Oracle, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch & Wizard classes are banned. Accessing non-psychic spells via ancestral and class features is still permitted though.

    You should really, really rethink this unless you plan on spending a ridiculous amount of time hand-tuning each monster. A lack of reliable in-combat healing and ranged crowd control is an excellent way to accidentally kill your party, and you've removed basically every avenue for that.

    These are fair concerns/critiques, thanks!

    I will think about how to try to navigate/resolve them...

    Honestly I think you'd have better luck explaining what you're going for, making it clear that a spell list full of direct damage spells is no bueno, and then veto'ing individual spells you don't like. The Occult spell list (which Psychics get) has overlap with about 3/4 of the Divine list and 1/4 of the Arcane list anyway, but it's overwhelmingly debuff focused and flavored in such a way that you're going to have a hard time explaining how you're not a Sith. Moreover they have very few spells per day; Amps help, but they're also limited.

    At the absolute least I'd allow Cleric and Sorcerer and maybe restrict access to the Primal spell list.
    Thawmus wrote: »
    Regarding healing, take a look at the Investigator + using the Medic archetype. It's a build I used in a game once and it's pretty efficient and fun to play. After not too long you can battle medicine folks like crazy, plus you're a condition eraser.

    RAW you get one use of Battle Medicine per character per day. Medic dedication gives you one additonal use on any one character per day. It's okay in a pinch but not what you want to rely on unless you're in a party of nothing but Big McLargehuge.

  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    I hadn't seen that yet, and not sure I can fit it in yet either. You need to be trained in Battle Medicine, which I didn't do. Mostly because I still really love the theme of my android having tons of languages (took Multilingual at 2 instead).

    I'd also have to drop Psychic Dedication at 4 to pick it up.

    I'm not sure I want to fully head down that direction yet anyways, I was more just making sure medicine was going to beat that DC 15 so we have guarantee after-fight healing. Once we actually start playing, I'll have to see how badly it goes to decide if what we really need in more in combat healing as well. I'm pretty action limited because of Spellstrike, so I'm kind of hoping everyone else picks up some slack either with good dmg or someone else realizes we need healing and grabs something.

  • MonwynMonwyn Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. A little bit of everything, all of the time.Registered User regular
    Whelk wrote: »
    I mean, the Alchemist is ripe for Star Wars action. They have reliable in combat healing.

    Yeah but the alchemist feels like shit to play. You're a walking vending machine. Woo.

  • WhelkWhelk Registered User regular
    Yeah, it was the class I was most excited to play, but it winds up feeling super awkward. I even think it's powerful in some circumstances, but it's so niche.

  • MonwynMonwyn Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. A little bit of everything, all of the time.Registered User regular
    Given all the feats and what not, how important is specialization in Pathfinder?

    Age old 5e stance was there were a few classes you shouldn't multi because then you're behind (e.g. Wizard). Others there were some multis where you got more powerful with the right mix. And then anything else was that you're willing to be behind for the flavor.

    Given how easy it is to make tons of different choices in pathfinder, is there a similar feeling? I've seen some places that say it's built so that broad builds are successful, and others that say that specialization is what matters because of how many choices there are.

    I'm building a Magus and at 4th level, I don't specifically like any of the class feats, so I'm thinking of taking a dedication, but giving up a special spellstrike to do it and I just can't figure out if that's a mistake.

    Not liking any of the L4 Magus class feature seems odd, but it's with pointing out that there's nothing preventing you from grabbing an earlier one in the L4 slot. Magus's Analysis, Expansive Spellstrike, and Force Fang are all pretty good feats.

  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    I grabbed Expansive at L2.

    Analysis refreshes spellstrike for 1 action, but you have to make a successful check. I can already refresh spellstrike for an action, so that seems like a gamble of an action to refresh when I can just do it guaranteed (unless I'm missing something on recall knowledge). Force Fang I can see some benefit of, another focus point, but the attack itself looks like less dmg than a cantrip like Gouging claw.

    The 4th level feats are Distracting spellstrike (I'm choosing Laughing Shadow Hybrid), or else the tattoo, steady spellcasting, or striker's scroll. None jump out as must haves.

    I originally was planning on grabbing the Psychic dedication just for shield, but I just check at Level 6 and the Psi Development feat I can grab would give me Imaginary Weapon cantrip which is 3d8 at lvl 6. That feels like a fairly strong way to build towards, I think.

    There's still a lot I'm missing with the game though, mostly in the skills and skill usage areas, so that might be where I'm building weak spots (because everything so far seems like it's Spellstrike oriented)

  • MonwynMonwyn Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. A little bit of everything, all of the time.Registered User regular
    edited January 2023
    If your Deception is decent Distracting Spellstrike is amazing - the feint is basically free and is effectively +20% crit chance. If the feint fails you still get your normal Spellstrike.

    If Cha is a dump stat (which is a reasonable choice) it's unimpressive though.

    Magus's Analysis is sort of in the same boat - you're burning an action to recharge and getting a bonus. It can be risky if you're not your party's skill monkey though given the chance to fail. (It's worth noting that the Arcane skill feat Unified Theory at L15 makes this *really, really good* but you can always retrain into it later.)

    Monwyn on
  • AustinP0027AustinP0027 Registered User regular
    My CHA is awful. Part of the conversion process for us is that we have to stay the same general race, so I'm an Android and get that -1.

  • LockedOnTargetLockedOnTarget Registered User regular
    My CHA is awful. Part of the conversion process for us is that we have to stay the same general race, so I'm an Android and get that -1.

    The core rules have recently been given new errata that states you are allowed to just get two free stat boosts of your choice with your ancestry instead of the usual boosts and penalties it comes with.

    So you can have an Android without the CHA penalty if you want.

  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    My CHA is awful. Part of the conversion process for us is that we have to stay the same general race, so I'm an Android and get that -1.

    The core rules have recently been given new errata that states you are allowed to just get two free stat boosts of your choice with your ancestry instead of the usual boosts and penalties it comes with.

    So you can have an Android without the CHA penalty if you want.

    In Starfinder a lot of the races have alternate stat mods, with the Companion Android (affectionately known as "sexbots" in some circles, but having a lot of different purposes) having just a net +2 Cha.

  • The Zombie PenguinThe Zombie Penguin Eternal Hungry Corpse Registered User regular
    Hey? Wizards of the Coast?

    You Dun Fucked Up.

    Ideas hate it when you anthropomorphize them
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  • WotanAnubisWotanAnubis Registered User regular
    The last time WotC fucked up this hard, they created Pathfinder.

    And now this... History may not repeat, but it sure does rhyme.

  • Endless_SerpentsEndless_Serpents Registered User regular
    edited January 2023
    The sun is setting as you enter the wizard’s tower. Together you climb the dusty spiral staircase to a wide, round room. The remaining sunlight filters in through mere slits for windows. The walls are dripping with indecipherable text. Before a black iron cauldron stand the wizards. The head wizard tentatively pours a single droplet of a blood red liquid into the boiling mixture.

    She sneers, “You are too late, heroes! Now, at last—”

    “Oh shit!”, a wizards cries.

    Four! Five! Eight! An endless stream of orcs burst forth from the cauldron! I’m talking jus’ wall to wall orcs. Muscular, oiled orcs. So oiled! Why are they oiled?! Orcs everywhere, all up in the wizards business. You’re forced to back down the staircase as the orcs continue to multiply.

    Endless_Serpents on
  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Monwyn wrote: »

    The local Pathfinder Society tables have been at capacity the past few weeks, and we've had a little more interest in Starfinder Society, too.

    I will be amused to see how many 1st level orcs show up now that everyone can play them without boons.

  • VisskarVisskar Registered User regular
    joshgotro wrote: »
    Book 1 Harry Dresden.
    Screenshot-20230118-191701-029.png

    Not in the core book, but the Thamauturge class from Dark Archive could be a good base class for Harry
    Monwyn wrote: »

    The local Pathfinder Society tables have been at capacity the past few weeks, and we've had a little more interest in Starfinder Society, too.

    I will be amused to see how many 1st level orcs show up now that everyone can play them without boons.

    It would be great to see SFS getting a boost out of this as well as PFS. I know at the last GenCon online there were a lot fewer tables of SFS compared to PFS, and it'd be great to see both of them getting a big boost of interest.

    steam_sig.png
  • ToxTox I kill threads Dilige, et quod vis facRegistered User regular
    I had this idea for a skill monkey ranger. It's a riff on Green Arrow. Basically his father was a low-level merchant noble, so he's got all the proper social training, he just doesn't have a single bit of Charisma to save his life. He was always a bit reclusive, fucking off and fucking around and learning how to track, and hide, and forage; both in the city and in the wilds.

    I can't decide between Half-elf or vanilla human. Mostly want the heritage benefit and ancestry feat to get me more skills. I'd considered starting rogue, and I would eventually multiclass into rogue, idk

    maybe the real panopticon was the friends we made along the way
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited January 2023
    My Corebook arrived last night and wow it is a chonky boi!

    edit-

    I was a wee bit concerned at how much harder it might be to teach my group PF2. I had heard it was a bit more complex and flipping through the rules I'd say that is fair.

    But, BUT!

    5e was the first TTRPG for a lot of the people in my group and looking through PF2 I feel pretty confident that with their general knowledge of 5e teaching them PF2 will be easier than learning 5e with no general TTRPG knowledge.

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • Lord_AsmodeusLord_Asmodeus goeticSobriquet: Here is your magical cryptic riddle-tumour: I AM A TIME MACHINERegistered User regular
    Monwyn wrote: »

    The local Pathfinder Society tables have been at capacity the past few weeks, and we've had a little more interest in Starfinder Society, too.

    I will be amused to see how many 1st level orcs show up now that everyone can play them without boons.

    I am a bit confused by what you mean with the orc thing

    Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. - Lincoln
  • ToxTox I kill threads Dilige, et quod vis facRegistered User regular
    Tox wrote: »
    I had this idea for a skill monkey ranger. It's a riff on Green Arrow. Basically his father was a low-level merchant noble, so he's got all the proper social training, he just doesn't have a single bit of Charisma to save his life. He was always a bit reclusive, fucking off and fucking around and learning how to track, and hide, and forage; both in the city and in the wilds.

    I can't decide between Half-elf or vanilla human. Mostly want the heritage benefit and ancestry feat to get me more skills. I'd considered starting rogue, and I would eventually multiclass into rogue, idk

    I'm still very much new to PF2 so feedback on the effectiveness or ideas about the idea is welcome.

    Also do people have any thoughts on Half- Gnome/Dwarf/Halfing/etc (ie Half- "another playable race")? Feels like the ability to do that is implied, or maybe I'm just reading it favorably

    maybe the real panopticon was the friends we made along the way
  • DracomicronDracomicron Registered User regular
    Monwyn wrote: »

    The local Pathfinder Society tables have been at capacity the past few weeks, and we've had a little more interest in Starfinder Society, too.

    I will be amused to see how many 1st level orcs show up now that everyone can play them without boons.

    I am a bit confused by what you mean with the orc thing

    In Society play you can generally only run character species from the core book unless you have a special "boon" prize from playing or GMing that lets you start a character from an uncommon origin.

    In honor of the ORC, all players can now run characters with the orc species without needing a boon.

  • ZonugalZonugal (He/Him) The Holiday Armadillo I'm Santa's representative for all the southern states. And Mexico!Registered User, Transition Team regular
    Tox wrote: »
    I had this idea for a skill monkey ranger. It's a riff on Green Arrow. Basically his father was a low-level merchant noble, so he's got all the proper social training, he just doesn't have a single bit of Charisma to save his life. He was always a bit reclusive, fucking off and fucking around and learning how to track, and hide, and forage; both in the city and in the wilds.

    I can't decide between Half-elf or vanilla human. Mostly want the heritage benefit and ancestry feat to get me more skills. I'd considered starting rogue, and I would eventually multiclass into rogue, idk

    I think you are probably fine with just vanilla Human?

    Also, how are you planning to go about doing the Green Arrow's whole special arrows thing?

    If you are doing alchemical arrows (especially as a bunch of new ammunition just came out in The Treasure Vault) picking up the Alchemist Dedication could be a worthwhile investment?

    The other option is the Eldritch Archer archetype, which I think is fuckin' dope as all hell.

    Ross-Geller-Prime-Sig-A.jpg
  • ToxTox I kill threads Dilige, et quod vis facRegistered User regular
    I hadn't thought that far into it, and honestly it's more the background than the playstyle. I'll probably avoid anything too complicated for now, I still wanna learn the system.

    Although I did notice that going Half-Elf would let me wield that silly Elven 2-hand Finesse weapon. So maybe that + crossbow for simple and consistent options in combat.

    maybe the real panopticon was the friends we made along the way
  • MonwynMonwyn Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. A little bit of everything, all of the time.Registered User regular
    It's worth noting that Half-Elf gets you the improved version of Multitalented at 9, which is situational but real, *real* good if your build wants it.

  • daveNYCdaveNYC Why universe hate Waspinator? Registered User regular
    Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
  • BucketmanBucketman Call me SkraggRegistered User regular
    Thankfully I got a limited edition of the core book the day itlaunched at gencon years ago, then put it on a shelf and never opened it

  • CaedwyrCaedwyr Registered User regular
    Humble Bundle has a PDF bundle for the core books and some more (depending on tiers). If you are looking to try it out and want the shiny books and not just rely on the free apps and SRD, then it's a fairly cheap way to grab them. Includes the Beginner's Box.

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