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Rip_Van_Winkle posted:For reference, here's a list of the Magus class feats, with the ones that directly modify or improve or trigger off of Striking Spell in bold. 13 of the 36, just over a third, of the Magus class feats directly trigger off of, or modify, Striking Spell. But they're not distributed very evenly, and much heavier on the later levels. Feats that apply to all strikes, or just give damage buffs, like Bespell Strikes, are not bolded, because you don't need to actually be using Striking Spell to benefit from them. How many of those Striking Spell feats don't work for cantrips? I felt like most of the good stuff didn't work except on actual spells so they wouldn't come up often.
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Sep 10, 2020 00:11
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You use spellstrikes for save spells, since a crit hit would then mean the enemy can’t crit succeed and is guaranteed at least half damage for basic save spells, and likely some effect on status spells. Spell attack spells you just attack with. I also feel like they are definitely tuned toward a self buffing martial. There is that feat that gives free low level slots and buff spells.
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Sep 10, 2020 00:53
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Ryuujin posted:How many of those Striking Spell feats don't work for cantrips? I felt like most of the good stuff didn't work except on actual spells so they wouldn't come up often. The only Magus feats that care about using non-cantrip spells are Bespell Strikes and School Shroud, and those aren't mechanically bound to Striking Spell at all.
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Sep 10, 2020 01:28
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Bro Dad posted:Been a while since I ran it but are we both referring to Mengkare? Because I don't remember him coming up until the end of part 5. Unless you're referring to the Dahak thing As for NPCs you have an entire town of NPCs to interact with. A lot of my enjoyment from this AP is solely the GM coming up with cool characterization and humoring our antics. The most absurd of which is recruiting a metallic dragon to help us that doesn't even appear in the AP but lives in the next town over.
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Sep 10, 2020 01:32
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I'm currently playing a fire kineticist and was wondering how Coup de Grace's should be handled. My GM is a super nice guy and just let me auto crit on my regular blast, but we wanted to figure out the real rules for next time.
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Sep 10, 2020 01:36
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GeauxSteve posted:I'm currently playing a fire kineticist and was wondering how Coup de Grace's should be handled. My GM is a super nice guy and just let me auto crit on my regular blast, but we wanted to figure out the real rules for next time. By strict RAW, coup de grace requires a weapon (including unarmed strike) and the blast doesn't by default count as one, but using kinetic blade infusion would count. Just treating it as a weapon for interactions like that is a perfectly fine ruling, though, since (a) it's just a fiddly consequence of how they wrote it as compared to other thematically equivalent effects and (b) the blast can crit normally anyway on a 20, so in this case it's just being consistent.
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Sep 10, 2020 02:56
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Rays are considered weapons for the purpose of taking Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and the like, so there's no reason they shouldn't count for coup de grace unless that specifically calls out manufactured weapons. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't.
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Sep 10, 2020 03:01
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Zurai posted:Rays are considered weapons for the purpose of taking Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and the like, so there's no reason they shouldn't count for coup de grace unless that specifically calls out manufactured weapons. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't. Weapon Focus (ray) is a special case that doesn't make ray spells count as weapons for the general case. See, for example, how a ranger's favored enemy gives a bonus to weapon attack rolls and damage, which will benefit a bow attack or a magical effect that specifically behaves as a weapon attack (see warlock vigilante's mystic bolts), but not ray spells in general.
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Sep 10, 2020 04:36
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I didn't mean that they work for absolute literal RAW, but clearly they're weapon-like enough that the vast majority of reasonable DMs shouldn't have any issue denying it. It's not like you couldn't lug a scythe around for coup de grace purposes and do absurd damage with that.
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Sep 10, 2020 05:13
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They were asking for RAW, which is actually extremely restrictive, even more restrictive than weapons in general:Coup de grace posted:As a full-round action, you can use a melee weapon to deliver a coup de grace (pronounced “coo day grahs”) to a helpless opponent. You can also use a bow or crossbow, provided you are adjacent to the target. Non-RAW, I don't see any verisimilitude issues with allowing a CDG for any ranged attack with an attack roll (that deals damage and can crit, obviously) as long as you're adjacent to the target. An attack roll means it's aimed, and logically you can aim a scorching ray or kineticist blast as a critical point much as you could a crossbow. Balance-wise I don't see any particular problems, in large part due to the rarity of CDGs (at least in the campaigns I've been in). There may be a way to abuse it, but I'd deal with that directly if someone was negatively impacting the game with it. Elysiume fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Sep 10, 2020 |
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Sep 10, 2020 20:12
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It's very pathfinder that you can't coup someone with a loving gun
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Sep 10, 2020 21:32
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Andrast posted:It's very pathfinder that you can't coup someone with a loving gun Just think of it as good firearm safety in magic firearm land. You have someone helpless and you live in the land of literal gold bullets, misfires that wreck your gun, and magical bat belts that can store scythes. What self respecting professional wouldn’t whip out their scythe of coup de grace and save the wear on the fragile gun and expensive bullets?
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Sep 11, 2020 00:18
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A tri-bladed katar in a spring-loaded wrist sheath or a +1 called scythe are both options for a 4x crit that only take a swift action to equip. Cost-wise you can choose between a +1 called scythe and a +1 thundering tri-bladed katar which will respectively average 24 and 27.5 damage at 10str with no buffs.
Elysiume fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Sep 11, 2020 |
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Sep 11, 2020 04:07
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Yeah our CDG situation was in a barracks with a ton of sleeping soliders so its not like they were difficult targets to hit with an aimed blast so the GM just let me have it as opposed to trying to stab them with a dagger with my negative 1 strength mod
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Sep 12, 2020 16:29
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Rip_Van_Winkle posted:
Quickened is only 1/day, you realize, right? It's not really going to help you out all that much imo.
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Sep 12, 2020 20:47
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Slab Squatthrust posted:Quickened is only 1/day, you realize, right? It's not really going to help you out all that much imo. No WONDER it seemed so much better than the rest of the options, it turns out, I am the goddamn idiot here.
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Sep 12, 2020 21:29
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Best trick I’ve seen so far is Firey Body spell at level 15. Also I’m going to try out Cavalier Dedication for a Sustaining Steel Magus
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Sep 12, 2020 23:00
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If I could get into some PF2e games maybe I could try them out. I like the idea of both classes, but it looks like they need some work.
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Sep 13, 2020 00:29
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Luckily Paizo is not WOTC and actually incorporates feedback from the beta tests
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Sep 13, 2020 00:30
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Game is wrapping, but another is going to start soon. Been thinking of making a Shaman, as I like the concept of cursing/boosting everyone around, and not with the usual spells. One thing has been confusing me, though. Shamans are casters who prepare their spells. But it says that Spirit Magic gives you an extra slot for spontaneous casting based on your spirit pick. Since you only have one set spirit, isn't it just a single fixed spell per level, like a domain spell? What makes it spontaneous? Other than that, any fun ideas/tips for a Shaman build?
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Sep 13, 2020 03:05
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Sephyr posted:Game is wrapping, but another is going to start soon. Been thinking of making a Shaman, as I like the concept of cursing/boosting everyone around, and not with the usual spells. Shamans get Wandering Spirits fairly early into their careers that let them choose another spirit each day to have options from.
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Sep 13, 2020 07:32
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Spirit magic is, generically, (1 set spirit + 1 wandering spirit + talk with spirits) and a couple of classes do this. The shaman gets the wandering part fairly quickly. The wandering spirit is great for flex, but is also a fantastic roleplay hook. You can tie that guy into anything and make it super interesting.
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Sep 13, 2020 16:58
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I'm playing in a PF 2e campaign, Age of Ashes. Our DM has a rule where we must train for a week before we go up in level. I'm thinking this is a houserule, he's a longtime DM of D&D and Pathfinder. Is this a houserule or is it somewhere hidden in Pathfinder 2e rules I can't find? My character is the longest serving in the party and it's becoming a bit frustrating as I've enough XP to level twice and this is becoming the ongoing status quo. It affects downtime choices as instead of earning income or retraining, PCs are "training". It seems to be a needless hurdle that disrupts otherwise well balanced rules. How are most people itt handling level up?
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Sep 15, 2020 02:34
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clusterfuck posted:I'm playing in a PF 2e campaign, Age of Ashes. Our DM has a rule where we must train for a week before we go up in level. I'm thinking this is a houserule, he's a longtime DM of D&D and Pathfinder. This is some houserule bullshit. Tell him no.
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Sep 15, 2020 02:36
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Speaking of, how do everyone's table handle leveling up mid-dungeon? As far as I can tell, by RAW your max hp increases but not your current HP, and you get new spell slots if you are a spontaneous caster but you don't prepare any new spells if you are a prepared caster because you don't make your daily preparations. Is that accurate?
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Sep 15, 2020 02:48
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VikingofRock posted:Speaking of, how do everyone's table handle leveling up mid-dungeon? As far as I can tell, by RAW your max hp increases but not your current HP, and you get new spell slots if you are a spontaneous caster but you don't prepare any new spells if you are a prepared caster because you don't make your daily preparations. Is that accurate? You just don't.
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Sep 15, 2020 02:53
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Isn't having to spend downtime training to level up something from like 1st edition D&D? I mean, the idea can be fun if done right, but it sounds like it's hindering character development in this case.
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Sep 15, 2020 02:58
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clusterfuck posted:I'm playing in a PF 2e campaign, Age of Ashes. Our DM has a rule where we must train for a week before we go up in level. I'm thinking this is a houserule, he's a longtime DM of D&D and Pathfinder. Leveling up usually is supposed to coincide with a long-rest, so go to bed level 5 wake up level 6.
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Sep 15, 2020 03:17
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Thanks for the confirmation folks. Yeah I also think it's a hangover from AD&D 1st edition. Back then it probably was intended as a way to drain gold more than a time resource and introduce NPC trainers, that's how I remembered it when I played it then. I'm an old grog at times and so I nodded along to the rule at the start of the campaign, thinking it was built in to the system. Now we're 5 levels in it's really clear that the idea of training messes with downtime, earn an income and retraining which are all well designed in PF2e. Also, the DM is complaining that the first module is taking too long to complete  . It's clear that spending unnecessary weeks of gametime in town "training" leads to several sessions spent in town on sidequests and the players fill in the time stuck in town with their pet projects.I've started a private conversation with the DM and hopefully he'll re-assess this houserule given how much it's slowing things down.
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Sep 15, 2020 03:40
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clusterfuck posted:It's clear that spending unnecessary weeks of gametime in town "training" leads to several sessions spent in town on sidequests and the players fill in the time stuck in town with their pet projects.
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Sep 15, 2020 06:40
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Elysiume posted:Yeah, it already ends up as kind of a metagame issue if players get enough exp to level up midway through something and feel compelled to press on even when out of character they know they'll be better equipped to deal with the rest of <whatever> if they arbitrarily take a nap. A full week of downtime seems like it would annihilate any sense of pacing the game had for anything other than a super drawn out adventure, and it seems to be doing that. I guess with that situation the DM could wait until the players rest before handing out xp, but that then creates the problem of players rushing level up choices if caught unaware. We're in a situation where the DM is lamenting how long it's taken to complete a module and the characters have taken over a month gametime to clear the dungeon, yet at least in that month there hasn't been monsters reinforcing or repopulating the dungeon in our absence. So yeah, pacing takes a hit, realism takes a hit, players need to consult a calendar to fit training into their schedule and get frustrated they have to wait for abilities they're entitled to. All because ... ???
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Sep 15, 2020 07:11
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Level is an expression of your character's capabilities and abilities - not a thing that exists in the game world. Your character is "training" by gaining XP and adventuring, leveling up is the game's way of acknowledging that progress. That is, when a wizard has grown enough to cast X spells / day, the game recognizes this by rating her at level Y. There's no in-game Level Y that grants her X spells.
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Sep 15, 2020 14:54
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moths posted:Your character is "training" by gaining XP and adventuring, leveling up is the game's way of acknowledging that progress. 
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Sep 15, 2020 16:33
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In my group, we initially used standard experience awards and leveled up immediately, but actually handing out experience didn't happen until the end of a session - in practice, XP would be handed out at the end of the session and, if appropriate, people would make their level-up choices (feats, spells, whatever) and update their character sheets between sessions. When I took my turn running a campaign (the somewhat sandbox-y Kingmaker AP), I initially started out doing the same thing, but long story short* we sat down and switched to leveling up at appropriate points to the narrative instead of a rewards-based system, and our group has been happy enough with it that we've continued with it in future campaigns (including our current one), so in general that's what I recommend these days, which neatly sidesteps the question of what to do when the party levels up mid-dungeon. * The basic summary was that the original random encounter tables and most of the fixed encounters in the AP we were running (Kingmaker) were completely non-threatening and boring the group, so the group hashed out a rough philosophy of combat design - the idea that if a combat encounter offers no threat to the party or the party's interests and costs the party no or minimal resources, it's a waste of everyone's time to actually play it out, and future encounters in the AP should be revised/upgraded and encounters planned based on the idea that we should never enter "initiative time" unless the party is credibly threatened. Fewer fights, but every fight that happened was more interesting and meaningful (and a credible threat to the party). However, these encounters also gave a gently caress-ton more XP and the party's level started spiraling up, causing the group to sit down and discuss the need to slow down advancement.
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Sep 15, 2020 16:54
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I've just used milestone leveling when I ran 2e. It seems to avoid any complications by doing it that way.
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Sep 15, 2020 23:17
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Milestone leveling works really well in my experience, at least when working with published adventures. When I was running my hexcrawl campaign, I stuck to XP rewards because it was a little harder to determine appropriate milestones.
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Sep 15, 2020 23:26
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Rosemont posted:I've just used milestone leveling when I ran 2e. It seems to avoid any complications by doing it that way. That's what my DM has been doing and it's worked very well. "After today's events y'all are level X, we'll meet back up next week, email me if you need help leveling up" sort of thing. He's also doing a great job of working personal character stories into a published adventure - half the time I only ever realize that it's not the stock stuff because someone at the
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Sep 16, 2020 12:25
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So looks like Paizo is going back to a six-month AP after the two short ones and it's something I'm legitimately pumped for https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6shdm I can't believe "magic school" has never been done as an AP theme until now
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Sep 17, 2020 15:57
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So my players have finished Act 1 of Fall of Plaguestone and I've got some complaints about the combats so far. Every battle seems like the enemies hit like a truck and then go down immediately. Like my players have found that if they whiff their first turn or get unlucky and get punked by the enemy and go down, which has happened a lot, they might as well just give up on contributing cause the enemy will be down by their next turn. I don't think any combat lasted to round 3. I don't know if this is because the book was written relatively early in the PF2E's release cycle, or if it's just level one bullshit since level one is always kind of weird, or if that's just how PF2E "balances" combat. So what's to blame for this and is there anything I should do going forward? We're going to at least play out the book and while I'd like to try Age of Ashes I don't know if I'll get buy in to a full AP if combat doesn't become different.
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Sep 22, 2020 05:08
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I think maybe you are missing something mechanically, because looking over the statblocks for the enemies, they don't hit particularly hard at all. The combats are designed to be short, yes, because your characters at level 1 don't have a lot of resources, and adding 3 more rounds of "swing, swing, raise shield" or "cantrip, cast shield" doesn't add anything to the combat, but there's nothing particularly noteworthy about the combats that I see (and also, most of the combats are avoidable).
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Sep 22, 2020 05:19
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