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Humble Bundle has two Pathfinder bundles up right now: a physical copy of the Beginner's Box and a bunch of pdfs for 2e, and a bunch of Fantasy Grounds supplements for 1e.
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Dec 12, 2021 22:27
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So thanks to my local Barnes & Noble closing down soon(not because of poor business, the shopping center it's in just refused to extend their lease) I was very recently able to acquire the Pocket Editions for the following 2E books; Core Rules, GMG, Bestiary 1, and Bestiary 2, as well as the 2E Beginner Box for just over 100 bucks between the Store Closing sales and my membership discount stacking together which overall feels like a pretty good deal(even if 2E BB is kind of meh when compared to how great the 1E version was) Overall I have to say I'm impressed by the quality of the Pocket Editions, they aren't quite as well made as D&D 4E Essentials(which I consider to be the gold standard for RPG's published in a paperback format) were but they're about on par with Gamma World 7E's rule books(which is still very excellent), text is a bit tiny but understandable when considering how much smaller they are than their full size siblings Will probably buy the rest of the Pocket Editions for 2E in the near future off Amazon since I've been in the market for a more "modern" fantasy RPG* and what I've read so far for PF2E overall impresses me more than my experiences with D&D 5E have *last couple of years have had me mostly focus on OSR style games for my RPG purchases(and the occasional divergence like LANCER), but I figure I might have more luck attracting players for a Pathfinder game than I would with something like OSE
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Dec 17, 2021 10:14
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drrockso20 posted:So thanks to my local Barnes & Noble closing down soon(not because of poor business, the shopping center it's in just refused to extend their lease) I was very recently able to acquire the Pocket Editions for the following 2E books; Core Rules, GMG, Bestiary 1, and Bestiary 2, as well as the 2E Beginner Box for just over 100 bucks between the Store Closing sales and my membership discount stacking together which overall feels like a pretty good deal(even if 2E BB is kind of meh when compared to how great the 1E version was) If you want PF2e to feel much more old-school, check out the proficiency without level variant in the GMG. It's a great system, and myself and plenty of my OSR friends like it for that reason.
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Dec 17, 2021 10:22
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Been running a Rise of the Runelords campaign for about 6-7 years now with the same group and we are finally getting to chapter 6. Does anyone have any good perspectives on this for a GM they might be willing to share? My biggest concern is the party is somewhat imbalanced, lacking a lot of utility (and honestly creativity, despite us playing for that long we are all pretty casual players). The makeup is just a sword and board fighter/heritor knight, a ranger with a dip into alchemist, pure rogue, and a cleric who unfortunately doesn't dig too deep into his spell list despite my urging and tends to just rely on what he already knows most of the time. I've barely read past the wendigo encounter and I already feel like there's multiple potentials for TPKs unless they really bring their A game, which I have been encouraging they do so. Things on my mind include: fly is looking really critical for this upcoming section, and lacking a way to cast it within the party, I feel as if I should be urging them to purchase a wand of fly possibly through NPCs they might consult. Also giving a not so subtle hint that they will be approaching the point of no return (to town) at some point in the final chapter.
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Dec 20, 2021 22:24
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Clerics' Air Walk can function for aerial mobility, but a suggestion to get a wand from a helpful NPC wouldn't go amiss, and if they're really obtuse there can always be a loot pile doctored with a broom of flying or a pair of wings of flying. Lack of an arcane caster can be an issue at higher power levels since wizards just have the most variety of spells, and the final boss particularly being a level 20 wizard himself can be hard to take on without some of that versatility. Also, if there's an encounter with an enemy that can do something that the party definitely can't handle, and they don't seem to be taking hints to prepare for it, there's nothing wrong with altering the enemy's tactics slightly to give them a chance to rethink or even make it more manageable for them.
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Dec 20, 2021 23:02
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Thanks, I think that's the sorta guidance I needed. This is my first time DMing a campaign and I'm realizing how tricky things get the higher level they get without as much utility or arcane spellcasting. I hadn't considered just having an NPC nudging them towards shopping to fill those utility gaps or warning them of the dangers of the incredible elevation of the final chapters. I'll probably rework some loot at the cabin to include a couple amulets of adaptation. I've been stressing to them that we are quickly getting to the end game and they need to start sharpening up their class familiarity and do a reasonable amount of optimizing.
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Dec 22, 2021 18:02
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Don't be afraid to just kill them all. You can always introduce a party of similar characters who shows up to avenge them
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Dec 22, 2021 18:49
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I think if this wasn't all of their first introductions to a a table top game like this, I'd be more willing to do that. Also, given the long standing nature of this campaign, they have grown quite fond of them. I will take that in consideration though and maybe have Karivek Vekker telekinesis one of them off the mountain.
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Dec 22, 2021 18:57
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couldcareless posted:I think if this wasn't all of their first introductions to a a table top game like this, I'd be more willing to do that. Also, given the long standing nature of this campaign, they have grown quite fond of them. I will take that in consideration though and maybe have Karivek Vekker telekinesis one of them off the mountain. If you have the hardcover collected edition there's some ideas about and suggestions for extra adventures in Xin-Shalast before the main finale proper to get your PCs up to speed, you can use those to give them a gentler introduction if you'd like e: see exploring xin-shalast on 324 and then the gazetteer of xin-shalast itself in the appendix. Arivia fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Dec 22, 2021 |
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Dec 22, 2021 19:04
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You could also have literal gatekeepers whose job it is to make sure they are ready and don't just get murdered and make the bad guys stronger. These gatekeepers can put the PCs into a plausible test fight with an excuse for them not being murdered if they aren't up to snuff
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Dec 22, 2021 19:24
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or you know, just pull your punches
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Dec 22, 2021 19:32
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Andrast posted:or you know, just pull your punches Rest assured I have been. Mokmurian would have wiped the floor with them otherwise. I like the idea of gatekeepers too. It could else act as another source of lore dump for the campaign, which this one definitely lacks.
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Dec 22, 2021 20:03
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Also don't blame yourself or your players for this, it's a common thing for Adventure Paths where the difficulty can be all over the place and different authors have different expectations for what high-level parties can bring to the table. Had a similar experience myself with a couple books of Skull and Shackles.
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Dec 22, 2021 20:10
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sugar free jazz posted:Do what you can to get Electric Arc, its broken I'm actually a tengu so I can literally take it whenever I want!
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Dec 23, 2021 13:34
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Do you folks know if the Samurai class is coming to 2nd ed sometime? Also, is there a supplement for martial classes like the magic one?
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Dec 23, 2021 16:37
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Ataxerxes posted:Do you folks know if the Samurai class is coming to 2nd ed sometime? Also, is there a supplement for martial classes like the magic one? Nothing announced on either front yet and we know most of what's in the pipeline through this coming GenCon. Upcoming books are Book of the Dead, which will include rules for undead PCs and other undead related stuff, Knights of Lastwall which I don't remember what exactly will be in that, and Dark Archives, the GenCon book which will have 2 new classes, Thaumaturge and Psychic. Not sure if anything else has been announced so far this year, that's all I can remember.
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Dec 23, 2021 19:02
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I would honestly be very surprised if Samurai is a class again. Closest you'll get is an archetype, similar to cavalier.
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Dec 23, 2021 20:58
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Running 2e for the very first time tonight and I'm super excited. Wanted to get my and my players toes wet with a little holiday one-shot, which I wrote loosely framed around the Witch's Winter Holiday PFS Bounty, plus a little bulk to have a slightly longer session.
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Dec 23, 2021 21:30
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I'm trying to collect all the monsters that can take the form of living writing in 3.x for a gimmick dungeon. So far, the big ones seem to be Axiomites (turn into incorporeal cloud of math equations) and Mote Archon Swarms (Flying living angel letters that can perform helpful surgery as easily as they can shred and burn enemies.) Any others come readily to mind? https://aonprd.com/MonsterDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Mote%20Archon%20Swarm https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/axiomite/ EDIT: Found another one: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/aberrations/living-rune/ avoraciopoctules fucked around with this message at 06:58 on Dec 27, 2021 |
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Dec 27, 2021 06:47
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Now that the long-delayed Absalom book is out I have to say holy poo poo this thing is huge
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Dec 27, 2021 11:34
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avoraciopoctules posted:I'm trying to collect all the monsters that can take the form of living writing in 3.x for a gimmick dungeon. So far, the big ones seem to be Axiomites (turn into incorporeal cloud of math equations) and Mote Archon Swarms (Flying living angel letters that can perform helpful surgery as easily as they can shred and burn enemies.) Any others come readily to mind? A mimic could take the form of a tablet or document does that count?
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Dec 27, 2021 14:08
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There's also Book Golems and Golem Liberums.
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Dec 27, 2021 17:56
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Chevy Slyme posted:A mimic could take the form of a tablet or document does that count? I suppose it could. You probably couldn't hide one inside a book, but you could do some very cool stuff with signs or wall inscriptions hopping down to smack adventurers who linger and grow inattentive. Zurai posted:There's also Book Golems and Golem Liberums. https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/constructs/golem/golem-libreum/ These? Cool, that's a good find.
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Dec 27, 2021 19:02
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If written texts count too, there's guardian scrolls (B5) and grisgols (3.5 MM3). Maybe the sibyllic guardian from Complete Psionic. e: word archons from the 3e Tome of Magic (truename section). Arivia fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Dec 27, 2021 |
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Dec 27, 2021 19:18
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You could very easily use swarms too. Letter, word, paragraph swarms, just repurpose something at appropriate CR and reflavor effects and abilities. Could reflavor some other monsters like Contract Devils, except they are now a literal contract
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Dec 27, 2021 19:20
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Blockhouse posted:Now that the long-delayed Absalom book is out I have to say holy poo poo this thing is huge It's chock full of good stuff too. I was planning to rip out good stuff from the Agents of Edgewatch AP and use it for a private detectives in Absalom campaign and this book has given me so many good ideas for plot hooks.
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Dec 28, 2021 03:01
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Blockhouse posted:Now that the long-delayed Absalom book is out I have to say holy poo poo this thing is huge Does it cover how it got into space?
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Dec 28, 2021 03:20
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Long time DM lifer here; I am looking into starting a Pathfinder 2e game in the near future to take a break from all the 5E D&D I've been playing. I've been a 4E guy by personal sentiment and a 5E guy by social default for a long time, but lately I've started to get 5E Stockholm Syndrome and actually enjoying it, so it's time to try something a little different. Right now the PC party is looking like Magus, Swashbuckler, Wizard, and Summoner. I have a few general questions about running and playing the game, which I cited my experience above mostly for the purpose of suggesting that higher level advice is okay: 1. A few of my players are pretty keen on the Free Archetype rule, but I feel like this would sort of mandate that the Swashbuckler also become a part spellcaster which is unfortunate since she's the only purely physical character at the moment. What's the consensus on this variant rule? 1a. Any other common houserules I should adopt or avoid? I'm keen on avoiding Taxes. 2. Summoner player is somewhat undecided about her class while the others are hard locks. Should I encourage her to play something with more healing or is the above list fine for most reasonable scenarios? 5E gets along fine without a Cleric or equivalent but I can't imagine running 3.5 that way for instance. 3. The campaign will be homebrew and sort of an Oregon Trail affair (they're guards for a diplomatic envoy traveling from the boonies to a big city) but I'm interested in stealing cool encounter ideas from books and modules if they are to be had. I want a boss with a flying mount in particular, and Magical Beasts. Dark Souls of D&D difficulty is fine: one conceit of the story is that it's a permadeath world for NPCs but the PCs are special girls (plus one talking squirrel) that can come back to life when they are killed. Any particular books I should check out for this? TIA to anyone who has feedback!
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Dec 28, 2021 18:38
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Xalidur posted:Long time DM lifer here; I am looking into starting a Pathfinder 2e game in the near future to take a break from all the 5E D&D I've been playing. I've been a 4E guy by personal sentiment and a 5E guy by social default for a long time, but lately I've started to get 5E Stockholm Syndrome and actually enjoying it, so it's time to try something a little different. 1. Free Archetype is cool and good and from what I see, outside of PFS play, is pretty much becoming the de facto standard. I'm curious why you think this would push the Swashbuckler into casting. There are plenty of martial/social archetypes. 1a. Idk what you mean by Taxes, but as far as house rules go, if the players are new, I'd let them freely swap out feats/spells between sessions if they find they've made a choice that isn't working the way they had hoped. 2. 5e gets along without a cleric but is a lot harder without a "Healing Word or other equivalent". PF2E doesn't need a cleric, although they have a certain "Pump day big heal buttan" if a player wants that. If you don't have a cleric, anyone with heal or soothe on their list (primal/divine/occult) has a satisfactory in-combat ranged heal, so possibly on of your casters is already set up for that. The other half is that PF2E pushes the Medicine skill very hard. It's the default for between-encounter heals, and Battle Medicine gives you some limited in-combat healing as well. Skill junkies (like rogues) are actually the backbone healing of the party a lot of times for this reason.
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Dec 28, 2021 18:59
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I'm not an expert, but I can give a few thoughts.Xalidur posted:1. A few of my players are pretty keen on the Free Archetype rule, but I feel like this would sort of mandate that the Swashbuckler also become a part spellcaster which is unfortunate since she's the only purely physical character at the moment. What's the consensus on this variant rule? The thing about multiclassing in PF 2e is that class feats are actually interesting, and probably a good deal more interesting than getting access to the same utility spells that the rest of the party already has access to. And even if she does choose to get into spellcasting too, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Free archetypes are the one variant that everyone says you should always include, because it adds a lot of fun build variety but it only really breaks things when you take a combination that gives you too many raw numbers. And that number problem only really happens with Fighter/Barbarian multiclasses, so it shouldn't be a problem. quote:2. Summoner player is somewhat undecided about her class while the others are hard locks. Should I encourage her to play something with more healing or is the above list fine for most reasonable scenarios? 5E gets along fine without a Cleric or equivalent but I can't imagine running 3.5 that way for instance. As I understand it, one person taking the healing skill and the skill feat that makes you better at healing is enough healing to get a party through as long as they remember to always fully recover their HP after every fight. Having more healing than that is good, but the skill is enough to make the game work. However, I would suggest that the Summoner at minimum picks an Eidolon type that gives her a non-arcane spell list. That's less about healing access and more because 2e's spell lists are a bit tighter in scope than 1e and having 75% of the party pulling from the same list would get pretty same-y. Lurks With Wolves fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Dec 28, 2021 |
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Dec 28, 2021 19:01
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Xalidur posted:1. A few of my players are pretty keen on the Free Archetype rule, but I feel like this would sort of mandate that the Swashbuckler also become a part spellcaster which is unfortunate since she's the only purely physical character at the moment. What's the consensus on this variant rule? Xalidur posted:2. Summoner player is somewhat undecided about her class while the others are hard locks. Should I encourage her to play something with more healing or is the above list fine for most reasonable scenarios? 5E gets along fine without a Cleric or equivalent but I can't imagine running 3.5 that way for instance.
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Dec 28, 2021 19:04
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Roadie posted:It doesn't mandate that, so why do you feel like it would? The martial classes all do a lot of different things, and that's before even getting into the niche archetypes like sterling dynamo or juggler that give entirely unique abilities you can't get from a class archetype at all. A couple of people have wondered this so I'll explain: at a glance, it looked to me like the utility obtained by taking a spellcaster archetype (especially as someone with maxed Charisma anyway) was so high that it was basically a no-brainer choice that avoiding would make her character worse than the alternatives. If that's wrongheaded thinking, then I'm happy to hear it.
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Dec 28, 2021 19:34
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Xalidur posted:A couple of people have wondered this so I'll explain: at a glance, it looked to me like the utility obtained by taking a spellcaster archetype (especially as someone with maxed Charisma anyway) was so high that it was basically a no-brainer choice that avoiding would make her character worse than the alternatives. If that's wrongheaded thinking, then I'm happy to hear it. Taking a spellcaster archetype only gets you the lowest level feats/spells, and at the weakest DCs/to-hit. It's cool when you are taking a bunch of level 1 spells and cantrips that just "do thing" with no attack roll or saving throw, but it's largely fluff.
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Dec 28, 2021 19:44
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Toshimo posted:Taking a spellcaster archetype only gets you the lowest level feats/spells, and at the weakest DCs/to-hit. It's cool when you are taking a bunch of level 1 spells and cantrips that just "do thing" with no attack roll or saving throw, but it's largely fluff. The spellcasting archetypes *do* have a lot of very good utility (like the rogue in my game who keeps true striking stuff and casting invisibility) but so do a big bunch of the more martial archetypes
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Dec 28, 2021 19:48
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To expand on that, if you are taking, for instance, Sorcerer Archetype, and the DM is giving out the Free Archetype at level 2 and every even numbered level, thereafter (a common version):
The attack/DC progression for an archetype caster (assuming you dump feats in the spellcasting track of the archetype) is:
You also only gain 1 spell slot for each spell level. The attack/DC progression for an full caster is:
And yes, the difference between those bonuses is noticeable, because of the +10/-10 crit system, and the narrower band of bonuses. Also, comparing a level 8 Sorcerer archetype who has 2 cantrips, and 1 of each Level 1/2/3 spell slot, a level 8 sorcerer has 5 cantrips and 4 spell slots of each level of 1/2/3/4. They aren't really comparable in terms of what they are bringing to the table. In comparison, for instance, the Marshal archetype gives you an anti-fear aura, the ability to hand out temp hitpoints, give people extra actions, and nullify flanking. These are all great effects and probably at least as good, if not better, than a couple of low level, low-save spells.
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Dec 28, 2021 20:06
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Marshal, acrobat, and even just multiclass rogue or investigator are just the start of great options for a swash.
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Dec 28, 2021 20:21
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Thinking about a swashbuckler wrestler
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Dec 28, 2021 20:21
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Thanks for the posting, all. I am fully convinced that free archetype won't be too pigeonholing. Swashbuckler PC wants to be an extremely gay pirate who does lots of flips and swinging from ropes, so maybe that Acrobat suggestion is a good one for her to check out...
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Dec 28, 2021 20:35
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Xalidur posted:1. A few of my players are pretty keen on the Free Archetype rule, but I feel like this would sort of mandate that the Swashbuckler also become a part spellcaster which is unfortunate since she's the only purely physical character at the moment. What's the consensus on this variant rule? Free archetype is a ton of fun do it up. It's not really broken, just be aware some archetypes don't have feats at certain levels so some players may get feats at levels where others don't depending on what they pick and you need to think about if that's okay or if you'll let them branch out into other archetypes early as most if not all say you can't take another dedication feat until you take a certain amount of feats in the current one. Xalidur posted:2. Summoner player is somewhat undecided about her class while the others are hard locks. Should I encourage her to play something with more healing or is the above list fine for most reasonable scenarios? 5E gets along fine without a Cleric or equivalent but I can't imagine running 3.5 that way for instance. You can encourage her to build her Summoner towards healing. If she takes the medicine skill either her or the eidolon can make the medicine check and if she takes Battle Medicine they each count as separate sources of the ability. Battle Medicine says if you use it on someone you cannot make another Battle Medicine check on them for a certain amount of time that I forget (hour? day?). So instead of just one shot at it, the Summoner can get two. Combine that with an Eidolon that gives access to Heal/Soothe and you've got a decent healer. Another note on Medicine skill healing is that the regular skill makes it so that if you use Treat Wounds the person who has received the treatment cannot be treated again for an hour from any source, but Battle Medicine(allowing you to heal in battle with the medicine skill) is restricted based on the person healing.
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Dec 28, 2021 20:37
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Xalidur posted:Thanks for the posting, all. I am fully convinced that free archetype won't be too pigeonholing. Swashbuckler PC wants to be an extremely gay pirate who does lots of flips and swinging from ropes, so maybe that Acrobat suggestion is a good one for her to check out... Boy do I have the archetype for you!
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Dec 28, 2021 20:39
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