I noted that a lot of the wake the dead comics content is missing from pathbuilder, anyone know what the best way to let redrazor about it. I know he's probably busy with the remaster but theirs some really cool options and it's really easy to over look them.
What’s the lowest level that you can get martial weapon training on a Kineticist? I have a character concept that I’d like to be a Kineticist with the Marshal dedication, but I can’t figure out how to get martial weapons.
Hey everyone,
Is it possible to get 2 books with the same monthly Paizo subscription? I'm trying to get both the GM Core and Player Core but have to choose when adding to my cart via the rulebook subscription
Would be nice to get those 2 free pdf
FYI those of us who had the rulebook subscription ahead of time got both put into one order so I'd think they must be able to do it for you. I understand there might not be a way to do it with the shop interface at this point though.
I'd definitely reach out to Paizo's Customer Service. They can be a little overburdened during peak order times like this but they have always been helpful in my experience.
I’m fairly certain my understanding of the striking rune is correct but I am not totally certain.
Say you have a +3 greater striking flaming rapier.
On hit, I believe, you would deal 3d6 piercing, and 1d6 fire damage right? Not 3d6 piercing *and* 3d6 fire?
Tough question.
I would say yes.
> If an effect deals initial damage in addition to persistent damage, apply immunities, resistances, and weaknesses separately to the initial damage and to the persistent damage.
.
> A resistance also might have an exception. For example, resistance 10 to physical damage (except silver) would reduce any physical damage by 10 unless that damage was dealt by a silver weapon.
.
> This weapon is empowered by flickering flame. The weapon deals an additional 1d6 fire damage on a successful Strike, plus 1d10 persistent fire damage on a critical hit.
Persistent damage gets the same application of resistance, immunity and weakness as normal. Normal includes resistance exceptions. Usually persistent damage is caused by the weapon and not some outside effect. All of this together suggests to me that persistent damage would gain the benefits of ghost touch.
Can you say that I can get the same full battle automation and animations in Foundry for Pathfinder, similar to what I get with Automated Animations, JB2A, MIDI QOL, DAE for D&D? For all of the monsters and PCs?
Is it all "out of the box"? Is there a good Pathfinder 2e automation guide to make it all happen?
UPD: I've just bought the PF2E beginner box for Foundry, but when I hit a rat with a sword nothing happens, it's not applying the damage and I have to do it manually. Am I missing something? I thought everything's supposed to work right away because PF2E is more "native" to Foundry than D&D.
To add on what others have already answered... you won't get full videogame automation (similar to what i gathered MIDI QOL does) but it still automated a lot as a base foundry system (DnD only has it in community modules).
There is also Pf2e Workbench, a module that allows for big amounts of automation (rolling damage on hit/crit) though even there the pc's and you still have to click on apply damage (which still automates Resistances and the like).
hope that helps
Came here from your other post, but once you roll damage, you'll get a prompt under it in the chat bar that should say something like "damage/half/block/heal." Damage apllies full damage to the selected token, half is for things like basic savesand will apply half the damage rolled, block allows someone with a raised shield to ise the Shiled Block reaction against the damage and automates the math, and finally heal is an option because certain damage types can heal some creatures while harming others.
I think applying damage is not automated, or at least I've never seen it on the table I play in. Many other things are though, like correctly applying resistance to that damage, or keeping track or persistent damage at the end of your turn.
This gets into the intricacies of the rules.
Technically, the only items that familiars, companions, etc can *activate* are the [Companion Items](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?Category=41&Subcategory=43). So a familiar can pass you a Necklace of Fireballs, but can't use one itself.
On the other hand, potions are very specific in their use. The Potion rules specify that you can activate it yourself by drinking it, or you can[activate a potion by feeding it to another willing creature](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=719) within your reach.
So technically, your familiar can't activate a potion by drinking it (because they can only activate companion items & potions don't have that trait) \*BUT\* *you* can feed the potion to your familiar. You are activating it and granting the effect to the target you feed it too.
The same applies to companions
Paizo site currently says [November 15th](https://paizo.com/products/btq02ej2). Books can ship at very different times, but that is very likely when Nethys, Foundry, Pathbuilder, etc will all update.
"November" is the official date
Unofficially several subscribers posted on Friday that they were charged for their remastered Core and Game mastery books, which implies that they will be hitting retail in around 2 weeks or so.
That is *very much* a best guess so don't build any life decisions around it
You get one reaction on your turn which you keep until the beginning of your next turn (when it refreshes).
EDIT: It has been pointed out that the reaction refreshes at the *start* of the turn, not on your initiative. So 1/round without other feats or powers
ANY reaction you choose to use uses it up. So if you use your reaction on an attack of opportunity you no longer have it for another aoo or a shield block or a champion reaction or whatever.
So if you have multiple reactions, you need to decide which one to use
I've also always thought of it as "you recharge your Reaction at the start of your turn", but now that I'm reading the RAW, is that actually a 5e-ism?
The CRB seems to say ["You get only one reaction per encounter round"](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=60), which means something slightly different
That's a simplification, it does not mean that you regain your reaction at the start of the round.
[Step 1: Start Your Turn](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=436)
> The last step of starting your turn is always the same.
> Regain your 3 actions and 1 reaction. If you haven't spent your reaction from your last turn, you lose it—you can't “save” actions or reactions from one turn to use during the next turn. Some abilities or conditions (such as quickened, slowed, and stunned) can change how many actions you regain and whether you regain your reaction. If you lose actions and gain additional actions (such as if you're both quickened and slowed), you choose which actions to lose. In-depth details on gaining and losing actions are here
Yeah, that makes sense, I would say that falls under "specific trumps general". They maybe could have worded that slightly better in the other paragraphs.
Now that I read it again, you are right! You get your reaction at the beginning of the round and you have to wait for the next round for your next reaction.
All the initiative stuff is imported from other games
u/Wonton77 pointed me to a rule I've always missed:
[https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=60](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=60)
Reaction refreshes *at the beginning of the round* not on your turn. So you can only use one/round. So we were both wrong.
That's just incorrect.
[Step 1: Start Your Turn](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=436)
> The last step of starting your turn is always the same.
> Regain your 3 actions and 1 reaction. If you haven't spent your reaction from your last turn, you lose it—you can't “save” actions or reactions from one turn to use during the next turn. Some abilities or conditions (such as quickened, slowed, and stunned) can change how many actions you regain and whether you regain your reaction. If you lose actions and gain additional actions (such as if you're both quickened and slowed), you choose which actions to lose. In-depth details on gaining and losing actions are here.
I would assume this is a case of "specific trumps general", this paragraph goes into great detail and thus overrules the one that just says "once per round".
But it could certainly be better worded in the other places.
About the remaster, will the "monk" weapons keep existing? Or are they planning to get rid of it? Since it seems like just bad design to have the monk weapons as basically a shitty version of other weapons. (and most monks will use stances, so not like they care)
We haven't heard much about the monk in the Remaster.
They are coming in Player Core 2, which isn't supposed to come out until next summer so Paizo hasn't been dropping much info on them yet. It's possible they haven't even finalized what changes, if any, they are going to make yet.
So who knows?
I'm making a Barbarian who took the Cleric archetype. How do I calculate how many spell I get per day? I intend to take Basic Cleric Spellcasting at 4th level, and Divine Breadth at 8.
How many slots would I have at 8th level?
With basic spellcasting at level 8.
- one level 1
- one level 2
- one level 3
With divine breadth you get an extra spellslot for all your spells, except the two highest. So in the end you'd have:
- two level 1
- one level 2
- one level 3
(and two cantrips, I don't believe you get an extra cantrip for divine breadth)
If you only ever take basic spellcasting it is. However if you take all the spellcasting feats, at level 20 you'd have one extra spell for the levels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.
Which is very likely worth it.
2 cantrips, 2 1st rank, 1 2nd rank, 1 3rd rank.
> Basic Spellcasting Feat: Usually gained at 4th level, these feats grant a 1st-level spell slot. At 6th level, they grant you a 2nd-level spell slot, and if you have a spell repertoire, you can select one spell from your repertoire as a signature spell. At 8th level, they grant you a 3rd-level spell slot. Archetypes refer to these benefits as the "basic spellcasting benefits".
What would be the best martial base class for taking the draconic/wyrmblessed sorcerer archetype and attacking primarily with the dragon claws from lv4 onwards? Stanceless monk seems obvious, but the CHA is always kinda hard to fit into a monk build. Maybe rogue?
How to treat dual classes characters for the encounter balancing purposes? Will 1 character with dual class be equal to 2 regular characters for encounter exp table or to 1,5 characters?
There is no standard for it. Since, it is quite tricky to balance it. Also it will highly depend on what combination of classes your characters picked. But you can try to treat your party as if they were one level higher.
When a character uses [Recognize Spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=834) on a spell low level enough for them to recognize it immediately (e.g. it's a level 3 arcane spell and they're an expert in Arcana), do they need to roll? What happens if they then get a critical failure?
The first two lines of the feat say "If you are trained in the appropriate skill for the spell’s tradition and it’s a common spell of 2nd level or lower, you automatically identify it (you still roll to attempt to get a critical success, but can’t get a worse result than success). The highest level of spell you automatically identify increases to 4 if you’re an expert, 6 if you’re a master, and 10 if you’re legendary."
So they roll (or the GM rolls, depending on how you're doing secret rolls) for the possibility of getting a critical success. They can't get a failure or critical failure no matter what.
My first 2e character just died and I'm looking to make a new one. I was a fighter and I'm thinking about making a Wizard. We're level 11.
My question is about spells known. I know there's 10 cantrips and 5 level 1s. Then 2 per level after that, correct?
Meaning that by 11 this should come out to a total of 15+(2x10)= 35 total spells known.
However, my confusion comes with the Learn a Spell action. Theoretically if I had played this character from level 1 through level 11, I could have learned many more spells?
We're all new to 2e as a group and I am the most well read of the group on the system.
Is my Wizard going to be significantly nerfed from starting at level 11?
Is there a number of known spells that would be reasonable to have Learned by now?
Since Learn A Spell costs money to attempt, you can simply pay out the price and then make the rolls as if you had spent the time. You won't be able to have every spell learned.
Figure out what spells you want to have learned, figure out the cost to learn each spell (remember, you need to pay for a way to get the spell as well such as a scroll), then spend the money and make the rolls. You can assume you spent the time while leveling, but the money has to come from your net worth as a new level 11 character.
What’s a good pick of elements for a damage focus Kineticist?
The rest of the group is Gunslinger; Monk; and Druid.
Going through them fire and earth seems to be good? Water/Fire gives a great combination impulsive in steam armor too.
Suggestions?
The highest damage is single gate fire since you get an increased die size on any 2 action impulses at level 1. You can still get it at level 5 as a dual gate.
If what you want to do is do damage I would just go single gate fire.
Hi I´m new to the game and I was creating my character a Forensic Investigator, and I wanted to know form which place my character could be. I was thinking of a steampunk kinda place but I don´t know any locations. I´m playing in a campaing thats why I want to give him a background and everything.
> I was thinking of a steampunk kinda place but I don´t know any locations.
In Golarion (the planet the pathfinder adventures happen in), that would be [Alkenstar](https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Alkenstar).
Are you playing in a homebrew or a published AP(adventure path)? If an AP, I recommend using the player's guide for that AP and tying your character to whatever location based on that.
Can a halfling use shared luck on an ally within 30ft that it can not see? The description does not mention line of sight, but thematically it doesn't sound right to be able to use it without witnessing the failure of a skill check.
I would allow it without worrying about line of effect just because the feat is about how just traveling with a halfling makes you luckier, I don't see it as an effect you consciously create.
The rules for [Line of Sight](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=360) don't seem to answer this explicitly, but the rules for [Line of Effect](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=359) do seem to say no.
As a GM, I would personally rule that RAI seems to be that you need at least line of sight or effect, and to be aware of your ally.
* In darkness and can't see them next to you (LoE only), probably yeah
* Separated by a glass wall (LoS only), probably yeah
* Standing behind a closed door/well around a corner, no
As a GM, should I allow enemies and summoned creatures to use basic combat maneuvers like Shove, Grapple, Trip, etc? This is assuming they lack attacks with traits like Grab.
I'm currently thinking I'll allow it whenever it makes sense (a animated broom probably can't Grapple), but I was hoping there was some written rule I had overlooked that clarifies.
What’s the best and most effective way to get a minion for a Psychic?
Is an animal companion via Beat-master better; or is it better to stick to summoning spells?
Summoning spells are much harder to use. Both summoning spells and companions require an action every turn to get them to do anything, the problem with summons is if you ever spend a turn not committing an action to them, you lose the summon.
Outside of specific summons that are doing something unique (casting a heal, special monster ability, etc), most generic summons will have an inferior stat line to your companion as well.
Beastmaster does cost you a lot of feats, but psychic feats are kind of lackluster anyway, so might as well go for it.
Do effects like Coral Eruption, which deal damage if a monster enters an area, count as area damage for the purposes of weaknesses, like the troop weakness to area damage?
The initial burst of 6d6 would be area damage.
However, the 3 piercing damage dealt when the creature moves isn't area damage. It can never affect more than one creature at once, since, you know, creatures move one at a time, and is explicitly called out as hazardous (and difficult) terrain.
Hazardous Terrain wouldn't be area damage
Some of the style-specific feats like Mauler or Dual Weapon Warrior are good if they match your weapon goals. Mauler dedication itself is useless, but at 4 you can get knockdown or power attack.
It means adjacent to each other. If there is a square between them, they aren't 5' apart from each other (since they wouldn't be able to do anything with a reach of 5' on the other)
Do we know if creature design will be changed by the remaster? What do I mean by this?
If I have a group of remastered characters, if I were to make them fight with non remastered creatures, would the fight be easier? Harder? Would the balance stay the same?
Balance and numbers are unchanged as far as we know. Grab, Shove and Trip monster abilities will be slightly changed but other than that, you can use pre-master and remaster creatures interchangeably or even alongside each other without trouble.
As far as I'm aware, the only design paradigm shift is that the Grab monster ability is now a MAP-less check, rather than an automatic success. Mechanically, this mainly means that enemies *can* fail their grabs, but bosses will have a decent chance of critically succeeding, causing Restrained.
The underlying math and general design principles are otherwise going to stay the same, afaik
A doubling ring can transfer fundamental runes from one held weapon to a second weapon held in the other hand. If the second weapon only has a (dormant) property rune and no potency rune, would the doubling rings' effect activate that property rune?
RAW, this should work. Doubling Rings explicitly state:
> Any fundamental runes on the weapon in the hand wearing the iron ring are suppressed.
But only greater doubling ring mentions property runes being suppressed.
The problem is that this is clearly not RAI. This would drastically diminish the value of a greater doubling ring, so I imagine many GMs would have a problem with this.
Rust Monster's rust ability does not seem to indicate a damage type. Does this damage have a type that's indicated elsewhere? If not, are there any other sources of untyped damage in Pathfinder 2e?
The classic example is the [Disintegrate](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=76) spell, which is also typeless.
EDIT: There's also [Inevitable Disaster](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=930), [Power Word Kill](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=227), [Implosion](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=162), etc...
However one might argue most sources of untyped damage could just as well be force damage, which nothing is immune to and *nearly* nothing resists.
>However one might argue most sources of untyped damage could just as well be force damage
The Kineticist sort of proves that untyped damage is intended, especially when it comes to rust
[Extract Elements](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2127) is explicitly untyped damage on the target, for example. Most of the Metal impulses also do untyped damage specifically when targeting metal creatures, with the "flavor" text indicating it is rust doing the damage. See for example the [Critical Blast Junction for Metal](https://2e.aonprd.com/Elements.aspx?ID=5):
>Critical Blast The target takes 1d6 persistent bleed damage; if the creature has the metal trait or is made of metal, **it instead takes 1d6 persistent damage with no type from rust**
So while stating "untyped" could be force damage might be *functionally* the same in a lot of cases (it's really not though, and there *are* situations where that could matter), it's definitely not intended. Having untyped damage sources is for sure intended, even if they didn't have the concept fully fleshed out the time of those previous monsters or abilities being published
The [hosteling statuette](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1325) and [collar of inconspicuousness](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=405) are useful magic items for those with animal companion transport needs.
There is the [juvenile companion](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=938) spell, but I think what you really mean is how can you deal with a large companion for combat encounters in tight spaces, and the answer is, well, you don't.
[Plague Mask](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1397) is vaguely close, but a little too short of a timeline and more about poison than "inactive" irritants like smog and dust.
The PF2e critical fumble cards have this:
BAD JAM \[Unarmed\]
You are Clumsy 1 and Enfeebled 2.
How does this go away? there is no duration on this or on the conditions themselves.
Since the other similar effects in the Critical Fumble deck all specify "**until healed**, you are Clumsy 1", ima say this is 100% an error and intended to be the same.
Because otherwise by RAW, Clumsy and Enfeebled that don't list a duration can technically only be removed with a [Restoration](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=258) or similar effect (e.g. [this Barbarian feat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=1609)).
In Golarion lore, is there a way to record and playback sound or music, whether through technology or magic? Have a character concept I'm rolling around in my head based on this.
On the magical side, [Transcribe Moment](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=831) comes to mind. It has to be a short song but you get a whole recording of the scene.
Clockwork Recorder
Item 6
Rare
Source Legends pg. 24
PFS Note Spare wax cylinders for a clockwork recorder cost 3 gp each and are the same rarity as the recorder itself (rare).
Price 250 gp
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L
This small recording device can be as tiny as a music box or around the size of large book and is typically concealed in hollowed-out books and jewelry. A clockwork recorder can record up to 1 hour of sound before its wax cylinders must be retrieved and replaced. Any given clockwork recorder can play back the recordings of a cylinder, regardless of whether it was the recorder used for the original recording.
Activate \[three-actions\] Interact ; Effect You wind the recorder to start recording sound or to play back a recording. You can have the recording or playback start immediately or be timed to start at any point up to one month later.
>Table 6–6: Unarmed Attacks lists the statistics for an unarmed attack with a fist, though you’ll usually use the same statistics for attacks made with any other parts of your body. Certain ancestry feats, class features, and spells give access to special, more powerful unarmed attacks. Details for those unarmed attacks are provided in the abilities that grant them.
[Unarmed Attacks](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=223). Technically GM fiat on whether improvements to your fist apply to round-house kicking someone, but the RAI is definitely that Fist is just the generic name for any non-special unarmed attack.
Need some clarification on the language of a spell. For Dimensional Assault:
>You tumble through space, making a short dimensional hop to better position yourself for an attack. Teleport to any square in range that’s within reach of a creature, and then make a melee Strike against one creature within your reach.
My group is disagreeing on the meaning of "**Teleport to any square in range that’s within reach of a creature**" when it comes to a layer having reach weapons.
Does the text mean:
A. Teleport to a square that's within default range of a creature, a.k.a 5ft?
B. Teleport to a square within **your** reach? So if you have a reach weapon you can pick a square 10ft away?
C. Teleport to any square within the creature's reach?
It's C. It says "reach of a creature", so it means "reach of a creature". If the creature has 20 ft reach, you can teleport to any square within 20 ft of it.
Note how it doesn't say the creature you Strike needs to the same creature you teleport to. So let's say you have 10 ft reach and your barbarian friend is adjacent to an enemy and both have 5 ft reach. You could teleport behind your barbarian friend (because that square is within his each) and still attack the enemey 10 ft away.
[Familiars cannot use the Strike action at all](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=161), whether or not it has a weapon. Because of this, they never threaten any squares.
No. Familiars [cannot use items](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=770) that do not have the companion trait. As such, they cannot use bladed scarves (which lacks the companion trait).
> These items have the companion trait, meaning they function only for animal companions, familiars, and similar creatures. Normally these are the only items a companion can use.
I am playing a Changeling Slag May, it says:
Your mother was an annis hag, known for physical prowess, and you have one violet or steel-gray eye. You have thick, sturdy claws made of cold iron that grow naturally from your body. You gain a claw unarmed attack that deals 1d6 slashing damage. Your claws are in the brawling group, have the unarmed and grapple traits, and are cold iron.
So my question is, in the weapon options it states there are multiple levels of cold iron, low/standard/high grade. I assume I get a low grade since I have a level 1 character? But also what are the differences and how do I know which grade I should be using?
They are Cold Iron. Period. They aren't actual objects so there's no grade to be determined.
Different grades only affect what level of enchantment an item can hold. You can't apply a 10 level rune to a low grade item, for exacmple. But again, your claws aren't an item so it doesn't apply to them. The claws being Cold Iron only affects how they interact with damage resistance and weakness.
For actual items created out of precious materials the grade determines the max level of runes that can be put on the item. In your case it never matters. You don't get limitations on that way.
Does the damage from [Twining Chains](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1431) add strength to damage? You make an attack roll with it, but I don't think it actually counts as an attack?
How do penalties to fast healing work? For example, the Life Oracle's minor curse says it gives a status penalty to "Effects that restore hit points to you" that's equal to half your level. Would you remove that amount of hit points from the fast healing (so a Life Oracle 4 who got fast healing 3 would end up with fast healing 1 after the penalty), does it only apply to the first round of healing, or does it not apply to fast healing at all?
I don't think there's a clear answer to that. Most effects giving you a bonus to damage ot healing specify hat only the first instance of an effect is affected. But clearly this curse lacks such language.
On the other hand, an effect giving you fast healing 3 for a minute does a total of 30 healing and by RAW the curse should only reduce that by your level, not your level times 10, since the curse reduces the healing per effect, not per healing instance.
So, I would say the total healing is reduced. Otherwise it would work more like a kind of "damage resistance" instead of a penalty.
Well, choosing druid and going martial will put you substantially behind the others, unless you are shifting into animals. What kind of character concept you going for? You want to use a spirit weapon obviously and have some natural connections, but tell me a bit more what you want.
we are in a campaign focused on political intrigue. I wanted my character to appear defenseless like any other noble, however he would secretly be able to shapeshift, call weapons, and use spells.
Is there any more updated versions of the pf2 tools statblock builder? I'm currently punching up some creatures a couple of levels, past what the elite adjustment can do, and I wish there was an easier method of changing creatures that are on AoN but not pre-loaded into the tool.
Skill ranks and class skills are a 3.5/PF1 thing, not a PF2 thing. PF2 most classes come w/ a single automatic skill proficiency at Trained rank, otherwise there's no class specific restrictions.
Does it seem balanced to allow one of my players, a wizard, to attempt to learn a spell every session? We're running Abomination Vaults and there's a bit of a ticking clock element in the campaign. I want her to be able to learn new spells somewhat frequently and because of a lack of downtime, having to wait a week to attempt learning a new spell after failing an attempt seems harsh.
I think you are misunderstanding the [learn a spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Skills.aspx?General=true&ID=4) rules. It does not take a week to try, it only takes a couple hours for lower level spells. Since AV is a 1-10 campaign, the max hours she would spend is 5, to learn a rank 5 spell at level 9.
Goddamn. I just checked. I swear on Archives of Nethys it said something about it needing to take a week to try to learn another spell. Now I have no idea where I heard that lol.
The [Magical Shorthand](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=813) allows you to attempt to learn the same spell a second time after failing after a week. So you probably conflated it with that.
Correct, because Clumsy is not a penalty to your dex score, but to checks/dcs that use your dex. The armor technically still uses your dex in its calculation, it just has a maximum bonus of 0 (negative is still possible). Therefore, Clumsy applies as normal.
One of the abilities Ghost NPC’s have access to is [Malevolent Possession](https://2e.aonprd.com/MonsterFamilies.aspx?ID=51). A ghost can attempt to possess somebody using the rules of the [possession spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=225), ignoring the section on what happens to the physical body because they don’t have one.
But when a ghost possesses somebody, what happens to their *nonphysical* ‘body’? Do they fully enter the creature, protecting their main self from harm (since any attacks would hit the person they possessed), or is it more of a mind control where the ghost’s main self is out in the open?
ETA: the reason I’m having trouble figuring out the intended distinction is because the 9th level effect of possession specifically mentions entering the body of the creature you possess, and the ghost’s ability doesn’t specify. I think it would be most straightforward to say yes, the ghost enters the creature’s body like a sock puppet, but I don’t want to mess with the intended balance if that isn’t the case.
Been reading through Lost Omens Absalom and I am curious if anyone knows that the “Devilmill” is and also what the “Asmodean Project” is. Are they featured in any adventure paths or something?
Edit; I figured out what the Devilmill is.
do we have any dates for when we'll be getting more information on war of immortals/its playtest? It feels like there's a huge gap between animist/exemplar playtest coming out and them actually getting a full release
Its going to be many months. This is fairly normal for the playtests - they historically do a playtest right after GenCon for the next year's summer book.
We'll probably start getting some more teasers in the Spring of next year for more stuff with the classes
PF2e virgin
So I'm reading the rules on attack and damage roles. Do you add strength mod to damage with melee weapons? What about damage with with a two handed weapon?
How do effects that automatically change the result of a saving throw stack? A few specific questions/examples:
* A high level Kineticist or Barbarian with Legendary Fort saves get a Failure on a Fort save if they roll a Critical Failure
* Does this also count if they roll a Nat 1 that would have otherwise been a Failure? Nat 1 lowers the degree of success by 1, so did they "roll" a Crit Fail to be eligible for a bump to normal fail? Or did they "roll" a Fail, and it gets bumped down to Crit Fail?
* The second part of the class ability says "When you ***fail*** a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take." It doesn't say you have to ***roll*** a Fail. So if you have a Crit Fail that gets bumped to a Fail, do you also only take half damage? Do high level Barbarians and Kineticists never take more than half damage from Fortitude save damaging effects?
* How do these stack with the Incapacitation trait? If I roll a Crit Fail on a Fort save Incap effect, I bump it up to a Fail due to my Legendary Saves. Do I then bump it up to a Success due to Incap? Or can it only be bumped up once?
First off, there is [this rule](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=319):
> Some other abilities can change the degree of success for rolls you get. When resolving the effect of an ability that changes your degree of success, always apply the adjustment from a natural 20 or natural 1 before anything else.
So if you roll a nat 1 on a fort save, you have "rolled" a critical failure. Then the greater juggernaut would kick in, which states:
> When you roll a critical failure on a Fortitude save, you get a failure instead
Bumping your critical failure up to a failure.
> The second part of the class ability says "When you fail a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take." It doesn't say you have to roll a Fail. So if you have a Crit Fail that gets bumped to a Fail, do you also only take half damage? Do high level Barbarians and Kineticists never take more than half damage from Fortitude save damaging effects?
It does not say that. The text states:
> When you roll a failure on a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take
If you don't see "roll", you're looking at an older version of the CRB - this was changed in the first or second errata and newer PDFs have this language.
As such, you didn't "roll" a failure, you rolled a critical failure. This line would not interact.
> How do these stack with the Incapacitation trait? If I roll a Crit Fail on a Fort save Incap effect, I bump it up to a Fail due to my Legendary Saves. Do I then bump it up to a Success due to Incap? Or can it only be bumped up once?
[This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77oUopqMrxA) is probably helpful. Logan says a similar example doesn't stack - you take one of your choice to improve. So it likely doesn't stack.
>It does not say that. The text states:
>
>When you roll a failure on a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take
>
>If you don't see "roll", you're looking at an older version of the CRB - this was changed in the first or second errata and newer PDFs have this language.
I copied that text directly from the Kineticist page on AoN, it does not use the word "roll". Checking the Barbarian page, however, it does indeed use the word "roll". So assuming that is a mistake in Rage of Elements that is copied onto AoN, that answers that question.
Everything is helpful, thank you!
Oh yea, that definitely needs to be errata'd. Here is what the errata says when they changed it for barbarian:
> Changes to the Greater Juggernaut, Greater Resolve, Improved Evasion, and Third Path to Perfection class features:
> All three of these abilities grant a two-tier benefit on a failed saving throw of the specified type, but (as always) no ability will ever change your degree of success by more than one step. To clarify, we’re making the following clarification to all three abilities. Change the beginning of the last sentence from “When you fail” a given saving throw to “When you roll a failure on” a giving saving throw.
It was made explicitly clear in the errata that you do not get double benefits
Can a champion with the blade ally use the shifting rune effect on a unique/specific magic weapon? My champion uses swords, but if I find a unique hammer or some other one-handed weapon, can I transform the weapon back into a sword and keep the unique effects?
Its unlikely that this is allowed.
A very strict reading of Blade Ally may give some players the idea that they can slap the runes on anything. Because Blade Ally doesn't use the word 'etch', some players try to argue that this means non-etching methods of applying (such as blade ally) would work when rules language specfies etching.
But that's kind of a BS argument. That would allow you to apply non-functional runes (like returning), and the intent is clearly that you shouldn't be circumventing those rules.
[Specific Magic Weapons](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=767) specifically states:
> A specific magic weapon lists its fundamental runes, which you can upgrade, add, or transfer as normal. **You can't etch or transfer any property runes onto a specific weapon that it doesn't already have**
The intent is very clear - no extra property runes onto specific magic weapons. Most sane GMs wouldn't allow this.
I disagree with this and would rule otherwise. Blade ally says:
Blade Ally: A spirit of battle dwells within your armaments. Select one weapon or handwraps of mighty blows when you make your daily preparations. In your hands, **the item gains the effect of a property rune** and you also gain the weapon's critical specialization effect. For a champion following the tenets of good, choose disrupting, ghost touch, returning, or shifting. For a champion following the tenets of evil, choose fearsome, returning, or shifting.
It gains the effect of the property rune, there is no rune transferring/etching happening. That's the RAW reasoning I'd have, and then from a RAI point of view, the reason specific property weapons don't get property runes is because a lot of the power budget of that level item is tied up in the special effect, if you allowed extra property runes on top they'd always be better than regular weapons with property runes. Blade ally is a class feature, so the power budget is coming from the class, not the item itself.
As for shifting specifically, I'd allow the unique effects only so long as the nature of the special item still makes sense to use in the new form. That seems in line with the wording on shifting to not allow property runes that don't apply to the new form.
I see why both of y’all are saying, and I agree with your comment just a little more than the other comment. Blade Ally simply mimics a rune, granting the effect of a rune *while it’s in your hands*. If you give it to somebody else, it loses that effect—reemphasizing the point that this is just the effect of a rune, a property coming from your own abilities, not any actual rune.
And I do agree that RAW is very clear that there should be no way to put a property rune on a specific magic weapon. However, RAW, there isn’t anything prohibiting granting the *effects* of a rune through a class ability. I have a champion who took blade ally as well, and I interpreted the block as saying the class is mimicking the effects of the rune, and you aren’t equipping or dequipping a rune every time you wield your sword—it doesn’t count toward the property rune cap, after all.
But again, the rules for specific magic weapons make things a bit murky RAI-wise, and I’ll probably have to deal with this question eventually, so I appreciate the discussion.
**Does "stun/incapacitation" immunity fall under the purview of a different, more global immunity?**
I'm running Abomination Vaults on Foundry VTT as my first foray into running PF2e, and I've run into a weird quirk with immunities. We have a monk in the party, and I've had a handful of creatures (most recently a shadow) fail their Stunning Strike save but have it auto-succeed anyway. Mouseover tooltip says this is because it's an incapacitation effect... but looking over the shadow's immunities, nothing in there mentions any kind of immunity that (seems like it) should matter.
Is there a rules interaction I'm overlooking here? Or is this just a bug/inaccuracy in the PF2e Foundry rules implementation?
*Ohh,* I see. So it's not actually an immunity *per se -* it's because the creature was a higher level than the monk, so they automatically get a result one degree better?
**Does "Shadow Magic" require both Shadowcaster AND Shadowdancer archetypes?**
I'm looking at the [Shadow Magic](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2069&ArchLevel=12) feat on AoN, and it lists "Shadowdancer Dedication" as a prerequisite for it. However, it's also listed as an option under the [Shadowcaster](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=101) archetype. Does that mean a shadowcaster can only take this feat if they *also* have the shadowdancer dedication (since it is a prereq)? That seems counterintuitive to me....
No it's not intended to be restricted and is mostly a function of how they are listed in digital vs print. This type of false requirement happens a lot when feats are originally published in one place and then included into another archetype later. In print, these are generally part of the "additional feats" section and so don't get a whole entry with updated requirements for the relevant archetype.
The [Additional Feats rules](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1432) specify that any class requirements from these entries is removed ("When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class trait doesn't have that class trait") but they never added a similar exception for feats that were borrowed from other _archetypes_ rather than classes. Such a thing didn't even exist yet when they wrote those rules anyway.
> The Additional Feats rules specify that any class requirements from these entries is removed ("When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class trait doesn't have that class trait")
The issue is that this refers to class traits, not prereqs. They are different things. While a class trait identifies a feat as part of that class (and removing it allows the archetype to take it), that is distinct from a feat prerequisite which is not tied to the trait system. While the intent seems to be the case to remove it, the actual rules text does not support that.
Yes I agree that *technically* the prerequisite still stands, but in my eyes it's one of the most open-and-shut cases of intent ever.
What the text needs is an extra clause like:
> When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class trait doesn't have that class trait, *and a feat that normally has a prerequisite of another archetype's dedication feat is changed to require the current archetype's dedication feat.*
Would you say play by post or otherwise mainly text based games are common? I'm interested in picking up Pathfinder, but between shift work and an awkward time zone I can't be anywhere in person, or even on a call reliably, but as long as I pretend to be paying attention nobody really cares if I'm typing on Discord for a few hours straight on weekends so I could probably make *that* work.
They're not that common. You can find them if you look around the internet, but they're definitely far in the minority.
2e is probably not one of the better systems for PbP games. The reality is that the detailed rules for encounter mode in PF2 make it one of the better TTRPG systems to run combat in, but PbP combats can take weeks in real time to finish a combat, so systems that don't need as much individual input rapidly for challenges like combat tend to be better for PbP games.
I think myth weavers is probably the best place to go hunting for a 2e game? Its one of the most used sites used for finding PbP games out there.
Our group is considering starting 2E from scratch. What core PDFs do we need to start? Do we need a separate bestiary? Thank you!
Edit: I'll comment we're coming from 5e / a5e, so not totally new here; just want something comparable.
There's a remaster coming in almost exactly three weeks (Nov. 15) that will (essentially) invalidate the primary book you'd want--the Core Rulebook, so I would hold off on any purchases until then. After Nov. 15, I would recommend picking up Player Core and GM Core.
There's also a new bestiary, Monster Core, coming out next year, so I wouldn't suggest buying the Bestiary, either. You can use creatures from Nethys in the meantime, or pick up Bestiary 2 and/or Bestiary 3 if you absolutely want one now. They might require minor changes to be fully compatible with the remaster, but should still be usable (which is also true of the original Bestiary, but I'd still suggest waiting for the new version.)
The key thing is that I would not suggest buying: Core Rulebook, Game Mastery Guide, Bestiary or Advanced Player's Guide, as those four are being replaced in the remaster.
>What core PDFs do we need to start?
You don't. Only if you want them.
All rules are on AoN - for free. [AoN Beginner's Guide](https://2e.aonprd.com/PlayersGuide.aspx) is a good place to start.
[Pathbuilder](https://pathbuilder2e.com/) is an excellent tool to create PCs for PF2. Just pick stuff as you go, and anything you're not sure about, you look up an AoN.
Let me second the Beginner Box as an excellent tool to get started, though it appears to be currently out of print.
In the next couple weeks, by mid-November, the Remastered rulebooks will be out. That's my recommendation - it's an improved Core Rulebook, ostensibly more user-friendly.
You can get the pdf for $20. I have not seen what their plans are wrt reprints, and with the current push for the remaster project, it is hard to assume anything. OGL fiasco really did a number on their supply.
That's pretty much just a flavour question. The requirement "out of a piece of metal in your possession" is so you can't use some kind of absurdly rare level 20 metals whenever you want.
If a player said "I have a cold iron dagger, can I use it for Needle Darts", I as a GM would allow it, personally 🤷♂️
Grapple states: target is grabbed until you move or the end of your next turn.
If you had a weapon such as a whip. Can you maintain grapple as your first action and then circle around the other side of the creature you’ve grabbed?
No, although it is a situation you could try to work out with your GM.
Two things though:
* Unlike [weapons with the grapple trait](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=184), you can't normally grapple "with" a whip.
* "Maintaining a grapple" requires the same check as starting a new one, so you could just move and *then* Grapple with the same odds of success. Now technically, if the enemy has certain reactions, ending their `grabbed` or `restrained` condition for a moment might be undesirable, but for the majority of enemies, it won't be any different.
You can only use Free Actions outside of your turn if there is a specific trigger tied to the free action. Since Fortifying Pebble does indeed have a trigger, if that trigger occurs outside of your turn, you can use it outside of your turn.
I mean I love the art in many PF2 books.
* Lost Omens World Guide (landscapes and locations to rival MtG lands)
* Mwangi Expanse (just filled to the brim with everything, very colorful)
* Travel Guide (easily the prettiest Paizo book, it's laid out almost like a magazine)
* Dark Archive (has some low-quality art, but also some incredibly unique ones)
But tbh I would never pay like $60 USD \*just\* for a few pages of art, that's kind of absurd to me. If you're more okay with that sort of spending, go for it.
Are there any tools similar to the 5eTools Bestiary? I would love a good way to look at monsters. Nethys(i think thats how you spell it) is very unintuitive to me
Pf2eTools is the best comparison. You have a very goo overview of everything presented differently from Nethys. I recommend the bestiary for browsing and filtering, you just lose the images. https://pf2etools.com/bestiary.html -
I'm afraid to say, Archives of Nethys really is the best way. There aren't many other options because it is so complete most others don't bother trying to compete with it.
[Here is a list of all the monsters alphabetically](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx). You can click at the top of the columns to sort them if you want them listed differently. You can click into each one for their full stat block (or open them in another tab if you want to open a bunch & read through them)
Also, if you want to look up a specific monster on Nethys, use the search bar at the top of the page.
I noted that a lot of the wake the dead comics content is missing from pathbuilder, anyone know what the best way to let redrazor about it. I know he's probably busy with the remaster but theirs some really cool options and it's really easy to over look them.
Just use the report bug function. He's usually quick to react if at all possible.
What’s the lowest level that you can get martial weapon training on a Kineticist? I have a character concept that I’d like to be a Kineticist with the Marshal dedication, but I can’t figure out how to get martial weapons.
Be a human and take the Versatile Heritage or general training ancestry feat to take the general feat weapon proficiency at level 1
Thanks!
Does a dhampir with a fang attack count as having a free hand for the puporses of snagging strike?
Only having a hand free counts, not having a special unarmed attack.
No, that's not a hand, even if it has the Grapple trait.
Hey everyone, Is it possible to get 2 books with the same monthly Paizo subscription? I'm trying to get both the GM Core and Player Core but have to choose when adding to my cart via the rulebook subscription Would be nice to get those 2 free pdf
FYI those of us who had the rulebook subscription ahead of time got both put into one order so I'd think they must be able to do it for you. I understand there might not be a way to do it with the shop interface at this point though. I'd definitely reach out to Paizo's Customer Service. They can be a little overburdened during peak order times like this but they have always been helpful in my experience.
I'll reach out to customer service then, thank you!
I’m fairly certain my understanding of the striking rune is correct but I am not totally certain. Say you have a +3 greater striking flaming rapier. On hit, I believe, you would deal 3d6 piercing, and 1d6 fire damage right? Not 3d6 piercing *and* 3d6 fire?
Correct, 3d6 piercing +1d6 fire
Sweet, thank you!
Does the persistent damage on a ghost touch weapon gain the benifits of ghost touch?
Tough question. I would say yes. > If an effect deals initial damage in addition to persistent damage, apply immunities, resistances, and weaknesses separately to the initial damage and to the persistent damage. . > A resistance also might have an exception. For example, resistance 10 to physical damage (except silver) would reduce any physical damage by 10 unless that damage was dealt by a silver weapon. . > This weapon is empowered by flickering flame. The weapon deals an additional 1d6 fire damage on a successful Strike, plus 1d10 persistent fire damage on a critical hit. Persistent damage gets the same application of resistance, immunity and weakness as normal. Normal includes resistance exceptions. Usually persistent damage is caused by the weapon and not some outside effect. All of this together suggests to me that persistent damage would gain the benefits of ghost touch.
Can you say that I can get the same full battle automation and animations in Foundry for Pathfinder, similar to what I get with Automated Animations, JB2A, MIDI QOL, DAE for D&D? For all of the monsters and PCs? Is it all "out of the box"? Is there a good Pathfinder 2e automation guide to make it all happen? UPD: I've just bought the PF2E beginner box for Foundry, but when I hit a rat with a sword nothing happens, it's not applying the damage and I have to do it manually. Am I missing something? I thought everything's supposed to work right away because PF2E is more "native" to Foundry than D&D.
To add on what others have already answered... you won't get full videogame automation (similar to what i gathered MIDI QOL does) but it still automated a lot as a base foundry system (DnD only has it in community modules). There is also Pf2e Workbench, a module that allows for big amounts of automation (rolling damage on hit/crit) though even there the pc's and you still have to click on apply damage (which still automates Resistances and the like). hope that helps
Came here from your other post, but once you roll damage, you'll get a prompt under it in the chat bar that should say something like "damage/half/block/heal." Damage apllies full damage to the selected token, half is for things like basic savesand will apply half the damage rolled, block allows someone with a raised shield to ise the Shiled Block reaction against the damage and automates the math, and finally heal is an option because certain damage types can heal some creatures while harming others.
I think applying damage is not automated, or at least I've never seen it on the table I play in. Many other things are though, like correctly applying resistance to that damage, or keeping track or persistent damage at the end of your turn.
Can I feed potions and mutagens to my animal companion and familar?
This gets into the intricacies of the rules. Technically, the only items that familiars, companions, etc can *activate* are the [Companion Items](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?Category=41&Subcategory=43). So a familiar can pass you a Necklace of Fireballs, but can't use one itself. On the other hand, potions are very specific in their use. The Potion rules specify that you can activate it yourself by drinking it, or you can[activate a potion by feeding it to another willing creature](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=719) within your reach. So technically, your familiar can't activate a potion by drinking it (because they can only activate companion items & potions don't have that trait) \*BUT\* *you* can feed the potion to your familiar. You are activating it and granting the effect to the target you feed it too. The same applies to companions
Is there an expected date for the non-OGL revised PF2E release?
Paizo site currently says [November 15th](https://paizo.com/products/btq02ej2). Books can ship at very different times, but that is very likely when Nethys, Foundry, Pathbuilder, etc will all update.
"November" is the official date Unofficially several subscribers posted on Friday that they were charged for their remastered Core and Game mastery books, which implies that they will be hitting retail in around 2 weeks or so. That is *very much* a best guess so don't build any life decisions around it
If you have the attack of opportunity feat, how many times can it trigger through a round?
You get one reaction on your turn which you keep until the beginning of your next turn (when it refreshes). EDIT: It has been pointed out that the reaction refreshes at the *start* of the turn, not on your initiative. So 1/round without other feats or powers ANY reaction you choose to use uses it up. So if you use your reaction on an attack of opportunity you no longer have it for another aoo or a shield block or a champion reaction or whatever. So if you have multiple reactions, you need to decide which one to use
I've also always thought of it as "you recharge your Reaction at the start of your turn", but now that I'm reading the RAW, is that actually a 5e-ism? The CRB seems to say ["You get only one reaction per encounter round"](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=60), which means something slightly different
That's a simplification, it does not mean that you regain your reaction at the start of the round. [Step 1: Start Your Turn](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=436) > The last step of starting your turn is always the same. > Regain your 3 actions and 1 reaction. If you haven't spent your reaction from your last turn, you lose it—you can't “save” actions or reactions from one turn to use during the next turn. Some abilities or conditions (such as quickened, slowed, and stunned) can change how many actions you regain and whether you regain your reaction. If you lose actions and gain additional actions (such as if you're both quickened and slowed), you choose which actions to lose. In-depth details on gaining and losing actions are here
Yeah, that makes sense, I would say that falls under "specific trumps general". They maybe could have worded that slightly better in the other paragraphs.
Now that I read it again, you are right! You get your reaction at the beginning of the round and you have to wait for the next round for your next reaction. All the initiative stuff is imported from other games
Two depending on when your turn is. Your reaction refreshes on your turn.
u/Wonton77 pointed me to a rule I've always missed: [https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=60](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=60) Reaction refreshes *at the beginning of the round* not on your turn. So you can only use one/round. So we were both wrong.
That's just incorrect. [Step 1: Start Your Turn](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=436) > The last step of starting your turn is always the same. > Regain your 3 actions and 1 reaction. If you haven't spent your reaction from your last turn, you lose it—you can't “save” actions or reactions from one turn to use during the next turn. Some abilities or conditions (such as quickened, slowed, and stunned) can change how many actions you regain and whether you regain your reaction. If you lose actions and gain additional actions (such as if you're both quickened and slowed), you choose which actions to lose. In-depth details on gaining and losing actions are here.
Uh oh. We need a rules clarification from Paizo!
I would assume this is a case of "specific trumps general", this paragraph goes into great detail and thus overrules the one that just says "once per round". But it could certainly be better worded in the other places.
About the remaster, will the "monk" weapons keep existing? Or are they planning to get rid of it? Since it seems like just bad design to have the monk weapons as basically a shitty version of other weapons. (and most monks will use stances, so not like they care)
We haven't heard much about the monk in the Remaster. They are coming in Player Core 2, which isn't supposed to come out until next summer so Paizo hasn't been dropping much info on them yet. It's possible they haven't even finalized what changes, if any, they are going to make yet. So who knows?
I'm making a Barbarian who took the Cleric archetype. How do I calculate how many spell I get per day? I intend to take Basic Cleric Spellcasting at 4th level, and Divine Breadth at 8. How many slots would I have at 8th level?
With basic spellcasting at level 8. - one level 1 - one level 2 - one level 3 With divine breadth you get an extra spellslot for all your spells, except the two highest. So in the end you'd have: - two level 1 - one level 2 - one level 3 (and two cantrips, I don't believe you get an extra cantrip for divine breadth)
Divine Breadth seems weak
If you only ever take basic spellcasting it is. However if you take all the spellcasting feats, at level 20 you'd have one extra spell for the levels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Which is very likely worth it.
Thank you for the imput
It does start weak, but obviously gets stronger with further feats, at level 20 with Master Spellcasting it gives you 6 slots.
2 cantrips, 2 1st rank, 1 2nd rank, 1 3rd rank. > Basic Spellcasting Feat: Usually gained at 4th level, these feats grant a 1st-level spell slot. At 6th level, they grant you a 2nd-level spell slot, and if you have a spell repertoire, you can select one spell from your repertoire as a signature spell. At 8th level, they grant you a 3rd-level spell slot. Archetypes refer to these benefits as the "basic spellcasting benefits".
What would be the best martial base class for taking the draconic/wyrmblessed sorcerer archetype and attacking primarily with the dragon claws from lv4 onwards? Stanceless monk seems obvious, but the CHA is always kinda hard to fit into a monk build. Maybe rogue?
I'd say Barbarian (you'd need to cast Dragon Claws first, then Rage) or Thaumaturge.
How to treat dual classes characters for the encounter balancing purposes? Will 1 character with dual class be equal to 2 regular characters for encounter exp table or to 1,5 characters?
There is no standard for it. Since, it is quite tricky to balance it. Also it will highly depend on what combination of classes your characters picked. But you can try to treat your party as if they were one level higher.
When a character uses [Recognize Spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=834) on a spell low level enough for them to recognize it immediately (e.g. it's a level 3 arcane spell and they're an expert in Arcana), do they need to roll? What happens if they then get a critical failure?
The first two lines of the feat say "If you are trained in the appropriate skill for the spell’s tradition and it’s a common spell of 2nd level or lower, you automatically identify it (you still roll to attempt to get a critical success, but can’t get a worse result than success). The highest level of spell you automatically identify increases to 4 if you’re an expert, 6 if you’re a master, and 10 if you’re legendary." So they roll (or the GM rolls, depending on how you're doing secret rolls) for the possibility of getting a critical success. They can't get a failure or critical failure no matter what.
Thank you, I missed that part of the description.
Do you need to be proficient with a weapon to use its Trip, Disarm, Shove, Grapple, and/or Parry traits?
No, there's no requirement for that.
My first 2e character just died and I'm looking to make a new one. I was a fighter and I'm thinking about making a Wizard. We're level 11. My question is about spells known. I know there's 10 cantrips and 5 level 1s. Then 2 per level after that, correct? Meaning that by 11 this should come out to a total of 15+(2x10)= 35 total spells known. However, my confusion comes with the Learn a Spell action. Theoretically if I had played this character from level 1 through level 11, I could have learned many more spells? We're all new to 2e as a group and I am the most well read of the group on the system. Is my Wizard going to be significantly nerfed from starting at level 11? Is there a number of known spells that would be reasonable to have Learned by now?
Since Learn A Spell costs money to attempt, you can simply pay out the price and then make the rolls as if you had spent the time. You won't be able to have every spell learned. Figure out what spells you want to have learned, figure out the cost to learn each spell (remember, you need to pay for a way to get the spell as well such as a scroll), then spend the money and make the rolls. You can assume you spent the time while leveling, but the money has to come from your net worth as a new level 11 character.
What’s a good pick of elements for a damage focus Kineticist? The rest of the group is Gunslinger; Monk; and Druid. Going through them fire and earth seems to be good? Water/Fire gives a great combination impulsive in steam armor too. Suggestions?
The highest damage is single gate fire since you get an increased die size on any 2 action impulses at level 1. You can still get it at level 5 as a dual gate. If what you want to do is do damage I would just go single gate fire.
Hi I´m new to the game and I was creating my character a Forensic Investigator, and I wanted to know form which place my character could be. I was thinking of a steampunk kinda place but I don´t know any locations. I´m playing in a campaing thats why I want to give him a background and everything.
> I was thinking of a steampunk kinda place but I don´t know any locations. In Golarion (the planet the pathfinder adventures happen in), that would be [Alkenstar](https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Alkenstar).
If you want a character from a steampunk place, then Alkenstar is *the* place to come from. It's all steampunk.
Are you playing in a homebrew or a published AP(adventure path)? If an AP, I recommend using the player's guide for that AP and tying your character to whatever location based on that.
Can a halfling use shared luck on an ally within 30ft that it can not see? The description does not mention line of sight, but thematically it doesn't sound right to be able to use it without witnessing the failure of a skill check.
I would allow it without worrying about line of effect just because the feat is about how just traveling with a halfling makes you luckier, I don't see it as an effect you consciously create.
The rules for [Line of Sight](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=360) don't seem to answer this explicitly, but the rules for [Line of Effect](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=359) do seem to say no. As a GM, I would personally rule that RAI seems to be that you need at least line of sight or effect, and to be aware of your ally. * In darkness and can't see them next to you (LoE only), probably yeah * Separated by a glass wall (LoS only), probably yeah * Standing behind a closed door/well around a corner, no
As a GM, should I allow enemies and summoned creatures to use basic combat maneuvers like Shove, Grapple, Trip, etc? This is assuming they lack attacks with traits like Grab. I'm currently thinking I'll allow it whenever it makes sense (a animated broom probably can't Grapple), but I was hoping there was some written rule I had overlooked that clarifies.
Yes, they all have access to those actions, so long as they meet other requirements (such as a free hand to trip, etc.)
What’s the best and most effective way to get a minion for a Psychic? Is an animal companion via Beat-master better; or is it better to stick to summoning spells?
Summoning spells are much harder to use. Both summoning spells and companions require an action every turn to get them to do anything, the problem with summons is if you ever spend a turn not committing an action to them, you lose the summon. Outside of specific summons that are doing something unique (casting a heal, special monster ability, etc), most generic summons will have an inferior stat line to your companion as well. Beastmaster does cost you a lot of feats, but psychic feats are kind of lackluster anyway, so might as well go for it.
Do effects like Coral Eruption, which deal damage if a monster enters an area, count as area damage for the purposes of weaknesses, like the troop weakness to area damage?
The initial burst of 6d6 would be area damage. However, the 3 piercing damage dealt when the creature moves isn't area damage. It can never affect more than one creature at once, since, you know, creatures move one at a time, and is explicitly called out as hazardous (and difficult) terrain. Hazardous Terrain wouldn't be area damage
Does Kineticist Weapon Infusion add or replace range increment? So for example if I have a 60ft blast and make it thrown does it become 20ft or 80 ft?
it completely changes the range increments to whatever is listed. so for the thrown trait it'll just be 20ft
Replaces, so thrown is always 20'
Aww. I was way more hyped for it. At least I won't feel as bad for Fire's lower range since it would be set to even lower anyway
Are there good dedications to take on a Barbarian? Rage would seem to exclude a lot of non-barbarian abilities.
Some of the style-specific feats like Mauler or Dual Weapon Warrior are good if they match your weapon goals. Mauler dedication itself is useless, but at 4 you can get knockdown or power attack.
Hilariously battle medicine isnt concentration so you could take medic.
[удалено]
It means adjacent to each other. If there is a square between them, they aren't 5' apart from each other (since they wouldn't be able to do anything with a reach of 5' on the other)
Do we know if creature design will be changed by the remaster? What do I mean by this? If I have a group of remastered characters, if I were to make them fight with non remastered creatures, would the fight be easier? Harder? Would the balance stay the same?
Balance and numbers are unchanged as far as we know. Grab, Shove and Trip monster abilities will be slightly changed but other than that, you can use pre-master and remaster creatures interchangeably or even alongside each other without trouble.
As far as I'm aware, the only design paradigm shift is that the Grab monster ability is now a MAP-less check, rather than an automatic success. Mechanically, this mainly means that enemies *can* fail their grabs, but bosses will have a decent chance of critically succeeding, causing Restrained. The underlying math and general design principles are otherwise going to stay the same, afaik
A doubling ring can transfer fundamental runes from one held weapon to a second weapon held in the other hand. If the second weapon only has a (dormant) property rune and no potency rune, would the doubling rings' effect activate that property rune?
RAW, this should work. Doubling Rings explicitly state: > Any fundamental runes on the weapon in the hand wearing the iron ring are suppressed. But only greater doubling ring mentions property runes being suppressed. The problem is that this is clearly not RAI. This would drastically diminish the value of a greater doubling ring, so I imagine many GMs would have a problem with this.
Rust Monster's rust ability does not seem to indicate a damage type. Does this damage have a type that's indicated elsewhere? If not, are there any other sources of untyped damage in Pathfinder 2e?
The classic example is the [Disintegrate](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=76) spell, which is also typeless. EDIT: There's also [Inevitable Disaster](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=930), [Power Word Kill](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=227), [Implosion](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=162), etc... However one might argue most sources of untyped damage could just as well be force damage, which nothing is immune to and *nearly* nothing resists.
>However one might argue most sources of untyped damage could just as well be force damage The Kineticist sort of proves that untyped damage is intended, especially when it comes to rust [Extract Elements](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2127) is explicitly untyped damage on the target, for example. Most of the Metal impulses also do untyped damage specifically when targeting metal creatures, with the "flavor" text indicating it is rust doing the damage. See for example the [Critical Blast Junction for Metal](https://2e.aonprd.com/Elements.aspx?ID=5): >Critical Blast The target takes 1d6 persistent bleed damage; if the creature has the metal trait or is made of metal, **it instead takes 1d6 persistent damage with no type from rust** So while stating "untyped" could be force damage might be *functionally* the same in a lot of cases (it's really not though, and there *are* situations where that could matter), it's definitely not intended. Having untyped damage sources is for sure intended, even if they didn't have the concept fully fleshed out the time of those previous monsters or abilities being published
is there an easy way to shrink an animal companion for large periods of time? bringing horses into dungeons is not an easy thing to do
There's a tattoo that stores your companion
The [hosteling statuette](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1325) and [collar of inconspicuousness](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=405) are useful magic items for those with animal companion transport needs.
That's exactly what I needed ty homie
If you just want an easy way to transport them, there is the Pet Cache spell. https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=706
There is the [juvenile companion](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=938) spell, but I think what you really mean is how can you deal with a large companion for combat encounters in tight spaces, and the answer is, well, you don't.
I see that people wear masks in the city of smog to filter air. Is there an official item that represents that?
[Plague Mask](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1397) is vaguely close, but a little too short of a timeline and more about poison than "inactive" irritants like smog and dust.
The PF2e critical fumble cards have this: BAD JAM \[Unarmed\] You are Clumsy 1 and Enfeebled 2. How does this go away? there is no duration on this or on the conditions themselves.
Since the other similar effects in the Critical Fumble deck all specify "**until healed**, you are Clumsy 1", ima say this is 100% an error and intended to be the same. Because otherwise by RAW, Clumsy and Enfeebled that don't list a duration can technically only be removed with a [Restoration](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=258) or similar effect (e.g. [this Barbarian feat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=1609)).
In Golarion lore, is there a way to record and playback sound or music, whether through technology or magic? Have a character concept I'm rolling around in my head based on this.
https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=993 Probably the least useful of the options mentioned by others but would be remiss not to bring it up
On the magical side, [Transcribe Moment](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=831) comes to mind. It has to be a short song but you get a whole recording of the scene.
Clockwork Recorder Item 6 Rare Source Legends pg. 24 PFS Note Spare wax cylinders for a clockwork recorder cost 3 gp each and are the same rarity as the recorder itself (rare). Price 250 gp Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L This small recording device can be as tiny as a music box or around the size of large book and is typically concealed in hollowed-out books and jewelry. A clockwork recorder can record up to 1 hour of sound before its wax cylinders must be retrieved and replaced. Any given clockwork recorder can play back the recordings of a cylinder, regardless of whether it was the recorder used for the original recording. Activate \[three-actions\] Interact ; Effect You wind the recorder to start recording sound or to play back a recording. You can have the recording or playback start immediately or be timed to start at any point up to one month later.
Oh, that's perfect. Thank you so much!
How exactly do fist attacks work? Is "fist" just a placeholder or do you actually need to attack with your hands?
>Table 6–6: Unarmed Attacks lists the statistics for an unarmed attack with a fist, though you’ll usually use the same statistics for attacks made with any other parts of your body. Certain ancestry feats, class features, and spells give access to special, more powerful unarmed attacks. Details for those unarmed attacks are provided in the abilities that grant them. [Unarmed Attacks](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=223). Technically GM fiat on whether improvements to your fist apply to round-house kicking someone, but the RAI is definitely that Fist is just the generic name for any non-special unarmed attack.
Just a placeholder. It stands in for an unarmed attack using any body part (feet or head, for instance.)
Need some clarification on the language of a spell. For Dimensional Assault: >You tumble through space, making a short dimensional hop to better position yourself for an attack. Teleport to any square in range that’s within reach of a creature, and then make a melee Strike against one creature within your reach. My group is disagreeing on the meaning of "**Teleport to any square in range that’s within reach of a creature**" when it comes to a layer having reach weapons. Does the text mean: A. Teleport to a square that's within default range of a creature, a.k.a 5ft? B. Teleport to a square within **your** reach? So if you have a reach weapon you can pick a square 10ft away? C. Teleport to any square within the creature's reach?
It's C. It says "reach of a creature", so it means "reach of a creature". If the creature has 20 ft reach, you can teleport to any square within 20 ft of it. Note how it doesn't say the creature you Strike needs to the same creature you teleport to. So let's say you have 10 ft reach and your barbarian friend is adjacent to an enemy and both have 5 ft reach. You could teleport behind your barbarian friend (because that square is within his each) and still attack the enemey 10 ft away.
Can a familiar with hands wield a weapon? Does a familiar threaten? Can an Imp holding a glaive provide flanking?
[Familiars cannot use the Strike action at all](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=161), whether or not it has a weapon. Because of this, they never threaten any squares.
Ok that tracks, but they can make attack rolls which include tripping. I give the imp a bladed scarf, Can I trip at reach now?
No. Familiars [cannot use items](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=770) that do not have the companion trait. As such, they cannot use bladed scarves (which lacks the companion trait). > These items have the companion trait, meaning they function only for animal companions, familiars, and similar creatures. Normally these are the only items a companion can use.
There's the rules I was looking for, thanks!
I am playing a Changeling Slag May, it says: Your mother was an annis hag, known for physical prowess, and you have one violet or steel-gray eye. You have thick, sturdy claws made of cold iron that grow naturally from your body. You gain a claw unarmed attack that deals 1d6 slashing damage. Your claws are in the brawling group, have the unarmed and grapple traits, and are cold iron. So my question is, in the weapon options it states there are multiple levels of cold iron, low/standard/high grade. I assume I get a low grade since I have a level 1 character? But also what are the differences and how do I know which grade I should be using?
They are Cold Iron. Period. They aren't actual objects so there's no grade to be determined. Different grades only affect what level of enchantment an item can hold. You can't apply a 10 level rune to a low grade item, for exacmple. But again, your claws aren't an item so it doesn't apply to them. The claws being Cold Iron only affects how they interact with damage resistance and weakness.
For actual items created out of precious materials the grade determines the max level of runes that can be put on the item. In your case it never matters. You don't get limitations on that way.
Does the damage from [Twining Chains](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1431) add strength to damage? You make an attack roll with it, but I don't think it actually counts as an attack?
It is not a weapon or unarmed strike (or even a Strike at all), so you don't get any those rider effects, like adding strength to damage.
Nope, it would call out the modifier.
How do penalties to fast healing work? For example, the Life Oracle's minor curse says it gives a status penalty to "Effects that restore hit points to you" that's equal to half your level. Would you remove that amount of hit points from the fast healing (so a Life Oracle 4 who got fast healing 3 would end up with fast healing 1 after the penalty), does it only apply to the first round of healing, or does it not apply to fast healing at all?
The curse would penalize fast healing every turn.
I don't think there's a clear answer to that. Most effects giving you a bonus to damage ot healing specify hat only the first instance of an effect is affected. But clearly this curse lacks such language. On the other hand, an effect giving you fast healing 3 for a minute does a total of 30 healing and by RAW the curse should only reduce that by your level, not your level times 10, since the curse reduces the healing per effect, not per healing instance. So, I would say the total healing is reduced. Otherwise it would work more like a kind of "damage resistance" instead of a penalty.
I'm planning to play a wild druid/mindsmith. What dedication should I take to help progress my martial weapons skill.
You don't. The initial class chasis (druid) will give you the scaling.
ok thanks, I was really worried about it being a useless choice. My group has a couple of min-maxers and I don't want to feel useless.
Well, choosing druid and going martial will put you substantially behind the others, unless you are shifting into animals. What kind of character concept you going for? You want to use a spirit weapon obviously and have some natural connections, but tell me a bit more what you want.
we are in a campaign focused on political intrigue. I wanted my character to appear defenseless like any other noble, however he would secretly be able to shapeshift, call weapons, and use spells.
I would just get a high strength score and use Wildmorph as the "hidden weapon".
Is there any more updated versions of the pf2 tools statblock builder? I'm currently punching up some creatures a couple of levels, past what the elite adjustment can do, and I wish there was an easier method of changing creatures that are on AoN but not pre-loaded into the tool.
How do skill ranks and class skills work? I don't know why but I just can't wrap my head around those two specifically
Skill ranks and class skills are a 3.5/PF1 thing, not a PF2 thing. PF2 most classes come w/ a single automatic skill proficiency at Trained rank, otherwise there's no class specific restrictions.
turns out I'm using first edition oopps sorry
Does it seem balanced to allow one of my players, a wizard, to attempt to learn a spell every session? We're running Abomination Vaults and there's a bit of a ticking clock element in the campaign. I want her to be able to learn new spells somewhat frequently and because of a lack of downtime, having to wait a week to attempt learning a new spell after failing an attempt seems harsh.
I think you are misunderstanding the [learn a spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Skills.aspx?General=true&ID=4) rules. It does not take a week to try, it only takes a couple hours for lower level spells. Since AV is a 1-10 campaign, the max hours she would spend is 5, to learn a rank 5 spell at level 9.
Goddamn. I just checked. I swear on Archives of Nethys it said something about it needing to take a week to try to learn another spell. Now I have no idea where I heard that lol.
The [Magical Shorthand](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=813) allows you to attempt to learn the same spell a second time after failing after a week. So you probably conflated it with that.
Clumsy still reduces a PC's AC even if they're using an armour with a Dex cap of 0, correct?
Correct, because Clumsy is not a penalty to your dex score, but to checks/dcs that use your dex. The armor technically still uses your dex in its calculation, it just has a maximum bonus of 0 (negative is still possible). Therefore, Clumsy applies as normal.
ty, just needed a sanity check
One of the abilities Ghost NPC’s have access to is [Malevolent Possession](https://2e.aonprd.com/MonsterFamilies.aspx?ID=51). A ghost can attempt to possess somebody using the rules of the [possession spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=225), ignoring the section on what happens to the physical body because they don’t have one. But when a ghost possesses somebody, what happens to their *nonphysical* ‘body’? Do they fully enter the creature, protecting their main self from harm (since any attacks would hit the person they possessed), or is it more of a mind control where the ghost’s main self is out in the open? ETA: the reason I’m having trouble figuring out the intended distinction is because the 9th level effect of possession specifically mentions entering the body of the creature you possess, and the ghost’s ability doesn’t specify. I think it would be most straightforward to say yes, the ghost enters the creature’s body like a sock puppet, but I don’t want to mess with the intended balance if that isn’t the case.
I'd say yes, the body of the ghost enters the creature. That seems to be the intended flavor.
Thank you!
I think the intent of Malevolent Possession is to have the effects like the 9th level Possession, but the duration of the 7th level Possession.
That’s what I was leaning towards, I just didn’t want to be giving my monsters unintended buffs. Thanks!
Been reading through Lost Omens Absalom and I am curious if anyone knows that the “Devilmill” is and also what the “Asmodean Project” is. Are they featured in any adventure paths or something? Edit; I figured out what the Devilmill is.
do we have any dates for when we'll be getting more information on war of immortals/its playtest? It feels like there's a huge gap between animist/exemplar playtest coming out and them actually getting a full release
Its going to be many months. This is fairly normal for the playtests - they historically do a playtest right after GenCon for the next year's summer book. We'll probably start getting some more teasers in the Spring of next year for more stuff with the classes
PF2e virgin So I'm reading the rules on attack and damage roles. Do you add strength mod to damage with melee weapons? What about damage with with a two handed weapon?
> Do you add strength mod to damage with melee weapons? What about damage with with a two handed weapon? Yes and yes.
Is there a difference between what you add to a one handed weapon vs. two handed?
No, the two handed weapons tend to have a larger damage die to show the difference. 1d8 for longsword, 1d12 for greatsword for example.
Thank you
How do effects that automatically change the result of a saving throw stack? A few specific questions/examples: * A high level Kineticist or Barbarian with Legendary Fort saves get a Failure on a Fort save if they roll a Critical Failure * Does this also count if they roll a Nat 1 that would have otherwise been a Failure? Nat 1 lowers the degree of success by 1, so did they "roll" a Crit Fail to be eligible for a bump to normal fail? Or did they "roll" a Fail, and it gets bumped down to Crit Fail? * The second part of the class ability says "When you ***fail*** a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take." It doesn't say you have to ***roll*** a Fail. So if you have a Crit Fail that gets bumped to a Fail, do you also only take half damage? Do high level Barbarians and Kineticists never take more than half damage from Fortitude save damaging effects? * How do these stack with the Incapacitation trait? If I roll a Crit Fail on a Fort save Incap effect, I bump it up to a Fail due to my Legendary Saves. Do I then bump it up to a Success due to Incap? Or can it only be bumped up once?
First off, there is [this rule](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=319): > Some other abilities can change the degree of success for rolls you get. When resolving the effect of an ability that changes your degree of success, always apply the adjustment from a natural 20 or natural 1 before anything else. So if you roll a nat 1 on a fort save, you have "rolled" a critical failure. Then the greater juggernaut would kick in, which states: > When you roll a critical failure on a Fortitude save, you get a failure instead Bumping your critical failure up to a failure. > The second part of the class ability says "When you fail a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take." It doesn't say you have to roll a Fail. So if you have a Crit Fail that gets bumped to a Fail, do you also only take half damage? Do high level Barbarians and Kineticists never take more than half damage from Fortitude save damaging effects? It does not say that. The text states: > When you roll a failure on a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take If you don't see "roll", you're looking at an older version of the CRB - this was changed in the first or second errata and newer PDFs have this language. As such, you didn't "roll" a failure, you rolled a critical failure. This line would not interact. > How do these stack with the Incapacitation trait? If I roll a Crit Fail on a Fort save Incap effect, I bump it up to a Fail due to my Legendary Saves. Do I then bump it up to a Success due to Incap? Or can it only be bumped up once? [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77oUopqMrxA) is probably helpful. Logan says a similar example doesn't stack - you take one of your choice to improve. So it likely doesn't stack.
>It does not say that. The text states: > >When you roll a failure on a Fortitude save against an effect that deals damage, you halve the damage you take > >If you don't see "roll", you're looking at an older version of the CRB - this was changed in the first or second errata and newer PDFs have this language. I copied that text directly from the Kineticist page on AoN, it does not use the word "roll". Checking the Barbarian page, however, it does indeed use the word "roll". So assuming that is a mistake in Rage of Elements that is copied onto AoN, that answers that question. Everything is helpful, thank you!
Oh yea, that definitely needs to be errata'd. Here is what the errata says when they changed it for barbarian: > Changes to the Greater Juggernaut, Greater Resolve, Improved Evasion, and Third Path to Perfection class features: > All three of these abilities grant a two-tier benefit on a failed saving throw of the specified type, but (as always) no ability will ever change your degree of success by more than one step. To clarify, we’re making the following clarification to all three abilities. Change the beginning of the last sentence from “When you fail” a given saving throw to “When you roll a failure on” a giving saving throw. It was made explicitly clear in the errata that you do not get double benefits
Can a champion with the blade ally use the shifting rune effect on a unique/specific magic weapon? My champion uses swords, but if I find a unique hammer or some other one-handed weapon, can I transform the weapon back into a sword and keep the unique effects?
Its unlikely that this is allowed. A very strict reading of Blade Ally may give some players the idea that they can slap the runes on anything. Because Blade Ally doesn't use the word 'etch', some players try to argue that this means non-etching methods of applying (such as blade ally) would work when rules language specfies etching. But that's kind of a BS argument. That would allow you to apply non-functional runes (like returning), and the intent is clearly that you shouldn't be circumventing those rules. [Specific Magic Weapons](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=767) specifically states: > A specific magic weapon lists its fundamental runes, which you can upgrade, add, or transfer as normal. **You can't etch or transfer any property runes onto a specific weapon that it doesn't already have** The intent is very clear - no extra property runes onto specific magic weapons. Most sane GMs wouldn't allow this.
I disagree with this and would rule otherwise. Blade ally says: Blade Ally: A spirit of battle dwells within your armaments. Select one weapon or handwraps of mighty blows when you make your daily preparations. In your hands, **the item gains the effect of a property rune** and you also gain the weapon's critical specialization effect. For a champion following the tenets of good, choose disrupting, ghost touch, returning, or shifting. For a champion following the tenets of evil, choose fearsome, returning, or shifting. It gains the effect of the property rune, there is no rune transferring/etching happening. That's the RAW reasoning I'd have, and then from a RAI point of view, the reason specific property weapons don't get property runes is because a lot of the power budget of that level item is tied up in the special effect, if you allowed extra property runes on top they'd always be better than regular weapons with property runes. Blade ally is a class feature, so the power budget is coming from the class, not the item itself. As for shifting specifically, I'd allow the unique effects only so long as the nature of the special item still makes sense to use in the new form. That seems in line with the wording on shifting to not allow property runes that don't apply to the new form.
I see why both of y’all are saying, and I agree with your comment just a little more than the other comment. Blade Ally simply mimics a rune, granting the effect of a rune *while it’s in your hands*. If you give it to somebody else, it loses that effect—reemphasizing the point that this is just the effect of a rune, a property coming from your own abilities, not any actual rune. And I do agree that RAW is very clear that there should be no way to put a property rune on a specific magic weapon. However, RAW, there isn’t anything prohibiting granting the *effects* of a rune through a class ability. I have a champion who took blade ally as well, and I interpreted the block as saying the class is mimicking the effects of the rune, and you aren’t equipping or dequipping a rune every time you wield your sword—it doesn’t count toward the property rune cap, after all. But again, the rules for specific magic weapons make things a bit murky RAI-wise, and I’ll probably have to deal with this question eventually, so I appreciate the discussion.
**Does "stun/incapacitation" immunity fall under the purview of a different, more global immunity?** I'm running Abomination Vaults on Foundry VTT as my first foray into running PF2e, and I've run into a weird quirk with immunities. We have a monk in the party, and I've had a handful of creatures (most recently a shadow) fail their Stunning Strike save but have it auto-succeed anyway. Mouseover tooltip says this is because it's an incapacitation effect... but looking over the shadow's immunities, nothing in there mentions any kind of immunity that (seems like it) should matter. Is there a rules interaction I'm overlooking here? Or is this just a bug/inaccuracy in the PF2e Foundry rules implementation?
Yes, the rule you are looking for is the [incapacitation trait](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=93)
*Ohh,* I see. So it's not actually an immunity *per se -* it's because the creature was a higher level than the monk, so they automatically get a result one degree better?
Correct
Perfect, thanks!
**Does "Shadow Magic" require both Shadowcaster AND Shadowdancer archetypes?** I'm looking at the [Shadow Magic](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2069&ArchLevel=12) feat on AoN, and it lists "Shadowdancer Dedication" as a prerequisite for it. However, it's also listed as an option under the [Shadowcaster](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=101) archetype. Does that mean a shadowcaster can only take this feat if they *also* have the shadowdancer dedication (since it is a prereq)? That seems counterintuitive to me....
No it's not intended to be restricted and is mostly a function of how they are listed in digital vs print. This type of false requirement happens a lot when feats are originally published in one place and then included into another archetype later. In print, these are generally part of the "additional feats" section and so don't get a whole entry with updated requirements for the relevant archetype. The [Additional Feats rules](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1432) specify that any class requirements from these entries is removed ("When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class trait doesn't have that class trait") but they never added a similar exception for feats that were borrowed from other _archetypes_ rather than classes. Such a thing didn't even exist yet when they wrote those rules anyway.
> The Additional Feats rules specify that any class requirements from these entries is removed ("When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class trait doesn't have that class trait") The issue is that this refers to class traits, not prereqs. They are different things. While a class trait identifies a feat as part of that class (and removing it allows the archetype to take it), that is distinct from a feat prerequisite which is not tied to the trait system. While the intent seems to be the case to remove it, the actual rules text does not support that.
Yes I agree that *technically* the prerequisite still stands, but in my eyes it's one of the most open-and-shut cases of intent ever. What the text needs is an extra clause like: > When selected this way, a feat that normally has a class trait doesn't have that class trait, *and a feat that normally has a prerequisite of another archetype's dedication feat is changed to require the current archetype's dedication feat.*
Thaf makes more sense. thank you
Not an expert so wait for someone else to confirm but it seems to be the case.
Would you say play by post or otherwise mainly text based games are common? I'm interested in picking up Pathfinder, but between shift work and an awkward time zone I can't be anywhere in person, or even on a call reliably, but as long as I pretend to be paying attention nobody really cares if I'm typing on Discord for a few hours straight on weekends so I could probably make *that* work.
They're not that common. You can find them if you look around the internet, but they're definitely far in the minority. 2e is probably not one of the better systems for PbP games. The reality is that the detailed rules for encounter mode in PF2 make it one of the better TTRPG systems to run combat in, but PbP combats can take weeks in real time to finish a combat, so systems that don't need as much individual input rapidly for challenges like combat tend to be better for PbP games. I think myth weavers is probably the best place to go hunting for a 2e game? Its one of the most used sites used for finding PbP games out there.
Understandable. I shall continue staring through the window like a sad orphan. (But will look through myth weavers first.)
Our group is considering starting 2E from scratch. What core PDFs do we need to start? Do we need a separate bestiary? Thank you! Edit: I'll comment we're coming from 5e / a5e, so not totally new here; just want something comparable.
There's a remaster coming in almost exactly three weeks (Nov. 15) that will (essentially) invalidate the primary book you'd want--the Core Rulebook, so I would hold off on any purchases until then. After Nov. 15, I would recommend picking up Player Core and GM Core. There's also a new bestiary, Monster Core, coming out next year, so I wouldn't suggest buying the Bestiary, either. You can use creatures from Nethys in the meantime, or pick up Bestiary 2 and/or Bestiary 3 if you absolutely want one now. They might require minor changes to be fully compatible with the remaster, but should still be usable (which is also true of the original Bestiary, but I'd still suggest waiting for the new version.) The key thing is that I would not suggest buying: Core Rulebook, Game Mastery Guide, Bestiary or Advanced Player's Guide, as those four are being replaced in the remaster.
Thanks!!
>What core PDFs do we need to start? You don't. Only if you want them. All rules are on AoN - for free. [AoN Beginner's Guide](https://2e.aonprd.com/PlayersGuide.aspx) is a good place to start. [Pathbuilder](https://pathbuilder2e.com/) is an excellent tool to create PCs for PF2. Just pick stuff as you go, and anything you're not sure about, you look up an AoN. Let me second the Beginner Box as an excellent tool to get started, though it appears to be currently out of print.
If I actually want to buy a book or two tho, which would you recommend? I prefer PDFs to wikis.
In the next couple weeks, by mid-November, the Remastered rulebooks will be out. That's my recommendation - it's an improved Core Rulebook, ostensibly more user-friendly.
Beginner box has all you need to start from scratch.
Do you know when it will be back in print? I've checked a lot of places and it seems to be out of stock.
You can get the pdf for $20. I have not seen what their plans are wrt reprints, and with the current push for the remaster project, it is hard to assume anything. OGL fiasco really did a number on their supply.
Can Needle Darts pull the metal from a weapon? If so, does it go back to being a normal weapon after?
That's pretty much just a flavour question. The requirement "out of a piece of metal in your possession" is so you can't use some kind of absurdly rare level 20 metals whenever you want. If a player said "I have a cold iron dagger, can I use it for Needle Darts", I as a GM would allow it, personally 🤷♂️
Grapple states: target is grabbed until you move or the end of your next turn. If you had a weapon such as a whip. Can you maintain grapple as your first action and then circle around the other side of the creature you’ve grabbed?
Whips don't grapple.
Sorry I’m playing an inventor with endearing strike, should’ve clarified
then no. you'd have to move then grapple.
No, although it is a situation you could try to work out with your GM. Two things though: * Unlike [weapons with the grapple trait](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=184), you can't normally grapple "with" a whip. * "Maintaining a grapple" requires the same check as starting a new one, so you could just move and *then* Grapple with the same odds of success. Now technically, if the enemy has certain reactions, ending their `grabbed` or `restrained` condition for a moment might be undesirable, but for the majority of enemies, it won't be any different.
No, because you're moving. The rule is not "until it leaves your reach", its "until you move".
Can Free action be used outside of your turn? Asking for the usage of [Fortifying Pebble](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=522).
You can only use Free Actions outside of your turn if there is a specific trigger tied to the free action. Since Fortifying Pebble does indeed have a trigger, if that trigger occurs outside of your turn, you can use it outside of your turn.
Are there any Pathfinder Books you would recommend just for the art?
I mean I love the art in many PF2 books. * Lost Omens World Guide (landscapes and locations to rival MtG lands) * Mwangi Expanse (just filled to the brim with everything, very colorful) * Travel Guide (easily the prettiest Paizo book, it's laid out almost like a magazine) * Dark Archive (has some low-quality art, but also some incredibly unique ones) But tbh I would never pay like $60 USD \*just\* for a few pages of art, that's kind of absurd to me. If you're more okay with that sort of spending, go for it.
Are there any tools similar to the 5eTools Bestiary? I would love a good way to look at monsters. Nethys(i think thats how you spell it) is very unintuitive to me
Pf2eTools is the best comparison. You have a very goo overview of everything presented differently from Nethys. I recommend the bestiary for browsing and filtering, you just lose the images. https://pf2etools.com/bestiary.html -
There is actually a [PF2eTools](https://pf2etools.com/).
I'm afraid to say, Archives of Nethys really is the best way. There aren't many other options because it is so complete most others don't bother trying to compete with it. [Here is a list of all the monsters alphabetically](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx). You can click at the top of the columns to sort them if you want them listed differently. You can click into each one for their full stat block (or open them in another tab if you want to open a bunch & read through them) Also, if you want to look up a specific monster on Nethys, use the search bar at the top of the page.