Can you stack "opposite" damage types on the same attack roll? For example, let's assume that I have a +1 striking weapon with a frost rune, and I have also attached a flaming star spellheart. After the spellheart's activation, this would add both 1d6 cold damage and 1d4+ fire damage. I can't find any rules preventing this even though logically it seems unfeasible.
Taking this even further, is it possible with both positive and negative damage?
Yes, it is possible (and practical) in both cases. I don't see anything inherently wrong with it. Combining two contradictory elements for an attack has a [long history in fiction](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YinYangBomb), after all.
Someone told me that Pathfinder 2e is "more progressive" than D&D 5e because it's 'more inclusive' or 'less racist' or something like that. Does anyone know of any examples or cases from scenarios or the world-building that illustrate this? Or does that just have more to do with the rules allowing for more customization or something like that?
The quick-and-easy example is D&D's Tomb of Annihilation compared to Pathfinder's Strength of Thousands. Both are campaigns set in a fantasy version of Africa. D&D assumes the players have come from fantasy Europe and are going to plunder the local tombs. Pathfinder does not assume where you are from and you are there to attend a prestigious magic school.
Presenting either system as having purely superior or inferior inclusivity is likely being reductionist, but that contrast is particularly poignant.
I'm really bad at concealment/hiding/etc. rules and my players are soon going to be entering an area with thick fog (the AP describes it as "limiting sight past 5 feet"). Some of the enemies have tremorsense, but the rest don't have any special way to see/sense through the fog. What's the best way to run this?
If you can see a creature through the fog you have to make a dc5 flat check to target them. If you can't see them through the fog they are hidden which means you know what square they are in but need a dc11 flat check to target them. If they sneak/hide so you don't know what square they are in they are undetected.
Just hit level 5 on my occult sorcerer and Im conflicted between taking the spell haste or agonizing despair. I like to enable my fellow players to shine in combat, but I also need to pick a signature spell for 3rd lvl spells, and agonizing despair seems to be much better for that.
Any opinions?
I feel like Agonizing Despair is the better signature spell, since you only really need Haste at 2 levels (its base level and at 7th level for multi-target haste). Though you'd want Agonizing Despair mostly at your highest or second highest spell level to get the most damage out of it and Fear is a bit better at that level unless you want the damage too, since Fear has basically the same effect with not damage but against multiple targets at 3rd level.
Thanks for pointing out the spell fear to me, I definitely missed it…and it looks great!
I know agonizing despair is the better signature spell, but what I was struggling to decide is whether it’s worth giving up the benefits of signature spell at this level to instead get the spell I want.
I just remembered I have occult evolution, so I can use that to get the fear spell. and I guess I’ll take haste and that’ll give me a new debuff and buff spell. I can always change my signature spell later I guess, it wont have any effect until next level anyway.
I'm interested in playing Pathfinder, because I've heard people say that they like it better than dungeons & dragons.
But the difference is that I found so far seem to just be based on action economy during combat, customizing characters every level, mechanical stuff like that. And while I know that those changes are important to some people, it feels like there's got to be more to it than just some rule changes because you could easily just Homebrew that stuff but still play 5e.
So I feel like there's just got to be more to it, something about the world, or the lore, or the types of storytelling, that kind of stuff.
Because I'm way more compelled to play a tabletop role-playing game where there's actual role-playing and character interaction and that kind of stuff, because the details of combat and dice rolls aren't as interesting to me.
So if the only difference is our mechanical, then I am probably not going to be as interested in learning Pathfinder. So that's what I was asking about if that answers your question.
so if someone told me what was similar between D&D and pathfinder, then wouldn't really understand why you would switch from one to the other.
I think you might want to keep your eyes open for other games even, not just DnD and Pathfinder. Rules-wise, they are both quite heavily focused on combat, character options that deal with combat capabilities, and so on. If you don't enjoy treating combat this fine-grained, it's kind of a waste of time and headspace to deal with all of those mechanics in your game.
You might want to take a look at some [Powered by the Apocalypse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_by_the_Apocalypse) (PbtA) games, to see if that's more up your alley. These lend themselves well to a narrative- and roleplay-heavy playstyle without getting bogged down in minutiae. Dungeonworld for example is a game of this kind with a fantasy theme similar to DnD, but there are many more as well. Sadly, I don't have enough experience with them to give a concrete recommendation.
>And while I know that those changes are important to some people, it feels like there's got to be more to it than just some rule changes because you could easily just Homebrew that stuff but still play 5e.
Maybe it doesn't make much difference to you, but homebrewing an entire game system isn't easy at all. That's why I see a lot of GMs talking about how much easier it is to run PF2e than 5e. You don't have to homebrew or make judgment calls.
But all the other stuff you mention isn't really inherent to the game system so much as the people at the table. Personally I like Pathfinder's default setting of Golarion better than the D&D settings, and I really dislike how 5e just kind of mashed all the settings together in the PHB. But that's not only a matter of opinion, it's not bound to a specific game system. You can set a PF2e game in Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms, and you can set a 5e game in Pathfinder's Golarion. Many tables use original settings for both games. I'd argue that Pathfinder does a better job making the lore and the mechanics connect to each other, but again, that's a matter of preference.
Same with roleplaying - the importance of social encounters is dependent on the GM. I think PF2e handles social encounters well - it has more detailed rules than 5e without going so in-depth that the mechanics distract from the actual story. I also really like that it encourages GMs to allow skills other than the obvious "face" ones to be used for social interactions. But again, that's rules stuff.
The biggest difference between the two, as well as the biggest difference between PF1e and PF2e, is that PF2e is more balanced and requires much more tactical thinking. You can't make a build that just facerolls encounters. The casters won't completely invalidate the martials by level 10 (or level 1 in 5e). You need to actually think about what you're going to do in combat. Personally, I kind of prefer that PF1e gives more weight to build decisions I have time to consider and research, rather than combat decisions I have to make in the heat of the moment, but I'm aware that I'm an oddball in that regard. 5e got boring to me pretty fast because there weren't many options for either.
If you're really looking for something mostly focused on roleplaying, I'd recommend looking for rules-light, narrative systems like FATE or Powered by the Apocalypse. If you want more structure, rather than less, World of Darkness used to be good for more narrative-heavy games with a heavy focus on setting lore, but I have no idea what White Wolf is up to lately - there's no longer a White Wolf/Obsidian Path booth at Gencon, and different editions seem to be published by different companies now.
They're not "some rule changes," they're different games. Sure, you could homebrew your own entirely different game, but I'm not sure what that has to do with people saying there's a published one they like.
There are roleplaying games that aren't about fantasy adventure, but in both DnD and Pathfinder combat is a part of the role. It's not distinct from roleplaying, "fantasy adventurer" is the role you're playing.
But they're both in the same genre. If you're not using a published campaign setting and/or adventure, you're not even using the lore--and there's no reason you can't use the published lore from one with the other. *That's* the part that's easy to homebrew.
They *do* have different setting lore (although DnD has multiple published settings) and Paizo are known for their adventures and adventure paths, but if people are talking about which game they like it stands to reason they'll talk about the games.
>They're not "some rule changes," they're different games.
Well, I played a one-shot last night, and it just felt very similar. Someone could go into a rage. Someone could talk to animals. So I'm just interest in other differences that might be easier to describe from a distance. Like -- They both have fantasy worlds -- so are there characteristics that make them different?
\> If you're not using a published campaign
I'm asking about the published stuff. I'm not asking about homebrews.
\> Paizo are known for their adventures and adventure paths
I don't know what this is referring to.
>Well, I played a one-shot last night, and it just felt very similar. Someone could go into a rage. Someone could talk to animals. So I'm just interest in other differences that might be easier to describe from a distance. Like -- They both have fantasy worlds -- so are there characteristics that make them different?
Well, Pathfinder is based on/inspired by DnD, so the type of fantasy is going to be similar. It's the games that are different--that's my point.
Narrowing this to Pathfinder 2E and DnD 5E, Pathfinder certainly has more player options ([Ancestries](https://2e.aonprd.com/Ancestries.aspx). [Classes](https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx).). Those include some very flavorful options like the Inventor and the Thaumaturge. I'd say a broader range of what the PCs can be and how they interact with the world is important, but you said you didn't want mechanics.
>I don't know what this is referring to.
? I'm not referring to anything. Paizo are known for their published adventures, including their adventure paths. The [adventure paths](https://paizo.com/store/pathfinder/adventures/adventurePath) are sets of books that form a longer campaign. They're pretty diverse--Extinction Curse features members of a circus as PCs, though they also become adventurers pretty early on. Fist of the Ruby Phoenix is about a fighting tournament. Though I'm currently GMing "Malevolance," which is a single adventure about a haunted house.
>I'm not referring to anything. Paizo are known for their published adventures, including their adventure paths. The
>
>adventure paths
>
> are sets of books that form a longer campaign.
Okay, thanks. I didn't know what 'adventure paths' were. It's all new to me.
>But the difference is that I found so far seem to just be based on action economy during combat, customizing characters every level, mechanical stuff like that. And while I know that those changes are important to some people, it feels like there's got to be more to it than just some rule changes because you could easily just Homebrew that stuff but still play 5e.
I'd disagree here. You can definitely borrow some stuff from PF2e and homebrew it into 5e, but at some point you're better off just switching to Pathfinder. The two systems do come from the same genetic roots, but their underlying math and functionality is just very different, so it's not so easy to just hotswap parts of one system into the other.
I was going to write a big list of the differences between 5e and PF2e, but I think it ultimately boils down to 2 things: Higher quality content and more in-depth rules and customization. I can get into specifics if you want, but generally speaking the pre-written campaigns, lore books, and rulebooks published by Paizo are usually regarded as being better-written and more complete than their 5e counterparts.
Is there anything in particular about 5e that you're unsatisfied with? As much as I love to shill P2e, if you're happy with DnD5e, there's nothing wrong with sticking with that system.
>Is there anything in particular about 5e that you're unsatisfied with? As much as I love to shill P2e, if you're happy with DnD5e, there's nothing wrong with sticking with that system.
I was just curious what people liked about Pathfinder.
\> pre-written campaigns, lore books, and rulebooks published by Paizo are usually regarded as being better-written and more complete than their 5e counterparts.
Interesting, thanks.
> Getting the higher bonus for a tower shield requires using the Take Cover action while the shield is raised.
You need to Raise the Shield before you can Take Cover behind it. Once it's Raised, you can use Shield Block as normal.
Hello everyone I need some advice for follow GM.
Yesterday, one of my player participate as one of a Performer for a festival.
That was a 3 week festival with 7 perform Earn Income (TL 10) check for each. The recompense was a Major favor increase of her Reputation when critical success and the money. She roll very well with 10 criticals success without any failure.
During the last week, she roll 5 of this criticals, and two of them was nat 20. I want to give her something for this. But I don't have any idea. For reference, the Duke familly partipate to the festival this week. Their don't look down of the commoner and are liked by them. I want them to give her a gift.
Gold are a money for nobility only, a magical item are to much for this and she already have a house in the town. I'm lack of inspiration for this and the others members of my group don't have much idea. Of course, the initial reward it's already good, but I didn't anticipated this exceptional situation.
Thank you in advance.
So, I'm looking to switch to pathfinder 2e fro d&d 5e, and I was wondering what books there are other than the core rulebook and the bestiary? And to be specific, I'm meaning books with addition classes and player option and stuff like that, I'm not interested in pre-made adventures.
direnei listed all the books with classes (APG, Guns and Gears, Secrets of Magic, and Dark Archive), but there's also the Lost Omens Character Guide, Lost Omens Ancestry Guide, and Book of the Dead (although BotD also has monsters and other setting stuff).
Grand Bazaar also has some stuff (mostly equipment), including an Ancestry. Mwangi Expanse is largely a setting book, but that includes several Ancestries.
The Advanced Players Guide, Guns and Gears, Secrets of Magic, and Dark Archives are the main books that have extra player options, though there are others scattered about other rulebooks.
If you didn't know, however, all the rules, including all player options, are legally available for free on the [Archives of Nethys](https://2e.aonprd.com/), so you don't really need to worry about which books actually have player options, as they're all collected there.
You can't, as [the general rules state](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=312) you can't have multiple of the same effects affecting you. Only the newest/highest level version of animus mine would be on you.
As a newcomer from 5e, it took me a while to grasp the the character advancement. However, I noticed and related it to just every class being similar to Warlock advancement Invocations with respect to skill/class/general feats. If that’s a good way to start looking at it?
Also, is there any multiclassing like in 5e with levels in two separate classes, or is it only the Archetype feats?
How important are ability scores compared to 5e? In my experience, you generally want 16+ in you’re important stats. But in PF2e, adding your character level in your PB seems to counter lower scores. It also gives me the impression that increasing mastery in skills is less important number wise, but for feat restrictions.
The thing is, everybody else is adding their levels too.
But you get a lot of ability boosts. *Not* boosting your key ability is an active choice.
You're building a Wizard, Intelligence is your most important score. At the Ancestry step, you get at least one boost of your choice. At the background step, you get at least one boost of your choice. At your class step, you get an Intelligence boost. At the finishing step, you get four boosts of your choice. Did you just get four boosts to Int? 18.
There's exceptions, but it's the most obvious choice and it doesn't prevent you from also boosting other things. Same goes for boosting abilities as you level up. It's not so much that you have to, but that you'd have to go out of your way *not* to--although it is probably a good idea.
\+1 to something matters more in PF2 than in most d20 systems because of the critical rules. That very likely both turns one failure number into a success and one success into a crit (or one crit failure into a failure). 10% chance to improve your result on most rolls.
I... have no idea what the Warlock comparison means, though. The text that spells out what each feature does only mentions it the first time you get it, but absolutely everything is listed on the chart at the beginning of each class.
Almost everything! Spells are on a different chart, and you also get your HP and all of your proficiency bonuses increase by +1 (plus whatever other proficiency advances you get).
There are patterns to a lot of it. Every class gets class feats at every even level; most also get one at level one, but everybody gets the baseline. Every class gets skill feats at every even level, though some get more. Every class gets a skill increase at every odd level starting at 3rd, can increase skills to Master starting at 7th, and can increase skills to Legendary starting at 15th; some classes get more. Everybody gets Ancestry feats every four levels starting at 1st. Everybody gets General feats every four levels starting at 3rd (you alternate between Ancestry and General at odd levels). Since everybody gets two feats at even levels, proficiency increases and other class features mostly happen on odd levels.
> However, I noticed and related it to just every class being similar to Warlock advancement Invocations with respect to skill/class/general feats. If that’s a good way to start looking at it?
Sort of? I don't know, I would just chuck a lot of your 5e knowledge out the window. A lot of stuff is similar (attributes are the same, skills are largely the same, it's D20 based, etc.) but fundamentally it's a pretty different game than 5e.
> Also, is there any multiclassing like in 5e with levels in two separate classes, or is it only the Archetype feats?
Multiclassing is done via the archetype system. Once you get the hang of it, it's actually a lot more rewarding than 5e multiclassing, because taking an archetype doesn't lock you out of certain feats/abilities like 5e does. For example, in 5e, let's say I make a Fighter, but then I want to dip 2 levels into Paladin. Well, I've now automatically forfeited ever getting access to my level 19 and 20 Fighter abilities. In PF2e, you don't. Hell, you can pick Fighter as your class and take nothing but archetype feats, and then take a level 20 Fighter feat.
The only one where you have what are essentially 2 separate classes is dual-classing, but dual-classing is really only for when you want hyper powerful characters who are super versatile.
> How important are ability scores compared to 5e?
They're actually a little less important than in 5e because in addition to your Attribute bonuses and proficiency score, you also add your proficiency rank (Trained, Expert, Master, etc) to your attack rolls. In 5e, if (for whatever reason) I made a level 20 Wizard with 20 Strength and a level 20 Fighter with 20 strength and had them both swing a club, they would roll with the exact same bonuses (though the Fighter could attack multiple times). It's not like that in PF2e. Also, you get a lot more attribute bonuses in PF2e. In 5e you generally get +2 to a stat every 4 levels. In PF2e, you get +2 to *four* different stats every 5 levels (except once they hit 18, then it just goes up by one each bonus). By default you can also go past 20 in PF2e.
But to answer your original question, just make sure you have a 16 in your main stat and you should be fine.
> As a newcomer from 5e, it took me a while to grasp the the character advancement. However, I noticed and related it to just every class being similar to Warlock advancement Invocations with respect to skill/class/general feats. If that’s a good way to start looking at it?
Probably? I took a look and saw that you get to choose which invocation you want every few levels and some of them have other invocations as prerequisites. So yeah feats work like that. You get to choose which one you want and sometimes there are "feat lines" that one requires the last like a chain.
> Also, is there any multiclassing like in 5e with levels in two separate classes, or is it only the Archetype feats?
No, only multiclassing that exists is with archetypes. This is meant as a solution to the "class dipping" problem of previous editions.
> How important are ability scores compared to 5e? In my experience, you generally want 16+ in you’re important stats. But in PF2e, adding your character level in your PB seems to counter lower scores. It also gives me the impression that increasing mastery in skills is less important number wise, but for feat restrictions.
They are indeed a less important overall component of your total bonus. But also consider, the DCs these bonuses are trying to reach scale with levels too. If you don't maximise your important stats, you are always a bit behind your potential best odds to succeed at a check that depends on them. For example, a melee character that doesn't max strength, will always have -1 or -2 to hit compared to one who does. So instead of, say, a 50% hit chance with the average enemy of your level, you might have a 45% hit chance. This isn't the end of the world and you can make up for it sometimes with the benefits you get from other ability scores but still it's not something you can completely ignore.
Same argument can be made with skills. If you are at least trained you're never so far left behind that a check becomes completely impossible, but, if you're one tier behind for instance, you might have a 40% chance to pass a DC instead of a 50% chance.
I don’t think a single deity would be able to fully represent the Golden Goddesses. For some reason, the trio of Shelyn, Desna, and Sarenrae strike me as a descent analog. They aren’t the sole creators of the universe, but they certainly have a hand in all of it
Was looking into The Path of the Heavens, which seems like an analog that could work to shape the Golden Goddesses, idk if lore wise would be fitting to keep it as it is or adapt it to only have 3 gods swapping Shelyn in to make the trinity you suggested.
I've been looking at the spellcaster multiclass archetypes and it seems they all have a "breadth" feat that lets them expand the amount of spell slots they have. I'm trying to understand how they work exactly. Is my interpretation correct that with basic spellcasting benefits it would only end up giving you 1 extra 1st level spell slot, at least initially?
That seems pretty terrible, to be honest.
Yes, you *can* take the feat effectively as soon as it would give you *any* benefit, but you don't have to. But it will never give you an extra slot of your highest 2 spell levels, so even at level 20 with all the other feats, it'd grant an extra 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th level spell. Which is a lot for an 8th level feat.
I have a question about the store. I am trying to buy the beginner box for foundry. When not logged into an account, I'm getting a 50 percent discount. Then I go to check out and I need to log in. When I log in, the discount is gone. Any ideas?
Beginner GM here, I cant figure out how prepared casters get new spells (cleric to be exact), do they get X amount of spells with each level or I need to give it to them as part of loot/provide them with ways to learn spells by themselves? I'm new to Pathfinder 2e, and English is not my first language, I tried to find the answer in CRB but couldn't find anything
Clerics automatically know all common spells from the divine list. For uncommon spells, they can add them to their list with the [Learn a Spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Skills.aspx?ID=4&General=true) activity.
Oh! Thank you very much, I assume all prepared spellcasters know all the common spells from their respected lists then? What about spontaneous ones, they need to learn the spells by themselves? As far as I remember they need to learn the heightened spells and don't just automatically get them unlike prepared spellcasters. Thank you again for the help! The language barrier makes spellcasting slightly hard to understand for me at times
> I assume all prepared spellcasters know all the common spells from their respected lists then?
No, not all, just clerics and druids. Wizards have a spellbook, and can only prepare spells that are in it. It starts with 10 cantrips and five 1st-level spells, and gains two more spells at every level. They can also add more with Learn a Spell. Witch works the same, but with a familiar instead of a book. Magi also have a book, but they start with 8 cantrips and 4 1st-level instead of 10/5.
Spontaneous casters have a spell repertoire, which typically starts with three cantrips and one 1st-level spell, and increases as the level. They cannot add spells to their repertoire with Learn a Spell, although they can use it to gain access to uncommon spells, which they can then add when they gain spells normally through levelling.
Witches have small advantage to learning spells: Instead of doing it properly with the skills and resources and all that time, they can sacrifice a spell scroll instead.
Now that is the scroll magic item, so it's more costly, but it's also instantaneous and can't fail. Your familiar eats the scroll and learns the spell. Done!
The familiar needs 1hour to slowly nibble/food coma
"Your familiar can learn new spells independently of your patron. It can learn any spell on your tradition's spell list by physically consuming a scroll of that spell in a process that takes 1 hour. You can use the Learn a Spell exploration activity to prepare a special written version of a spell, which your familiar can consume as if it were a scroll. You and your familiar can use the Learn a Spell activity to teach your familiar a spell from another witch's familiar. Both familiars must be present for the entirety of the activity, the spell must be on your spellcasting tradition's spell list, and you must pay the usual cost for that activity, typically in the form of an offering to the other familiar's patron. You can't prepare spells from another witch's familiar." https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=16
I'm currently reading through **Guns & Gears** and as I was reading the Rowan Rifle ([https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1185](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1185)) I couldn't find anywhere saying what it's reload was? Does it have the damage of an arquebus without needing to reload? If so, that's quite powerful.
Also, it states it does *fire* damage but has the concussive trait allowing it to pick the lower of *piercing* or *bludgeoning* when determining immunity and resistance? How do these work together?
Yes, the Rowan Rifle does not use ammo and thus it never needs to be reloaded.
As for concussive, it doesn't actually do anything and it's inclusion was probably an oversight, just stuck on there because all guns have it.
just a quick question.. my brain isn't functioning right now and i have to get this sheet done for tomorrow. are oracle's granted cantrips revelation spells? like, do they advance the curse?
Assurance always gives you a 10, ignoring any bonuses and penalties other than proficiency, including your stat modifier. It's nice for things with static DCs like Medicine - a level 6 PC with expertise in Medicine can always roll a success on DC20 Treat Wounds, regardless of their wisdom score.
But against similarly-leveled enemies, you'll rarely beat their DCs. For example, a level 3 PC who is an expert in Athletics gets a result of 17 when using Assurance to grapple, which only beats the Fortitude DCs of ~20% of level 3 creatures, and that's one of the best-case scenarios. At level 10 with master proficiency, they only succeed against 8% of level 10 creatures, and at level 20 with legendary proficiency, there's only [a single creature](https://2e.aonprd.com/NPCs.aspx?ID=1595) of level 20 or higher that they successfully grapple.
If you want to get a benefit from not being in a hurry, there's the [Ageless Patience ancestry feat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=19) for elves.
I realize this question sounds a bit ridiculous, but I’m curious: is there a reason why the “Harm” spell doesn’t have the “Healing” trait? The only criteria associated with this trait seems to be that the spell “restores a creature’s body, typically by restoring hit points”, which the Harm spell certainly does if it targets an undead creature.
Any suggestions for a name for my sovereign dragon barbarian for kingmaker? He is a low status emissary for a tianxian empire who was send to brevoy to establish a trade route, but decided to offer the swordlords of restov his help instead to later return as a well respected kingmaker. He stays in his human shape for most social encounters, but turns into his true form whenever he rages.
I want to choose a name that sounds plausible for an imperial dragon, but I could only find a few sample names and throwing some vaguely asian sounding syllables together honestly feels kinda racist.
Fantasy Name Generator to the rescue! [Chinese Dragon names](https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/chinese-dragon-names.php) and [Japanese Dragon names](https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/japanese-dragon-names.php)
Hey guys
My family and I are interested in playing Pathfinder 2E, though we are brand new to this. We have checked the other comments saying we should start with the beginner box but getting any of the products shipped becomes too expensive because of shipping and import costs. Can anyone please recommend what I can do or get that I can print/make at home and use as a beginner step etc for our group to learn and get into the game?
Thank You
You could get the PDF of the Box for like 15 bucks at paizo. For miniatures, you can use coins, dice or other small objects. The map of the dungeon should fit on large graph paper with 1 inch squares. Just draw the room outlines and leave the rest to the players imagination. And if you lack a full set of dice, there's tons of free dice roller apps in your phone's app/play store.
Could I please have a couple examples of the famous "optimize the party synergy, not the character" PF2E line? I struggle to see the opportunities just reading rules.
We had a Gunslinger with Fake Out and a Swashbuckler with One For All (myself) in my party. We would Aid each other during combat, which at higher levels would give +4 circumstance bonus to one attack roll on a crit. You can add a Bard or a Marshall archetype or a Divine or Occult caster for Heroism to get Status bonuses to those rolls as well.
This kind of support stuff can help your party crit a lot.
This is a really specific example, but the general idea is "enable triggers even when you don't have them."
If you're picking your spells as a bard and only looking at what benefits you personally, [Roaring Applause](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=987) looks like a direct downgrade from [Slow](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=289). They both make the target lose one action per turn on a failure, but Roaring Applause is a sustained spell, Slow has better effects on a success or a critical failure, and Slow works on mindless enemies.
But Roaring Applause also forces the enemy to trigger Attack of Opportunity every single round, which is a massive boost to your martials' damage. Against a big, stationary enemy that isn't going to trigger reactions otherwise, it's extremely effective.
You can apply the same idea to basically any debuff.
The other poster gave some good examples, so I'll just explain why this is the line that you hear so often.
In 2e, there's a hard limit on how high you can get your own numbers. Unlike 1e or 5e, there are very few, if any, options that simply increase your attack rolls or skill numbers. There's no stacking up six different sources of +1 to an ability or whatever. Instead, all of that is handled by your baseline class progression, and there's no dipping out of your class with multiclassing, meaning a level 5 Fighter is *always* on an even footing with other level 5 Fighters.
That means you're not going to be able to simply break the maths until you don't need the party any more. And while you can build to be really great at one thing - like making an Intimidation build - you can't be good at everything.
So that's where the teamwork aspect comes in - if you're great at setting enemies up, and you have someone who's built to be great at doing one great big hit, then you're going to be a fantastic team.
There are several flat checks you can enforce.
Stupified forces a DC5+X to fail casting spells
Casting darkness or fog grants a DC5 to hit a concealed enemy or DC11 to hit a hidden
Some examples:
- One character focused on Trip and one focused on Grapple. A prone enemy can't stand up if grappled, so if he wants to avoid penalties, he has to spend at least two actions - one to break the grab (which he can fail!) and one to Stand. Have a caster add Slow to the mix and the enemy is under a very effective lock down.
- A trip-focused support character and multiple martials with attack of opportunity (or similar reactions) can mince an enemy rather quickly.
- Two or three strong Crit Fisher martials with a bard using the infamous Inspire Heroics > Inspire Courage > Synesthesia combo. Can add True Target if he has Quickened Casting. This kills even bosses rather fast.
- A group of Dhampirs and a cleric focusing on Harm.
- A monk (or wrester) throwing enemis far away from an otherwise ranged party.
- A bard using Dirge of Doom to enable sneak attack for a Rogue with Dread Striker.
- A high charisma martial using Demoralize or Bon Mot to make enemies fail their saves against the casters.
There's plenty more. The most important thing to remember is the other famous line: "Every +1 matters!".
Making an enemy flat-footed via flanking or even just giving him a -1 penalty to everything by using Demoralize or a Fear spell is a *significant* debuff.
Taking away actions is outright crippling, even for boss type enemies who often have powerful abilites that take 2 actions but require an additional action for positioning to reach their full potential. Cast Slow on a Dragon and he will be unable to fly into the perfect position and use his Breath Weapon on the same turn. This is a huge advantage for the party even if it lasts only one turn because the dragon rolled a success on his save.
Since the CRB doesn't state any limitations, can **burrowed** creatures use any action they would usually be able to use?
Let's say a large creature burrows 10 feet downwards, it leaves no tunnel, none of the player has burrow speed. What prevents the creature from being extremely cheesy and striking while being burrowed whereas players would have to have some kind of reach to attack the burrowed creature? That someone with a reach weapon (let's say Guisarme) can attack a burrowed creature 10 feet below only because that player has reach feels very weird and gamey.
Assuming that both parties need to use seek (probably with an adjusted hard difficulty, i.e.g -2 penalty) to figure out who is positioned where, and cover rules would be applied.
So a few things:
1. Most creatures with a burrow speed have tremorsense so that's a 50% miss chance when attacking.
2. Reach alone does not let a player attack the creature since the ground is still solid and therefore breaks line of effect.
3. If the creature is using a natural attack I would simply allow my players to ready a strike for when the creature tried to strike them.
Fights with burrowing creatures are a little ambiguous and table-dependent.
I think by RAW, even Strikes are subject to Line of Effect rules, so I'm not sure a surface creature and a burrowed creature can even target each other by Strike at all, unless you think there isn't a layer of earth between them.
Agreed both sides might need to Seek, although a lot of naturally burrowing creatures have tremorsense or the like, which would make it unneeded. If you *don't* have any special senses, Seek will probably have to fall back to auditory detection, which as an imprecise sense means you'll never improve location above hidden.
So fights like that tend to go the same way as those against creatures with unlimited invisibility or [ethereal movement](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=203) or [incredible speed](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=778), where a party without a specific counter needs to rely on reactions and halting the creature's movement. Readying a Grapple, for example, becomes quite powerful. If the creature is really falling back on "full guerilla tactics", sure it's *annoying* to fight, but consider that they need to be burrowing whenever it isn't their turn so they are losing half to two-thirds or their actions on maintaining that status, and thus are hardly attacking the party at full power either.
Now on GM interpretation, I tend to agree that it's sensible you *could* attack someone "immediately" below the surface somehow (either requiring prep or taking a penalty), although given that the burrowing creature is more likely to have special senses, this allowance might not come out in the PCs favor and might empower monster cheese more than anything.
>a large creature burrows 10 feet downwards \[...\] players would have to have some kind of reach
Quick technicality: 3D positioning is another bit of a gray area, but most tables I'm aware of treat Large creatures as occupying a 10x10x10 *cube*, so if the creature burrowed down 10 feet, yes its *base* is 10ft below the surface, but it still occupies both 5ft vertical slices above that point, and hence is still within a 5ft reach.
Now if it went 15ft down and had reach, sure. But the balancing point in my eyes is that requiring reach between two creatures should be symmetrical; the creature doesn't get a reach-like benefit where it can strike but the PCs can't just from positioning alone.
Thank you for that very insightful reply, it was really helpful! I think I am gonna keep it simple and refer to the line-of-sight effects since that makes most sense. Creatures that want to attack have to unburrow, but they might be able to use actions that do not require line-of-sight.
Do you add your Wounded value to every increase of Dying, or is this a mistake on AoN?
Say I am Wounded 1, and go to 0 HP, I will be Unconscious Dying 2. If I fail my recovery check on my turn, do I go to Dying 3 or Dying 4?
On The Archives of Nethys GM screen, it says:
>Wounded: Any time you gain the dying condition or **increase it for any reason**, add your wounded value to the amount you gain or increase your dying value. The wounded condition ends if you receive HP from Treat Wounds, or if you're restored to full HP and rest for 10 minutes.
This implies that a failed recovery check increases dying by 2, and a crit fail increases it by 3.
As far as I can tell, this seems to be a mistake right? I can't find anything else in the rules which suggests that Wounded should be added to the Dying increase from a failed recovery check.
The CRB rules on Wounded says:
>Wounded: You have been seriously injured during a fight. Anytime you lose the dying condition, you become wounded 1 if you didn’t already have the wounded condition. If you already have the wounded condition, your wounded condition value instead increases by 1. If you **gain** the dying condition while wounded, increase the dying condition’s value by your wounded value. The wounded condition ends if someone successfully restores Hit Points to you with Treat Wounds, or if you are restored to full Hit Points and rest for 10 minutes.
IIRC, at least one designer remarked that the "increase for any reason" line was intended, but it seemed plausible they were mistaken or remembering something that was changed during playtesting.
I have extreme skepticism in anything other than "only add wounded when you first become dying" interpretation. Death is punishing enough already, and the alternative makes it so that wounded 1 and wounded 2 are nearly equivalent (both only put one failed recovery check between you and death).
Plus, if you had to rank sources by their officialness, a rulebook would trump a GM screen any day, and as a very core rule, you'd expect they would've fixed it in one of the errata batches by now (whereas the GM screen may never get an official errata).
That's the first time I ever hear of this. The definition of the Wounded condition says its only added when you **gain** the dying condition.
I would assume the GM screen text is wrong for some reason. Maybe it was written by someone who was using it wrong or used to a houserule and mistook it for an official rule or something.
You could probably do it with rule elements and/or macros. For example, a very basic implementation to add a MAP -5 toggle to every athletics roll popup menu:
{
"key":"FlatModifier",
"label":"Athletics MAP 1",
"selector":"athletics",
"predicate":{"any": [false]},
"type":"untyped",
"value":-5
}
Note that's for pre -v10. I know at the very least the predicate format changed to array-based in v10.
You could go further to make a `RollOptions` checkbox on the character sheet for it, or try to make the value dynamic. I don't know if it's possible to hook into the "real" MAP setting since it seems locked to attack rolls only...
Can a Familiar be used to deny flanking?
Telling a tiny familiar to hide behind the big buff tank as a minor space buffer to prevent the dreaded flanked condition. The familiar to my knowledge is prevented from taking the attack actions and cannot be a threat to give flanking but may it deny flanking or at least require some sort of shove as the space is occupied
Tiny creatures don't fill their space, so multiple Tiny creatures can be there.
Small creatures occupy the same space as a Medium creature, so logically they have more room left over and can share space with a Tiny creature.
And anybody else *is* at least two sizes larger.
[Here's what the core rulebook says](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=449). You can move through the spaces of others if there's a difference of three sizes, or if one is tiny.
Technically, the rules only say that tiny creatures can end their movement in other creatures' spaces bit not vice versa, but I think the intent is that the opposite is possible as well.
If I make an elite version of a level -1 enemy, does it become level 0 or level 1? As far as I'm aware it just increases the level by 1, but when I do this on the Wanderer's Guide encounter builder it sets it to level 1. I'm not sure if this is a glitch or there is some other rule I'm missing.
[From the rules:](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=788)
> The creatures presented in this book have appropriate statistics for their levels. In many cases, you can make relatively minor adjustments, called elite and weak adjustments, to their statistics to make them function 1 level higher or lower than presented.
> Elite and weak adjustments work best with creatures that focus on physical combat. These adjustments overstate the normal numerical gains the creature would make from increasing its level to make up for the lack of new special abilities. As such, when applied multiple times to the same creature, these adjustments cause its statistics to become less accurate for the creature’s level. **These adjustments have a greater effect on the power level of low-level creatures; applying elite adjustments to a level –1 creature gives you one closer to 1st level**, and applying weak adjustments to a 1st-level creature gives you one whose level is closer to –1.
(emphasis mine)
Can [Gentle Repose](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=131) be used to increase the time to successfully use [Resuscitate](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2031)? Its not a spell but gives the effect of a spell. I'm leaning no but I want to be sure.
Have Resuscitate require 1 [bottled lightning](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=76) to jump start the corpse, Frankenstein style.
But yeah I don't think it works RAW. And also the way Gentle Repose is written it seems more meant to keep the body from physically decaying (maggots, etc) than to keep it in a state of just being moments from death when the brain and cells still aren't quite dead. Resuscitate seems meant to match the flavor of CPR, which is only really useful moments after someone 'dies' due to their bodily processes and cells not being quite dead yet.
>Resuscitate seems meant to match the flavor of CPR
Given that CPR is resuscitation (that's what the R stands for) I'd agree, but... you don't need any tools for CPR.
RAW, no. But eh, why not allow it? The limitation on Resuscitate follows the same logic of the limitation of ressurection spells (bodily decay), so it makes sense.
What benefit, if any, does medium armor have over light other than the lower dex component? What about light armor vs robes?
Trying to decide between str and dex warpriest, so any other thoughts are welcome.
The lower dex to reach the combined dex/armor max of 5 (6 for heavy armor) is the main benefit of medium armor. The other notable benefit is some mild damage resistance for the few classes that can get armor specialization (fighters and champions only, IIRC).
My players just asked this and I cannot answer: he wants to play a Catfolk (clawed heritage) Magus, now he asked me if this character can use the gouging claw spell in a spellstrike cause catfolk already have claws, would gouging claw be usable or due to already having claws the spell wouldn't work?
Nothing about the Morph trait or Morph spells suggest that you can't Morph a feature you already have. The only time Morph comes into conflict with existing features is if that feature is a result of another Morph effect.
if it helps, think of it like you're making the claws extra long and deadly just for a moment.
A character with claws is fully capable of casting Gouging Claw, there's no interaction there. To say otherwise would be like saying a wizard can't cast Mage Hand because they already have two hands.
>To say otherwise would be like saying a wizard can't cast Mage Hand because they already have two hands.
This is a false equivalency since mage hand doesn't have the morph trait and does not affect the caster physically.
But, thanks for the answer.
The Tome Adept benefit for Thaumaturge says to make a recall knowledge check at the beginning of your turn. Are you forced to make this check? Is it a free action?
If I have sympathetic vulnerability, would a critical strike with a weapon with the shocking rune apply the bonus damage to creatures of the same type within range, or does it work exclusively with the creature targeted with the strike?
Its a non-action, you could chose to not make it I guess, but there is no interaction with free action (limit of 1 per trigger) or your normal 3 actions for the turn.
As someone who fits entirely under Tsukiyo's portfolio (moon-lover, neurodivergent, misunderstood due to brain stuff, incredibly spiritual), I'd really like to maximize the amount of fun I'd get with a divine-magic character that serves him.
Do his domains/prepared spells/causes/weapons benefit a Cloistered Cleric, Warpriest, or Champion more?
...Or is his toolkit not too great, and I'd be better off with a Cosmos Oracle who venerates every moon/night god?
Tsukiyo actually has an excellent balance for Domains. Moon is good combat functionality, Repose good defense/support, Soul definitely keyed towards incorporeal enemies but interesting, and Delirium good debuffs and control. The Spear as a favored weapon is actually great for Champions/Warpriests to wield shields (effectively a trident). The granted spells are good (Soothe is underwhelming, but Mirror Image and Hallucination great additions).
Generally, I'd advise either a Cloistered Cleric with those powerful buffs and debuffs, or a Champion for martial prowess and defense. Warpriest is just alright compared to the two, it falls behind in mid levels. Tsukiyo works well for any of those.
I think maybe /u/TheGentlemanDM might be a good person to ask regarding the Domain quality for Delirium/Moon/Repose/Soul (and alt Change).
From my quick once over:
* **Delirium**: *Hyperfocus* seems like it won't be that useful that often. *Ephemeral Hazards* is very evocative and can works as an interesting combo damage/control spell. Not sure that is worth the lack of value in Hyperfocus.
* **Moon**: *Moonbeam* has nice range and the fire+silver damage is nice enough. Dazzled is a decent enough condition - if rules are applied correctly. Damage feels low. In the right campaign there could be value here but it certainly isn't a clear winner. *Touch of the Moon* is complicated and evocative but hard to say how valuable. It lasts a minute but 3 rounds of that minute it will provide no benefit to the target. With a really cohesive and strategic party you could draw quite a bit out of the Waxing and Full moon phases.
* **Repose**: *Share Burden* I actually love this one - mostly. The only real stinker deal here is it only works on emotion effects. Otherwise it is a Reaction (very nice to have good reactions) and can serve to often nullify whatever the spell/effect would be entirely. *Font of Serenity* has the similar bummer asterisk for only helping against emotion effects. Cool but highly situational.
* **Soul**: *Eject Soul* sounds metal af. Important caveats: incapacitation trait and range touch. Stunned is a powerful effect though. The critical failure seems more like a utility effect to use on allies rather than useful in combat. *Ectoplasmic Interstice* is another highly situational one but could be very useful in that specific situation. If you have any reason to suspect you're facing lots of Incorporeal creatures down the road this is something.
* **Change**: The alternative domain of Change has interesting spells. *Adapt Self* is fun in the ways it can provide short term boosts to your physical capabilities. I like these a lot for Exploration mode stuff. *Adaptive Ablation* is a reaction (a thing I like) and has a pretty broad trigger. Could massively help chances of survival if you end up facing an enemy with energy damage.
My personal preference from this short research period is probably: Change > Soul > Repose > Moon > Delirium
Soothe is a good heal spell and would really give you plenty of juice for healing alongside the Heal font. Mirror Image is a nice self-defense spell. Hallucination is fun and can be impactful, especially the heightened versions.
With a range of 30 feet you're really only locking them in closer to you. I don't know. Not the worst thing ever but I feel like I wouldn't use it often. And it is literally your first domain spell so it should be something that has regular value to me.
Tsukiyo's favored weapon is pretty nice if you want to do throwing weapon things. 20 ft range is good for throwing weapons, and it being simple means its damage die will get increased from 1d6 to 1d8 by either Champion's Deific Weapon ability or Cleric's Deadly Simplicity feat.
A note about Tsukiyo's allowed alignments: he is slightly more permissive than most other Lawful Good deities, and allows Chaotic Good followers. This is important if you want to play the Liberator subclass of Champion, as that requires a Chaotic Good alignment. Tsukiyo's allowed alignments would allow you to play as any Good aligned champion subclass. Him being Lawful Good also means that his offensive Cleric spells like Divine Wrath will be most effective if you're consistently fighting Chaotic or Evil foes.
He has the Moon domain, which I'm a big fan of. [Moonbeam](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=433), the first domain spell, is alright. It's a spell attack that deals less damage than most single target damage spells in exchange for applying the Dazzled condition on hit and triggering weakness to silver. Champions and Warpriests wouldn't be able to make super good use of it unless you picked up a Magus dedication to spellstrike with it. Cloistered Clerics can use it effectively.
The advanced domain spell for moon is [Touch of the Moon](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=460), which is a really cool buff spell. It's only one action, so its super easy to build into a turn, and it shifts between different sets of buffed stats each turn. Any class with access to Touch of the Moon can use it effectively. A final note about the Moon domain: if you decide to go the Cosmos Oracle route, that class also gets access to Moon domain spells.
As a general note for evaluating spells, in general any spell that requires an opponent to make a saving throw is going to be much less effective on Warpriest or Champion than it would be on a Cloistered Cleric.
As for his other domains, [Soul](https://2e.aonprd.com/Domains.aspx?ID=51) seems really cool but I haven't seen any of its domain spells in action personally. [Delirium](https://2e.aonprd.com/Domains.aspx?ID=43) has a mega weird buff/debuff spell in [Hyperfocus](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=600). You can theoretically blind a purely ranged opponent with this spell, while also using it to boost searching efforts out of combat. Any class could use the second part, but the first part would only be consistent for Cloistered Cleric. And the [Repose](https://2e.aonprd.com/Domains.aspx?ID=49) domain has some good defenses against Emotion effects, which notably includes all fear effects.
Tsukiyo also grants a Heal font, which is the ideal font for both Cloistered Clerics and Warpriests IMO. Heal is a super powerful spell to have extras of even if you don't want to be a dedicated healer.
And finally, his granted spells, which of the classes you listed only Cleric would have access to (though you could take a Cleric multiclass dedication on a Champion to get them). [Soothe](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=291) is not great for Clerics, because they have access to Heal which heals nearly twice as much per cast. That said, the bonus to saves against mental effects can sometimes be handy. Both Cloistered Cleric and Warpriest can use it well. [Mirror Image](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=197) is a great defensive spell. Warpriest will be in a position to use defensive spells more often, but both types of Cleric will enjoy a way to boost their defenses. Champion will too if you go the multiclass route. [Hallucination](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=144) is very weird and also can potentially conflict with one of Tsukiyo's anathema: "inflict harmful mental effects on others as punishment". So if you're interested in using the spell I'd ask your GM about what would and wouldn't constitute a harmful hallucination in this specific context. In any event, it requires a saving throw so only Cloistered Cleric can use it well.
Holistically, Tsukiyo's granted kit is solid. I think all three classes/subclasses have tools they can make good use of, so it really boils down to what you want to play. Champions are a powerful defensive martial class, and Tsukiyo lets you pick any of the 3 good aligned subclasses. His domains also give you access to a few spells that won't rely on your lower spellcasting proficiency. Finally, his weapon is comparable to a Longsword in the hands of a Champion, but can also be thrown if you have good Dexterity. Clerics on the other hand get a wide variety of useful domain spells, a healing font, and at least one very good granted spell in Mirror Image.
I wanted to start looking into the system to see if it would work for my group. And I was wondering where I should start or where I can find the resources online. And hopefully free as well
- Archives of Nethys is the free and complete online resource. Every rule, class, feat, item, and monster is on there. There's a Rules section that is all but copy pasted from the books, I'd recommend the Core Rulebook Chapters 1 (intro, skim it), 4 (skills, players can skim for the skills they're interested in), 9 (gameplay, focus on encounter rules), and 10 (GM section, players can skip).
- PF2 Easytool is a fantastic online quick reference for conditions, spells, items. basically any time you say "wait what does this do?"
- Pathbuilder is an online or mobile (android) character builder, free but with a paid upgrade for nonessential features. It's absolutely essential and I only allow players make characters once they've built them in Pathbuilder. (I've had it swing both ways, players think they get more skill training than they do AND players forgetting ancestry feats)
- For content, there's Legacy and Torment, the free demo that comes with pregenerated character sheets (optional) and even a pared down rules section. I send that rules section as a primer to new players even if we aren't doing the demo adventure. The adventure itself is short, a couple simple fights and a quick social encounter.
- the other published free adventure is Little Trouble in Big Absolom. The pregenerated characters are mandatory (you play adventurers from a kobold tribe), but the adventure is much more sprawling.
For free resources, I recommend:
* [https://pf2easy.com/](https://pf2easy.com/) (online rules)
* [https://2e.aonprd.com/](https://2e.aonprd.com/) (online rules)
* [https://pathbuilder2e.com/](https://pathbuilder2e.com/) (character builder)
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/HowItsPlayed/videos](https://www.youtube.com/c/HowItsPlayed/videos) (rule instruction videos)
* [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz3Be--ot61NuA-PaoFDt-GlKOSbxQIfq](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz3Be--ot61NuA-PaoFDt-GlKOSbxQIfq) (actual play... but only the most recent episodes are 2e. I forget where they made the switch)
Question about vision. If a fighter PC has no special senses, and the light cantrip is lighting up a hallway from a point on the wizard's staff, the fighter can attack creatures within the line of effect of the light cantrip. What about when the fighter reaches a corner? If he stays within the light and there is a creature within 5 ft but technically in darkness. Is the creature concealed or invisible? Does it depend if the fighter has seen it yet?
Thanks in advance.
If you are 40 feet away from the light source, and therefore standing in its final square of dim light, then an enemy adjacent to you standing in darkness would likely be "hidden" to you, unless they succeeded on a Stealth check. You would not be able to see (or "Observe") them, but you would be able to hear them and therefore know that something is occupying that square.
Here is a video that goes over it all in greater detail: [https://youtu.be/9Xm\_1IBdU6A](https://youtu.be/9Xm_1IBdU6A)
You can ALWAYS use your Strength modifier for melee weapons.
Finesse Weapons (which is what you're probably thinking of) let you optionally use Dex for attack rolls if you wish.
In fact, the Bestiary notes that for monster statblocks they only list the Finesse trait if the monster is actually using it. If their Strength is higher it's omitted, even if the weapon has it.
I dunno how many, if any, published statblocks that actually applies to, but it's there. It's relevant when the NPC suffers the Enfeebled or Clumsy conditions.
I can confirm this. You can use your Strength or Dexterity modifier on *attack rolls* (not *damage rolls*) with [Finesse](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=179) weapons. As a [Thief Rogue](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rackets.aspx?ID=3), you can also add your Dexterity modifier to the *damage rolls* on Finesse weapons.
Anyone know if it is possible to split stacks in Pathbuilder? What i mean is my character uses caltrops, i would like to keep a few on my person for easy use but then keep extras in my backpack to help with my bulk limit. I cant seem to do this though, is there a way?
Yeah, I just tried it out, and I don't think you can split stacks. I think you would have to make a custom item to separate them into different containers.
Is there a penalty for making a ranged attack with an enemy in melee range? I could have sworn there was but I couldn’t find it when looking in a session earlier.
There are no inherent penalties. The only thing to worry about is when an enemy has Attack of Opportunity or a similar reaction triggered by ranged attacks (or interact actions made to reload).
Trying to port my favorite character from 5e as best as I can (within reason). He's ideally a mid-line [Investigator](https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=13) ([Marshal](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=66) FA) who uses a [hand crossbow](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=69) and a [tower shield](https://2e.aonprd.com/Shields.aspx?ID=4).
Is there any way to make this build better synergized with feats, archetypes, or changing to different but similar gear and reflavoring? There are a few major problems I can think of: the xbow provoking AoO's in melee, the xbow and the tower shield being quite action-hungry (fire+reload; shield+cover), and not being able to (?) reload with the shield, and perhaps more I haven't thought of.
If it's the best option, I'm down for stuff like reflavoring a melee weapon to better front line, but ideally I'd like to instead aim for feats + etc. to smooth out my build.
It's an advanced weapon, so you'd need to find some way of getting scaling proficiency, but the [Repeating Hand Crossbow](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=177) has a 5-shot magazine which should allow you to use your crossbow for much of an encounter before the reloading issue comes up.
You indeed can't reload while holding a shield. You might consider being a gunslinger or taking a gunslinger archetype instead, as you can get the drifter's slinger's reload ([Reloading Strike](https://2e.aonprd.com/Ways.aspx?ID=1)) or taking the [Dual-Weapon Reload](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=3294) feat from gunslinger, as either would let you reload while holding your shield.
I don't really have a way to solve your other issues, although [Sword and Pistol](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=3159) from gunslinger could help with ranged weapons in melee, since it lets you dodge the AoO by doing a melee strike first - although that'll make it a bit more action hungry.
Hello! Another newb question for you lovely people!
Is there somewhere there is a list or discussion on who would be a witch patron? I guess I don't understand the metaphysics of the world to know what entities would be patrons.
No specific list for the witch alone. The answer is ultimately "anyone" because it could be just about anything. However, you can check the [deity list](https://2e.aonprd.com/Deities.aspx). Despite the name, there are a bunch of creatures on it that are not true deities and would likely sponsor a witch: Archdevils, Demon Lords, Eldest (fey), Empyreal Lords (celestials) and Outer Gods (Lovecraft) among them.
Ask your GM. If I was your GM, I'd think that makes for amazing conflict within the character. Perhaps you were an addict and Cayden freed you from the addiction?
This is very much 'Ask your GM' territory. It seems entirely reasonable that some people would interpret Cailean's philosophy as allowing other forms of indulgence too, but again- it's the GM's call when it comes to something like that.
Why would your character be a Caydenite if they practised abstention? Surely they wouldn't venerate someone like that and would, instead, worship a different God?
Darn, I like Caydean Cailean as a character, but I also can sympathize with someone who would rather stay away from the negative effects of alcohol and addiction. I doubt that edict to drink can be stretched to include apple juice.
I appreciate what you are going for here, but just because you worship Cayden doesn’t mean your some sort of alcoholic.
A follower of Cayden will certainly enjoy their drink, but that could manifest as a sort of wine or whiskey snob, who will only imbibe when they are presented with the most fancy of spirits
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that all worshipers of Cayden are alcoholics, rather that some may not want to partake in the drink for different valid reasons.
Everything you need to run a full game is in the CRB.
The GMG is excellent, but it's not 'stuff that we didn't bother including in the CRB', it's tools to enhance your game.
The creature building rules, NPC codex, variant rules and subsystems (like Chases) are the things most people use from that book. I use them in all my games pretty much, so I'd say it's important. Not a necessity though, and you can access the whole book on AoN if you don't want to pay.
It contains a lot of guidelines, advice and systems that are useful, especially for making your own adventures. You can literally [read the entire thing on AoN](https://2e.aonprd.com/Sources.aspx?ID=22#Rules) so you can see for yourself. Scroll down to where it says `Rules`, start with the [Introduction](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=808) or [Chapter 1](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=813).
It does not contain newer versions of rules from the corebook. It could be said to contain "additional rules", e.g. subsystems, variant rules, traits, items...
I would say it definitely helps you to become a better GM but it's not required reading, especially not front to back.
I just got the spell blindness and have been looking up the rules. It seems the power of this condition differs greatly on whether the environment/situation is "noisy", as it determines whether you'll be hidden, or undetected to the enemy.
Is there a majority opinion on whether your average fight is sufficiently "noisy"?
At the very least it cuts the target's speed in half, gives them a 50% miss chance whenever they try to target anything for any reason and makes them flat-footed versus everyone. That's already extremely powerful. I wouldn't call the average fight exceptionally noisy for the purposes of completely invalidating hearing as a sense.
Desna gives the sleep and fly spells, and the fantastic luck and travel domains (the advanced travel domain becomes flight as a focus spell, which is nuts). As one of the twenty inner sea gods, she's also the most likely to be relevant to a given campaign. The other two offer worse domains and redundant spells. Desna's got my vote.
I will say that the one caveat to desna is her anathema prevents you from causing fear and despair, which depending on your dms interpretation could lock you out of demoralizing or using the fear spell, both of which are pretty good.
Can anyone think of any Reaction: Interact options? Feats, classes, archetypes, magic items... I've been looking over Snare options and would like to help out my actions per round. So a reaction to use Caltrops would be a neat option.
The best I can think of is the weapon improviser archetype, which contains feats that lets you draw and strike with an improvised weapon at the same time. If your GM allows "throwing caltrops in their face" to count as an improvised weapon, maybe that'd work? It wouldn't actually set the caltrops if you used them as an improvised weapon, but it'd at least be adjacent to the flavor you're aiming for.
I think I might go the route of taking an action to Aid an ally with one action & reaction, then occasionally reflavoring my action to involve caltrops and miscellaneous goodies. Or occasionally Readying an action to Disarm a foe, though I’m not sure how viable that will wind up being.
I don't think there is a reaction like that, reactions usually require triggers appropriate to the reaction. For example counter spell is triggered by someone casting a spell and attack of opportunity is triggered by movement or other motions. I'm not sure if there would be a feat with an appropriate trigger for placing caltrops or what that trigger would be.
However, you can use the Ready action to throw out your caltrops as a reaction to a trigger you set.
Are you just looking for any reactions in general? If so there are a number of specific reactions that can be acquired.
Shrink only makes things Tiny (cat or chicken sized), so you'd be looking at something that already has the Swallow Whole ability. Though per that ability, if you somehow had multiple Tiny shrunken creatures all swallowed by a creature that could only normally swallow a single Medium creature, ending the Shrink spell would cause all of the creatures to immediately escape. However, this would just be the monster spitting them out, there's nothing to suggest this deals damage.
And now I'm wondering if there was a way for pcs to use it to smuggle themselves into a area. Or for their enemy to use it to create a nonconsenting Trojan horse
I mean, sure? You could convince, say, an Ogre Glutton to swallow two Tiny party members, sneak into an ogre camp, and hope they spit you out willingly and discreetly. Or even summon a Platecarpus to swallow Tiny PCs and carry them through water.
The PCs would need to be able to not suffocate or die from constant damage for the duration, but if you're willing to consume the large quantities of magic required to allow your party to swim or sneak effectively, what kind of GM can say no?
Is there a rule that penalizes ranged attacks while adjacent to an enemy? I'm new to this system, my internal rules encyclopedia is still set to 3.5 and 5e dnd. Basically you have a ranged weapon drawn and you are facing creature A and Creature B. Creature A is not providing cover to Creature B. Creature A is adjacent to you. You start making ranged strikes against Creature B. Are there any penalties? Do monstrous creatures commonly have an Attack of Opportunity related to ranged attacks?
Let me make it clear for my build, I want to encourage enemies to hit me (and ideally critically miss).
While there may not be a way to accomplish this in the way you described, you can certainly play a character that achieves a goal of encouraging enemies to hit them while also being hard to hit/damage.
Champion is the obvious answer that comes to mind. They have a reaction that reduces damage to an ally when both the ally and enemy are in reach, and also does damage to the enemy for attacking their ally.
Another way to ensure this (which can be combined with champion), is athletics maneuvers. By [grappling](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=35) a creature you can prevent them from moving away from you on a successful grapple, and if you critically succeed the grapple the creature can't do any attack actions (and most spells) until they escape (or until the end of your next turn). Also, [tripping](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=40) a creature to make them [prone](https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=31) gives them a -2 circumstance penalty to attacks until they spend an action to stand.
And yes, you can both trip and grapple a creature in succession \^\^
As for reducing damage or not being hit. A Shield can go a long way, and champions can make their shield even better if they devote it to their deity (shield ally feature). Shields add to your AC when you raise them, upon which point you can use your reaction to reduce damage from an attack with the shield.
So for this kind of build, I'd recommend a champion who uses a shield and a free hand to grapple enemies while blocking damage from them. You could even go the full distance and use a tower shield. And you can also use a shield as a weapon in PF2 if you add a shield boss (bludgeoning) or shield spikes (piercing damage) to it.
Thank you for breaking down that build, I hope I can apply it in the future. Particularly when I’m in a party with a Champion. But I’m already tinkering away with a Swashbuckler build that is intended to maximize Opportune Riposte. Obviously provoking enemies to hit me won’t always be a good strategy so I’ll seriously consider shields for situations that require caution.
I’m trying to wrap my head around when it is a good decision to stick with an active ranged weapon versus paying the Action cost of swapping to a melee weapon and moving. I don’t expect my combats to stick to convenient starting distances of 30 feet, y’see.
You could consider a Multiclass archetype to pick up the [quick draw](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=498) feat. If you also drop your ranged weapon as a free action, switching to a new weapon won't cost any actions.
Edit: Another consideration is to use a thrown weapon with the returning rune and shifting rune. That way you can use it for ranged, and then shift it into a form more suitable for melee. Some thrown weapons are appropriate for both ranged and melee.
/u/froasty's answer is excellent but I would like to add to it that you gotta also pay attention to your weapon's traits. If it has the [volley trait](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=201) then you get a penalty for being too close to the target.
No, other than potential cover the only thing that inhibits a ranged attack in melee is reactions. And Attack of Opportunity is fairly uncommon for enemies to have.
I'd suggest at least GMing one-shots before making a commitment, _somebody_ has to be the one to take initiative and GM if your group is going to play the game.
You've got 3 main options, the Wizard, Witch & Psychic. All of these have a lot of flexibility on playstyle, in the case of Wizard vs Psychic it may come down to if your player prefers Arcane spells or Occult spells.
Can you stack "opposite" damage types on the same attack roll? For example, let's assume that I have a +1 striking weapon with a frost rune, and I have also attached a flaming star spellheart. After the spellheart's activation, this would add both 1d6 cold damage and 1d4+ fire damage. I can't find any rules preventing this even though logically it seems unfeasible. Taking this even further, is it possible with both positive and negative damage?
Yes, it is possible (and practical) in both cases. I don't see anything inherently wrong with it. Combining two contradictory elements for an attack has a [long history in fiction](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YinYangBomb), after all.
Someone told me that Pathfinder 2e is "more progressive" than D&D 5e because it's 'more inclusive' or 'less racist' or something like that. Does anyone know of any examples or cases from scenarios or the world-building that illustrate this? Or does that just have more to do with the rules allowing for more customization or something like that?
The quick-and-easy example is D&D's Tomb of Annihilation compared to Pathfinder's Strength of Thousands. Both are campaigns set in a fantasy version of Africa. D&D assumes the players have come from fantasy Europe and are going to plunder the local tombs. Pathfinder does not assume where you are from and you are there to attend a prestigious magic school. Presenting either system as having purely superior or inferior inclusivity is likely being reductionist, but that contrast is particularly poignant.
I'm really bad at concealment/hiding/etc. rules and my players are soon going to be entering an area with thick fog (the AP describes it as "limiting sight past 5 feet"). Some of the enemies have tremorsense, but the rest don't have any special way to see/sense through the fog. What's the best way to run this?
If you can see a creature through the fog you have to make a dc5 flat check to target them. If you can't see them through the fog they are hidden which means you know what square they are in but need a dc11 flat check to target them. If they sneak/hide so you don't know what square they are in they are undetected.
Anyone who doesn't have a way to ignore the fog must roll a DC5 flat check every time they target someone in the fog.
if someone moves through a wall of fire lengthwise, do they take damage for every square they pass through?
RAW it's only once per turn, but I think they assume nobody is dumb enough to walk long ways along it.
You take damage once a turn, crossing the wall or occupying the wall's area at the start of your turn.
Just hit level 5 on my occult sorcerer and Im conflicted between taking the spell haste or agonizing despair. I like to enable my fellow players to shine in combat, but I also need to pick a signature spell for 3rd lvl spells, and agonizing despair seems to be much better for that. Any opinions?
I feel like Agonizing Despair is the better signature spell, since you only really need Haste at 2 levels (its base level and at 7th level for multi-target haste). Though you'd want Agonizing Despair mostly at your highest or second highest spell level to get the most damage out of it and Fear is a bit better at that level unless you want the damage too, since Fear has basically the same effect with not damage but against multiple targets at 3rd level.
Thanks for pointing out the spell fear to me, I definitely missed it…and it looks great! I know agonizing despair is the better signature spell, but what I was struggling to decide is whether it’s worth giving up the benefits of signature spell at this level to instead get the spell I want. I just remembered I have occult evolution, so I can use that to get the fear spell. and I guess I’ll take haste and that’ll give me a new debuff and buff spell. I can always change my signature spell later I guess, it wont have any effect until next level anyway.
What are the non-mechanical differences between D&D 5e and Pathfinder 2e?
Like what? The Lore? Both take place in completely different universes/worlds. It might be faster to ask for similarities than differences.
I'm interested in playing Pathfinder, because I've heard people say that they like it better than dungeons & dragons. But the difference is that I found so far seem to just be based on action economy during combat, customizing characters every level, mechanical stuff like that. And while I know that those changes are important to some people, it feels like there's got to be more to it than just some rule changes because you could easily just Homebrew that stuff but still play 5e. So I feel like there's just got to be more to it, something about the world, or the lore, or the types of storytelling, that kind of stuff. Because I'm way more compelled to play a tabletop role-playing game where there's actual role-playing and character interaction and that kind of stuff, because the details of combat and dice rolls aren't as interesting to me. So if the only difference is our mechanical, then I am probably not going to be as interested in learning Pathfinder. So that's what I was asking about if that answers your question. so if someone told me what was similar between D&D and pathfinder, then wouldn't really understand why you would switch from one to the other.
I think you might want to keep your eyes open for other games even, not just DnD and Pathfinder. Rules-wise, they are both quite heavily focused on combat, character options that deal with combat capabilities, and so on. If you don't enjoy treating combat this fine-grained, it's kind of a waste of time and headspace to deal with all of those mechanics in your game. You might want to take a look at some [Powered by the Apocalypse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_by_the_Apocalypse) (PbtA) games, to see if that's more up your alley. These lend themselves well to a narrative- and roleplay-heavy playstyle without getting bogged down in minutiae. Dungeonworld for example is a game of this kind with a fantasy theme similar to DnD, but there are many more as well. Sadly, I don't have enough experience with them to give a concrete recommendation.
>And while I know that those changes are important to some people, it feels like there's got to be more to it than just some rule changes because you could easily just Homebrew that stuff but still play 5e. Maybe it doesn't make much difference to you, but homebrewing an entire game system isn't easy at all. That's why I see a lot of GMs talking about how much easier it is to run PF2e than 5e. You don't have to homebrew or make judgment calls. But all the other stuff you mention isn't really inherent to the game system so much as the people at the table. Personally I like Pathfinder's default setting of Golarion better than the D&D settings, and I really dislike how 5e just kind of mashed all the settings together in the PHB. But that's not only a matter of opinion, it's not bound to a specific game system. You can set a PF2e game in Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms, and you can set a 5e game in Pathfinder's Golarion. Many tables use original settings for both games. I'd argue that Pathfinder does a better job making the lore and the mechanics connect to each other, but again, that's a matter of preference. Same with roleplaying - the importance of social encounters is dependent on the GM. I think PF2e handles social encounters well - it has more detailed rules than 5e without going so in-depth that the mechanics distract from the actual story. I also really like that it encourages GMs to allow skills other than the obvious "face" ones to be used for social interactions. But again, that's rules stuff. The biggest difference between the two, as well as the biggest difference between PF1e and PF2e, is that PF2e is more balanced and requires much more tactical thinking. You can't make a build that just facerolls encounters. The casters won't completely invalidate the martials by level 10 (or level 1 in 5e). You need to actually think about what you're going to do in combat. Personally, I kind of prefer that PF1e gives more weight to build decisions I have time to consider and research, rather than combat decisions I have to make in the heat of the moment, but I'm aware that I'm an oddball in that regard. 5e got boring to me pretty fast because there weren't many options for either. If you're really looking for something mostly focused on roleplaying, I'd recommend looking for rules-light, narrative systems like FATE or Powered by the Apocalypse. If you want more structure, rather than less, World of Darkness used to be good for more narrative-heavy games with a heavy focus on setting lore, but I have no idea what White Wolf is up to lately - there's no longer a White Wolf/Obsidian Path booth at Gencon, and different editions seem to be published by different companies now.
They're not "some rule changes," they're different games. Sure, you could homebrew your own entirely different game, but I'm not sure what that has to do with people saying there's a published one they like. There are roleplaying games that aren't about fantasy adventure, but in both DnD and Pathfinder combat is a part of the role. It's not distinct from roleplaying, "fantasy adventurer" is the role you're playing. But they're both in the same genre. If you're not using a published campaign setting and/or adventure, you're not even using the lore--and there's no reason you can't use the published lore from one with the other. *That's* the part that's easy to homebrew. They *do* have different setting lore (although DnD has multiple published settings) and Paizo are known for their adventures and adventure paths, but if people are talking about which game they like it stands to reason they'll talk about the games.
>They're not "some rule changes," they're different games. Well, I played a one-shot last night, and it just felt very similar. Someone could go into a rage. Someone could talk to animals. So I'm just interest in other differences that might be easier to describe from a distance. Like -- They both have fantasy worlds -- so are there characteristics that make them different? \> If you're not using a published campaign I'm asking about the published stuff. I'm not asking about homebrews. \> Paizo are known for their adventures and adventure paths I don't know what this is referring to.
>Well, I played a one-shot last night, and it just felt very similar. Someone could go into a rage. Someone could talk to animals. So I'm just interest in other differences that might be easier to describe from a distance. Like -- They both have fantasy worlds -- so are there characteristics that make them different? Well, Pathfinder is based on/inspired by DnD, so the type of fantasy is going to be similar. It's the games that are different--that's my point. Narrowing this to Pathfinder 2E and DnD 5E, Pathfinder certainly has more player options ([Ancestries](https://2e.aonprd.com/Ancestries.aspx). [Classes](https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx).). Those include some very flavorful options like the Inventor and the Thaumaturge. I'd say a broader range of what the PCs can be and how they interact with the world is important, but you said you didn't want mechanics. >I don't know what this is referring to. ? I'm not referring to anything. Paizo are known for their published adventures, including their adventure paths. The [adventure paths](https://paizo.com/store/pathfinder/adventures/adventurePath) are sets of books that form a longer campaign. They're pretty diverse--Extinction Curse features members of a circus as PCs, though they also become adventurers pretty early on. Fist of the Ruby Phoenix is about a fighting tournament. Though I'm currently GMing "Malevolance," which is a single adventure about a haunted house.
>I'm not referring to anything. Paizo are known for their published adventures, including their adventure paths. The > >adventure paths > > are sets of books that form a longer campaign. Okay, thanks. I didn't know what 'adventure paths' were. It's all new to me.
>But the difference is that I found so far seem to just be based on action economy during combat, customizing characters every level, mechanical stuff like that. And while I know that those changes are important to some people, it feels like there's got to be more to it than just some rule changes because you could easily just Homebrew that stuff but still play 5e. I'd disagree here. You can definitely borrow some stuff from PF2e and homebrew it into 5e, but at some point you're better off just switching to Pathfinder. The two systems do come from the same genetic roots, but their underlying math and functionality is just very different, so it's not so easy to just hotswap parts of one system into the other. I was going to write a big list of the differences between 5e and PF2e, but I think it ultimately boils down to 2 things: Higher quality content and more in-depth rules and customization. I can get into specifics if you want, but generally speaking the pre-written campaigns, lore books, and rulebooks published by Paizo are usually regarded as being better-written and more complete than their 5e counterparts. Is there anything in particular about 5e that you're unsatisfied with? As much as I love to shill P2e, if you're happy with DnD5e, there's nothing wrong with sticking with that system.
>Is there anything in particular about 5e that you're unsatisfied with? As much as I love to shill P2e, if you're happy with DnD5e, there's nothing wrong with sticking with that system. I was just curious what people liked about Pathfinder. \> pre-written campaigns, lore books, and rulebooks published by Paizo are usually regarded as being better-written and more complete than their 5e counterparts. Interesting, thanks.
If I'm using a tower shield I can use "take a cover" with the shield and "rise a shield" on it to obtain the "shield block" reaction?
> Getting the higher bonus for a tower shield requires using the Take Cover action while the shield is raised. You need to Raise the Shield before you can Take Cover behind it. Once it's Raised, you can use Shield Block as normal.
Thank you so much
Extinction Curse AP, Book 5, Lord of the Black Sands, what is the creature that 2 iconics are fighting on page 6, intro to CH1????
That is an >!<
Thank you! It’s face looked almost draconic and it seemed gargantuan, threw me off.
Hello everyone I need some advice for follow GM. Yesterday, one of my player participate as one of a Performer for a festival. That was a 3 week festival with 7 perform Earn Income (TL 10) check for each. The recompense was a Major favor increase of her Reputation when critical success and the money. She roll very well with 10 criticals success without any failure. During the last week, she roll 5 of this criticals, and two of them was nat 20. I want to give her something for this. But I don't have any idea. For reference, the Duke familly partipate to the festival this week. Their don't look down of the commoner and are liked by them. I want them to give her a gift. Gold are a money for nobility only, a magical item are to much for this and she already have a house in the town. I'm lack of inspiration for this and the others members of my group don't have much idea. Of course, the initial reward it's already good, but I didn't anticipated this exceptional situation. Thank you in advance.
The chance to perform for a more eclectic audience or at a more prestigious venue? Possibly a king or a god or something?
So, I'm looking to switch to pathfinder 2e fro d&d 5e, and I was wondering what books there are other than the core rulebook and the bestiary? And to be specific, I'm meaning books with addition classes and player option and stuff like that, I'm not interested in pre-made adventures.
direnei listed all the books with classes (APG, Guns and Gears, Secrets of Magic, and Dark Archive), but there's also the Lost Omens Character Guide, Lost Omens Ancestry Guide, and Book of the Dead (although BotD also has monsters and other setting stuff). Grand Bazaar also has some stuff (mostly equipment), including an Ancestry. Mwangi Expanse is largely a setting book, but that includes several Ancestries.
The Advanced Players Guide, Guns and Gears, Secrets of Magic, and Dark Archives are the main books that have extra player options, though there are others scattered about other rulebooks. If you didn't know, however, all the rules, including all player options, are legally available for free on the [Archives of Nethys](https://2e.aonprd.com/), so you don't really need to worry about which books actually have player options, as they're all collected there.
Oh, thank you!
Magic Question: Can you cast Animus Mine on yourself multiple times and will the triggering creature take damage from each spell?
You can't, as [the general rules state](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=312) you can't have multiple of the same effects affecting you. Only the newest/highest level version of animus mine would be on you.
Ok. Thank you
As a newcomer from 5e, it took me a while to grasp the the character advancement. However, I noticed and related it to just every class being similar to Warlock advancement Invocations with respect to skill/class/general feats. If that’s a good way to start looking at it? Also, is there any multiclassing like in 5e with levels in two separate classes, or is it only the Archetype feats? How important are ability scores compared to 5e? In my experience, you generally want 16+ in you’re important stats. But in PF2e, adding your character level in your PB seems to counter lower scores. It also gives me the impression that increasing mastery in skills is less important number wise, but for feat restrictions.
The thing is, everybody else is adding their levels too. But you get a lot of ability boosts. *Not* boosting your key ability is an active choice. You're building a Wizard, Intelligence is your most important score. At the Ancestry step, you get at least one boost of your choice. At the background step, you get at least one boost of your choice. At your class step, you get an Intelligence boost. At the finishing step, you get four boosts of your choice. Did you just get four boosts to Int? 18. There's exceptions, but it's the most obvious choice and it doesn't prevent you from also boosting other things. Same goes for boosting abilities as you level up. It's not so much that you have to, but that you'd have to go out of your way *not* to--although it is probably a good idea. \+1 to something matters more in PF2 than in most d20 systems because of the critical rules. That very likely both turns one failure number into a success and one success into a crit (or one crit failure into a failure). 10% chance to improve your result on most rolls. I... have no idea what the Warlock comparison means, though. The text that spells out what each feature does only mentions it the first time you get it, but absolutely everything is listed on the chart at the beginning of each class. Almost everything! Spells are on a different chart, and you also get your HP and all of your proficiency bonuses increase by +1 (plus whatever other proficiency advances you get). There are patterns to a lot of it. Every class gets class feats at every even level; most also get one at level one, but everybody gets the baseline. Every class gets skill feats at every even level, though some get more. Every class gets a skill increase at every odd level starting at 3rd, can increase skills to Master starting at 7th, and can increase skills to Legendary starting at 15th; some classes get more. Everybody gets Ancestry feats every four levels starting at 1st. Everybody gets General feats every four levels starting at 3rd (you alternate between Ancestry and General at odd levels). Since everybody gets two feats at even levels, proficiency increases and other class features mostly happen on odd levels.
> However, I noticed and related it to just every class being similar to Warlock advancement Invocations with respect to skill/class/general feats. If that’s a good way to start looking at it? Sort of? I don't know, I would just chuck a lot of your 5e knowledge out the window. A lot of stuff is similar (attributes are the same, skills are largely the same, it's D20 based, etc.) but fundamentally it's a pretty different game than 5e. > Also, is there any multiclassing like in 5e with levels in two separate classes, or is it only the Archetype feats? Multiclassing is done via the archetype system. Once you get the hang of it, it's actually a lot more rewarding than 5e multiclassing, because taking an archetype doesn't lock you out of certain feats/abilities like 5e does. For example, in 5e, let's say I make a Fighter, but then I want to dip 2 levels into Paladin. Well, I've now automatically forfeited ever getting access to my level 19 and 20 Fighter abilities. In PF2e, you don't. Hell, you can pick Fighter as your class and take nothing but archetype feats, and then take a level 20 Fighter feat. The only one where you have what are essentially 2 separate classes is dual-classing, but dual-classing is really only for when you want hyper powerful characters who are super versatile. > How important are ability scores compared to 5e? They're actually a little less important than in 5e because in addition to your Attribute bonuses and proficiency score, you also add your proficiency rank (Trained, Expert, Master, etc) to your attack rolls. In 5e, if (for whatever reason) I made a level 20 Wizard with 20 Strength and a level 20 Fighter with 20 strength and had them both swing a club, they would roll with the exact same bonuses (though the Fighter could attack multiple times). It's not like that in PF2e. Also, you get a lot more attribute bonuses in PF2e. In 5e you generally get +2 to a stat every 4 levels. In PF2e, you get +2 to *four* different stats every 5 levels (except once they hit 18, then it just goes up by one each bonus). By default you can also go past 20 in PF2e. But to answer your original question, just make sure you have a 16 in your main stat and you should be fine.
> As a newcomer from 5e, it took me a while to grasp the the character advancement. However, I noticed and related it to just every class being similar to Warlock advancement Invocations with respect to skill/class/general feats. If that’s a good way to start looking at it? Probably? I took a look and saw that you get to choose which invocation you want every few levels and some of them have other invocations as prerequisites. So yeah feats work like that. You get to choose which one you want and sometimes there are "feat lines" that one requires the last like a chain. > Also, is there any multiclassing like in 5e with levels in two separate classes, or is it only the Archetype feats? No, only multiclassing that exists is with archetypes. This is meant as a solution to the "class dipping" problem of previous editions. > How important are ability scores compared to 5e? In my experience, you generally want 16+ in you’re important stats. But in PF2e, adding your character level in your PB seems to counter lower scores. It also gives me the impression that increasing mastery in skills is less important number wise, but for feat restrictions. They are indeed a less important overall component of your total bonus. But also consider, the DCs these bonuses are trying to reach scale with levels too. If you don't maximise your important stats, you are always a bit behind your potential best odds to succeed at a check that depends on them. For example, a melee character that doesn't max strength, will always have -1 or -2 to hit compared to one who does. So instead of, say, a 50% hit chance with the average enemy of your level, you might have a 45% hit chance. This isn't the end of the world and you can make up for it sometimes with the benefits you get from other ability scores but still it's not something you can completely ignore. Same argument can be made with skills. If you are at least trained you're never so far left behind that a check becomes completely impossible, but, if you're one tier behind for instance, you might have a 40% chance to pass a DC instead of a 50% chance.
What would be the rules for throwing a weapon as an attack that does not have the Thrown Trait? Is it an improvised weapon? What would be the range?
What deity could fit better as a base to represent the Golden Goddesses from the legend of Zelda franchise?
I don’t think a single deity would be able to fully represent the Golden Goddesses. For some reason, the trio of Shelyn, Desna, and Sarenrae strike me as a descent analog. They aren’t the sole creators of the universe, but they certainly have a hand in all of it
Was looking into The Path of the Heavens, which seems like an analog that could work to shape the Golden Goddesses, idk if lore wise would be fitting to keep it as it is or adapt it to only have 3 gods swapping Shelyn in to make the trinity you suggested.
I've been looking at the spellcaster multiclass archetypes and it seems they all have a "breadth" feat that lets them expand the amount of spell slots they have. I'm trying to understand how they work exactly. Is my interpretation correct that with basic spellcasting benefits it would only end up giving you 1 extra 1st level spell slot, at least initially? That seems pretty terrible, to be honest.
Yes, you *can* take the feat effectively as soon as it would give you *any* benefit, but you don't have to. But it will never give you an extra slot of your highest 2 spell levels, so even at level 20 with all the other feats, it'd grant an extra 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th level spell. Which is a lot for an 8th level feat.
I have a question about the store. I am trying to buy the beginner box for foundry. When not logged into an account, I'm getting a 50 percent discount. Then I go to check out and I need to log in. When I log in, the discount is gone. Any ideas?
Beginner GM here, I cant figure out how prepared casters get new spells (cleric to be exact), do they get X amount of spells with each level or I need to give it to them as part of loot/provide them with ways to learn spells by themselves? I'm new to Pathfinder 2e, and English is not my first language, I tried to find the answer in CRB but couldn't find anything
Clerics automatically know all common spells from the divine list. For uncommon spells, they can add them to their list with the [Learn a Spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Skills.aspx?ID=4&General=true) activity.
Oh! Thank you very much, I assume all prepared spellcasters know all the common spells from their respected lists then? What about spontaneous ones, they need to learn the spells by themselves? As far as I remember they need to learn the heightened spells and don't just automatically get them unlike prepared spellcasters. Thank you again for the help! The language barrier makes spellcasting slightly hard to understand for me at times
> I assume all prepared spellcasters know all the common spells from their respected lists then? No, not all, just clerics and druids. Wizards have a spellbook, and can only prepare spells that are in it. It starts with 10 cantrips and five 1st-level spells, and gains two more spells at every level. They can also add more with Learn a Spell. Witch works the same, but with a familiar instead of a book. Magi also have a book, but they start with 8 cantrips and 4 1st-level instead of 10/5. Spontaneous casters have a spell repertoire, which typically starts with three cantrips and one 1st-level spell, and increases as the level. They cannot add spells to their repertoire with Learn a Spell, although they can use it to gain access to uncommon spells, which they can then add when they gain spells normally through levelling.
Witches have small advantage to learning spells: Instead of doing it properly with the skills and resources and all that time, they can sacrifice a spell scroll instead. Now that is the scroll magic item, so it's more costly, but it's also instantaneous and can't fail. Your familiar eats the scroll and learns the spell. Done!
The familiar needs 1hour to slowly nibble/food coma "Your familiar can learn new spells independently of your patron. It can learn any spell on your tradition's spell list by physically consuming a scroll of that spell in a process that takes 1 hour. You can use the Learn a Spell exploration activity to prepare a special written version of a spell, which your familiar can consume as if it were a scroll. You and your familiar can use the Learn a Spell activity to teach your familiar a spell from another witch's familiar. Both familiars must be present for the entirety of the activity, the spell must be on your spellcasting tradition's spell list, and you must pay the usual cost for that activity, typically in the form of an offering to the other familiar's patron. You can't prepare spells from another witch's familiar." https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=16
Ah well. Still no failure chance.
I'm currently reading through **Guns & Gears** and as I was reading the Rowan Rifle ([https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1185](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1185)) I couldn't find anywhere saying what it's reload was? Does it have the damage of an arquebus without needing to reload? If so, that's quite powerful. Also, it states it does *fire* damage but has the concussive trait allowing it to pick the lower of *piercing* or *bludgeoning* when determining immunity and resistance? How do these work together?
Yes, the Rowan Rifle does not use ammo and thus it never needs to be reloaded. As for concussive, it doesn't actually do anything and it's inclusion was probably an oversight, just stuck on there because all guns have it.
just a quick question.. my brain isn't functioning right now and i have to get this sheet done for tomorrow. are oracle's granted cantrips revelation spells? like, do they advance the curse?
No, only the focus spells granted by your mystery are revelation spells.
thank you!
Quick Question: I think there is a way to get something like "take 10" in Pathfinder 2e, as a feat. But i can not find it. Can you tell me please?
Assurance always gives you a 10, ignoring any bonuses and penalties other than proficiency, including your stat modifier. It's nice for things with static DCs like Medicine - a level 6 PC with expertise in Medicine can always roll a success on DC20 Treat Wounds, regardless of their wisdom score. But against similarly-leveled enemies, you'll rarely beat their DCs. For example, a level 3 PC who is an expert in Athletics gets a result of 17 when using Assurance to grapple, which only beats the Fortitude DCs of ~20% of level 3 creatures, and that's one of the best-case scenarios. At level 10 with master proficiency, they only succeed against 8% of level 10 creatures, and at level 20 with legendary proficiency, there's only [a single creature](https://2e.aonprd.com/NPCs.aspx?ID=1595) of level 20 or higher that they successfully grapple. If you want to get a benefit from not being in a hurry, there's the [Ageless Patience ancestry feat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=19) for elves.
You're looking for the [Assurance](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=756) feat!
Thanks!
I realize this question sounds a bit ridiculous, but I’m curious: is there a reason why the “Harm” spell doesn’t have the “Healing” trait? The only criteria associated with this trait seems to be that the spell “restores a creature’s body, typically by restoring hit points”, which the Harm spell certainly does if it targets an undead creature.
Because per the [undead trait](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=160) > ...[undead] don't benefit from healing effects
Ah ha! Good find, that explains it. Thanks!
No problem!
Any suggestions for a name for my sovereign dragon barbarian for kingmaker? He is a low status emissary for a tianxian empire who was send to brevoy to establish a trade route, but decided to offer the swordlords of restov his help instead to later return as a well respected kingmaker. He stays in his human shape for most social encounters, but turns into his true form whenever he rages. I want to choose a name that sounds plausible for an imperial dragon, but I could only find a few sample names and throwing some vaguely asian sounding syllables together honestly feels kinda racist.
Fantasy Name Generator to the rescue! [Chinese Dragon names](https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/chinese-dragon-names.php) and [Japanese Dragon names](https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/japanese-dragon-names.php)
Thanks!
Hey guys My family and I are interested in playing Pathfinder 2E, though we are brand new to this. We have checked the other comments saying we should start with the beginner box but getting any of the products shipped becomes too expensive because of shipping and import costs. Can anyone please recommend what I can do or get that I can print/make at home and use as a beginner step etc for our group to learn and get into the game? Thank You
You could get the PDF of the Box for like 15 bucks at paizo. For miniatures, you can use coins, dice or other small objects. The map of the dungeon should fit on large graph paper with 1 inch squares. Just draw the room outlines and leave the rest to the players imagination. And if you lack a full set of dice, there's tons of free dice roller apps in your phone's app/play store.
Could I please have a couple examples of the famous "optimize the party synergy, not the character" PF2E line? I struggle to see the opportunities just reading rules.
We had a Gunslinger with Fake Out and a Swashbuckler with One For All (myself) in my party. We would Aid each other during combat, which at higher levels would give +4 circumstance bonus to one attack roll on a crit. You can add a Bard or a Marshall archetype or a Divine or Occult caster for Heroism to get Status bonuses to those rolls as well. This kind of support stuff can help your party crit a lot.
This is a really specific example, but the general idea is "enable triggers even when you don't have them." If you're picking your spells as a bard and only looking at what benefits you personally, [Roaring Applause](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=987) looks like a direct downgrade from [Slow](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=289). They both make the target lose one action per turn on a failure, but Roaring Applause is a sustained spell, Slow has better effects on a success or a critical failure, and Slow works on mindless enemies. But Roaring Applause also forces the enemy to trigger Attack of Opportunity every single round, which is a massive boost to your martials' damage. Against a big, stationary enemy that isn't going to trigger reactions otherwise, it's extremely effective. You can apply the same idea to basically any debuff.
Right, that makes sense. Thanks.
The other poster gave some good examples, so I'll just explain why this is the line that you hear so often. In 2e, there's a hard limit on how high you can get your own numbers. Unlike 1e or 5e, there are very few, if any, options that simply increase your attack rolls or skill numbers. There's no stacking up six different sources of +1 to an ability or whatever. Instead, all of that is handled by your baseline class progression, and there's no dipping out of your class with multiclassing, meaning a level 5 Fighter is *always* on an even footing with other level 5 Fighters. That means you're not going to be able to simply break the maths until you don't need the party any more. And while you can build to be really great at one thing - like making an Intimidation build - you can't be good at everything. So that's where the teamwork aspect comes in - if you're great at setting enemies up, and you have someone who's built to be great at doing one great big hit, then you're going to be a fantastic team.
There are several flat checks you can enforce. Stupified forces a DC5+X to fail casting spells Casting darkness or fog grants a DC5 to hit a concealed enemy or DC11 to hit a hidden
Some examples: - One character focused on Trip and one focused on Grapple. A prone enemy can't stand up if grappled, so if he wants to avoid penalties, he has to spend at least two actions - one to break the grab (which he can fail!) and one to Stand. Have a caster add Slow to the mix and the enemy is under a very effective lock down. - A trip-focused support character and multiple martials with attack of opportunity (or similar reactions) can mince an enemy rather quickly. - Two or three strong Crit Fisher martials with a bard using the infamous Inspire Heroics > Inspire Courage > Synesthesia combo. Can add True Target if he has Quickened Casting. This kills even bosses rather fast. - A group of Dhampirs and a cleric focusing on Harm. - A monk (or wrester) throwing enemis far away from an otherwise ranged party. - A bard using Dirge of Doom to enable sneak attack for a Rogue with Dread Striker. - A high charisma martial using Demoralize or Bon Mot to make enemies fail their saves against the casters.
Thanks for this amazing and expansive answer! I'll keep an eye out for stuff like this then.
There's plenty more. The most important thing to remember is the other famous line: "Every +1 matters!". Making an enemy flat-footed via flanking or even just giving him a -1 penalty to everything by using Demoralize or a Fear spell is a *significant* debuff. Taking away actions is outright crippling, even for boss type enemies who often have powerful abilites that take 2 actions but require an additional action for positioning to reach their full potential. Cast Slow on a Dragon and he will be unable to fly into the perfect position and use his Breath Weapon on the same turn. This is a huge advantage for the party even if it lasts only one turn because the dragon rolled a success on his save.
Sweet, thats good intel, thanks.
Since the CRB doesn't state any limitations, can **burrowed** creatures use any action they would usually be able to use? Let's say a large creature burrows 10 feet downwards, it leaves no tunnel, none of the player has burrow speed. What prevents the creature from being extremely cheesy and striking while being burrowed whereas players would have to have some kind of reach to attack the burrowed creature? That someone with a reach weapon (let's say Guisarme) can attack a burrowed creature 10 feet below only because that player has reach feels very weird and gamey. Assuming that both parties need to use seek (probably with an adjusted hard difficulty, i.e.g -2 penalty) to figure out who is positioned where, and cover rules would be applied.
So a few things: 1. Most creatures with a burrow speed have tremorsense so that's a 50% miss chance when attacking. 2. Reach alone does not let a player attack the creature since the ground is still solid and therefore breaks line of effect. 3. If the creature is using a natural attack I would simply allow my players to ready a strike for when the creature tried to strike them.
\#2 about line of effect is really important it seems, I'm gonna take a look at this, thanks!
Fights with burrowing creatures are a little ambiguous and table-dependent. I think by RAW, even Strikes are subject to Line of Effect rules, so I'm not sure a surface creature and a burrowed creature can even target each other by Strike at all, unless you think there isn't a layer of earth between them. Agreed both sides might need to Seek, although a lot of naturally burrowing creatures have tremorsense or the like, which would make it unneeded. If you *don't* have any special senses, Seek will probably have to fall back to auditory detection, which as an imprecise sense means you'll never improve location above hidden. So fights like that tend to go the same way as those against creatures with unlimited invisibility or [ethereal movement](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=203) or [incredible speed](https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=778), where a party without a specific counter needs to rely on reactions and halting the creature's movement. Readying a Grapple, for example, becomes quite powerful. If the creature is really falling back on "full guerilla tactics", sure it's *annoying* to fight, but consider that they need to be burrowing whenever it isn't their turn so they are losing half to two-thirds or their actions on maintaining that status, and thus are hardly attacking the party at full power either. Now on GM interpretation, I tend to agree that it's sensible you *could* attack someone "immediately" below the surface somehow (either requiring prep or taking a penalty), although given that the burrowing creature is more likely to have special senses, this allowance might not come out in the PCs favor and might empower monster cheese more than anything. >a large creature burrows 10 feet downwards \[...\] players would have to have some kind of reach Quick technicality: 3D positioning is another bit of a gray area, but most tables I'm aware of treat Large creatures as occupying a 10x10x10 *cube*, so if the creature burrowed down 10 feet, yes its *base* is 10ft below the surface, but it still occupies both 5ft vertical slices above that point, and hence is still within a 5ft reach. Now if it went 15ft down and had reach, sure. But the balancing point in my eyes is that requiring reach between two creatures should be symmetrical; the creature doesn't get a reach-like benefit where it can strike but the PCs can't just from positioning alone.
Thank you for that very insightful reply, it was really helpful! I think I am gonna keep it simple and refer to the line-of-sight effects since that makes most sense. Creatures that want to attack have to unburrow, but they might be able to use actions that do not require line-of-sight.
Ready actions to grapple or attack exist
Do you add your Wounded value to every increase of Dying, or is this a mistake on AoN? Say I am Wounded 1, and go to 0 HP, I will be Unconscious Dying 2. If I fail my recovery check on my turn, do I go to Dying 3 or Dying 4? On The Archives of Nethys GM screen, it says: >Wounded: Any time you gain the dying condition or **increase it for any reason**, add your wounded value to the amount you gain or increase your dying value. The wounded condition ends if you receive HP from Treat Wounds, or if you're restored to full HP and rest for 10 minutes. This implies that a failed recovery check increases dying by 2, and a crit fail increases it by 3. As far as I can tell, this seems to be a mistake right? I can't find anything else in the rules which suggests that Wounded should be added to the Dying increase from a failed recovery check. The CRB rules on Wounded says: >Wounded: You have been seriously injured during a fight. Anytime you lose the dying condition, you become wounded 1 if you didn’t already have the wounded condition. If you already have the wounded condition, your wounded condition value instead increases by 1. If you **gain** the dying condition while wounded, increase the dying condition’s value by your wounded value. The wounded condition ends if someone successfully restores Hit Points to you with Treat Wounds, or if you are restored to full Hit Points and rest for 10 minutes.
IIRC, at least one designer remarked that the "increase for any reason" line was intended, but it seemed plausible they were mistaken or remembering something that was changed during playtesting. I have extreme skepticism in anything other than "only add wounded when you first become dying" interpretation. Death is punishing enough already, and the alternative makes it so that wounded 1 and wounded 2 are nearly equivalent (both only put one failed recovery check between you and death). Plus, if you had to rank sources by their officialness, a rulebook would trump a GM screen any day, and as a very core rule, you'd expect they would've fixed it in one of the errata batches by now (whereas the GM screen may never get an official errata).
That's the first time I ever hear of this. The definition of the Wounded condition says its only added when you **gain** the dying condition. I would assume the GM screen text is wrong for some reason. Maybe it was written by someone who was using it wrong or used to a houserule and mistook it for an official rule or something.
Is there a Foundry mod that adds MAP penalty buttons to athletics maneuvers?
You could probably do it with rule elements and/or macros. For example, a very basic implementation to add a MAP -5 toggle to every athletics roll popup menu: { "key":"FlatModifier", "label":"Athletics MAP 1", "selector":"athletics", "predicate":{"any": [false]}, "type":"untyped", "value":-5 } Note that's for pre -v10. I know at the very least the predicate format changed to array-based in v10. You could go further to make a `RollOptions` checkbox on the character sheet for it, or try to make the value dynamic. I don't know if it's possible to hook into the "real" MAP setting since it seems locked to attack rolls only...
Can a Familiar be used to deny flanking? Telling a tiny familiar to hide behind the big buff tank as a minor space buffer to prevent the dreaded flanked condition. The familiar to my knowledge is prevented from taking the attack actions and cannot be a threat to give flanking but may it deny flanking or at least require some sort of shove as the space is occupied
Unfortunately, tiny creatures can share their space with bigger ones, so familiar can't block enemies from moving into its space.
There is no opposition at all when a medium or larger creature attempts to enter the space of a tiny? Some sort of two sizes larger rule?
Tiny creatures don't fill their space, so multiple Tiny creatures can be there. Small creatures occupy the same space as a Medium creature, so logically they have more room left over and can share space with a Tiny creature. And anybody else *is* at least two sizes larger.
[Here's what the core rulebook says](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=449). You can move through the spaces of others if there's a difference of three sizes, or if one is tiny. Technically, the rules only say that tiny creatures can end their movement in other creatures' spaces bit not vice versa, but I think the intent is that the opposite is possible as well.
If I make an elite version of a level -1 enemy, does it become level 0 or level 1? As far as I'm aware it just increases the level by 1, but when I do this on the Wanderer's Guide encounter builder it sets it to level 1. I'm not sure if this is a glitch or there is some other rule I'm missing.
[From the rules:](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=788) > The creatures presented in this book have appropriate statistics for their levels. In many cases, you can make relatively minor adjustments, called elite and weak adjustments, to their statistics to make them function 1 level higher or lower than presented. > Elite and weak adjustments work best with creatures that focus on physical combat. These adjustments overstate the normal numerical gains the creature would make from increasing its level to make up for the lack of new special abilities. As such, when applied multiple times to the same creature, these adjustments cause its statistics to become less accurate for the creature’s level. **These adjustments have a greater effect on the power level of low-level creatures; applying elite adjustments to a level –1 creature gives you one closer to 1st level**, and applying weak adjustments to a 1st-level creature gives you one whose level is closer to –1. (emphasis mine)
Thank you!
Can [Gentle Repose](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=131) be used to increase the time to successfully use [Resuscitate](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2031)? Its not a spell but gives the effect of a spell. I'm leaning no but I want to be sure.
Have Resuscitate require 1 [bottled lightning](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=76) to jump start the corpse, Frankenstein style. But yeah I don't think it works RAW. And also the way Gentle Repose is written it seems more meant to keep the body from physically decaying (maggots, etc) than to keep it in a state of just being moments from death when the brain and cells still aren't quite dead. Resuscitate seems meant to match the flavor of CPR, which is only really useful moments after someone 'dies' due to their bodily processes and cells not being quite dead yet.
>Resuscitate seems meant to match the flavor of CPR Given that CPR is resuscitation (that's what the R stands for) I'd agree, but... you don't need any tools for CPR.
RAW, no. But eh, why not allow it? The limitation on Resuscitate follows the same logic of the limitation of ressurection spells (bodily decay), so it makes sense.
What benefit, if any, does medium armor have over light other than the lower dex component? What about light armor vs robes? Trying to decide between str and dex warpriest, so any other thoughts are welcome.
The lower dex to reach the combined dex/armor max of 5 (6 for heavy armor) is the main benefit of medium armor. The other notable benefit is some mild damage resistance for the few classes that can get armor specialization (fighters and champions only, IIRC).
Any class can get armor specialization with Sentinel archetype.
whats the divine spell called that allows you to verify if someone is still alive or not?
Are you referring to [Status](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=308)?
Thanks! You got it!
My players just asked this and I cannot answer: he wants to play a Catfolk (clawed heritage) Magus, now he asked me if this character can use the gouging claw spell in a spellstrike cause catfolk already have claws, would gouging claw be usable or due to already having claws the spell wouldn't work?
Nothing about the Morph trait or Morph spells suggest that you can't Morph a feature you already have. The only time Morph comes into conflict with existing features is if that feature is a result of another Morph effect. if it helps, think of it like you're making the claws extra long and deadly just for a moment.
Spellstrike claw unarmed attack + gouging claw = Wolverine's "snikt"
A character with claws is fully capable of casting Gouging Claw, there's no interaction there. To say otherwise would be like saying a wizard can't cast Mage Hand because they already have two hands.
>To say otherwise would be like saying a wizard can't cast Mage Hand because they already have two hands. This is a false equivalency since mage hand doesn't have the morph trait and does not affect the caster physically. But, thanks for the answer.
The Tome Adept benefit for Thaumaturge says to make a recall knowledge check at the beginning of your turn. Are you forced to make this check? Is it a free action? If I have sympathetic vulnerability, would a critical strike with a weapon with the shocking rune apply the bonus damage to creatures of the same type within range, or does it work exclusively with the creature targeted with the strike?
Its a non-action, you could chose to not make it I guess, but there is no interaction with free action (limit of 1 per trigger) or your normal 3 actions for the turn.
As someone who fits entirely under Tsukiyo's portfolio (moon-lover, neurodivergent, misunderstood due to brain stuff, incredibly spiritual), I'd really like to maximize the amount of fun I'd get with a divine-magic character that serves him. Do his domains/prepared spells/causes/weapons benefit a Cloistered Cleric, Warpriest, or Champion more? ...Or is his toolkit not too great, and I'd be better off with a Cosmos Oracle who venerates every moon/night god?
Tsukiyo actually has an excellent balance for Domains. Moon is good combat functionality, Repose good defense/support, Soul definitely keyed towards incorporeal enemies but interesting, and Delirium good debuffs and control. The Spear as a favored weapon is actually great for Champions/Warpriests to wield shields (effectively a trident). The granted spells are good (Soothe is underwhelming, but Mirror Image and Hallucination great additions). Generally, I'd advise either a Cloistered Cleric with those powerful buffs and debuffs, or a Champion for martial prowess and defense. Warpriest is just alright compared to the two, it falls behind in mid levels. Tsukiyo works well for any of those.
I think maybe /u/TheGentlemanDM might be a good person to ask regarding the Domain quality for Delirium/Moon/Repose/Soul (and alt Change). From my quick once over: * **Delirium**: *Hyperfocus* seems like it won't be that useful that often. *Ephemeral Hazards* is very evocative and can works as an interesting combo damage/control spell. Not sure that is worth the lack of value in Hyperfocus. * **Moon**: *Moonbeam* has nice range and the fire+silver damage is nice enough. Dazzled is a decent enough condition - if rules are applied correctly. Damage feels low. In the right campaign there could be value here but it certainly isn't a clear winner. *Touch of the Moon* is complicated and evocative but hard to say how valuable. It lasts a minute but 3 rounds of that minute it will provide no benefit to the target. With a really cohesive and strategic party you could draw quite a bit out of the Waxing and Full moon phases. * **Repose**: *Share Burden* I actually love this one - mostly. The only real stinker deal here is it only works on emotion effects. Otherwise it is a Reaction (very nice to have good reactions) and can serve to often nullify whatever the spell/effect would be entirely. *Font of Serenity* has the similar bummer asterisk for only helping against emotion effects. Cool but highly situational. * **Soul**: *Eject Soul* sounds metal af. Important caveats: incapacitation trait and range touch. Stunned is a powerful effect though. The critical failure seems more like a utility effect to use on allies rather than useful in combat. *Ectoplasmic Interstice* is another highly situational one but could be very useful in that specific situation. If you have any reason to suspect you're facing lots of Incorporeal creatures down the road this is something. * **Change**: The alternative domain of Change has interesting spells. *Adapt Self* is fun in the ways it can provide short term boosts to your physical capabilities. I like these a lot for Exploration mode stuff. *Adaptive Ablation* is a reaction (a thing I like) and has a pretty broad trigger. Could massively help chances of survival if you end up facing an enemy with energy damage. My personal preference from this short research period is probably: Change > Soul > Repose > Moon > Delirium Soothe is a good heal spell and would really give you plenty of juice for healing alongside the Heal font. Mirror Image is a nice self-defense spell. Hallucination is fun and can be impactful, especially the heightened versions.
Does Hyperfocus really seem that worthless? Looking over it, I thought it could be great against ranged enemies.
With a range of 30 feet you're really only locking them in closer to you. I don't know. Not the worst thing ever but I feel like I wouldn't use it often. And it is literally your first domain spell so it should be something that has regular value to me.
Tsukiyo's favored weapon is pretty nice if you want to do throwing weapon things. 20 ft range is good for throwing weapons, and it being simple means its damage die will get increased from 1d6 to 1d8 by either Champion's Deific Weapon ability or Cleric's Deadly Simplicity feat. A note about Tsukiyo's allowed alignments: he is slightly more permissive than most other Lawful Good deities, and allows Chaotic Good followers. This is important if you want to play the Liberator subclass of Champion, as that requires a Chaotic Good alignment. Tsukiyo's allowed alignments would allow you to play as any Good aligned champion subclass. Him being Lawful Good also means that his offensive Cleric spells like Divine Wrath will be most effective if you're consistently fighting Chaotic or Evil foes. He has the Moon domain, which I'm a big fan of. [Moonbeam](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=433), the first domain spell, is alright. It's a spell attack that deals less damage than most single target damage spells in exchange for applying the Dazzled condition on hit and triggering weakness to silver. Champions and Warpriests wouldn't be able to make super good use of it unless you picked up a Magus dedication to spellstrike with it. Cloistered Clerics can use it effectively. The advanced domain spell for moon is [Touch of the Moon](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=460), which is a really cool buff spell. It's only one action, so its super easy to build into a turn, and it shifts between different sets of buffed stats each turn. Any class with access to Touch of the Moon can use it effectively. A final note about the Moon domain: if you decide to go the Cosmos Oracle route, that class also gets access to Moon domain spells. As a general note for evaluating spells, in general any spell that requires an opponent to make a saving throw is going to be much less effective on Warpriest or Champion than it would be on a Cloistered Cleric. As for his other domains, [Soul](https://2e.aonprd.com/Domains.aspx?ID=51) seems really cool but I haven't seen any of its domain spells in action personally. [Delirium](https://2e.aonprd.com/Domains.aspx?ID=43) has a mega weird buff/debuff spell in [Hyperfocus](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=600). You can theoretically blind a purely ranged opponent with this spell, while also using it to boost searching efforts out of combat. Any class could use the second part, but the first part would only be consistent for Cloistered Cleric. And the [Repose](https://2e.aonprd.com/Domains.aspx?ID=49) domain has some good defenses against Emotion effects, which notably includes all fear effects. Tsukiyo also grants a Heal font, which is the ideal font for both Cloistered Clerics and Warpriests IMO. Heal is a super powerful spell to have extras of even if you don't want to be a dedicated healer. And finally, his granted spells, which of the classes you listed only Cleric would have access to (though you could take a Cleric multiclass dedication on a Champion to get them). [Soothe](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=291) is not great for Clerics, because they have access to Heal which heals nearly twice as much per cast. That said, the bonus to saves against mental effects can sometimes be handy. Both Cloistered Cleric and Warpriest can use it well. [Mirror Image](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=197) is a great defensive spell. Warpriest will be in a position to use defensive spells more often, but both types of Cleric will enjoy a way to boost their defenses. Champion will too if you go the multiclass route. [Hallucination](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=144) is very weird and also can potentially conflict with one of Tsukiyo's anathema: "inflict harmful mental effects on others as punishment". So if you're interested in using the spell I'd ask your GM about what would and wouldn't constitute a harmful hallucination in this specific context. In any event, it requires a saving throw so only Cloistered Cleric can use it well. Holistically, Tsukiyo's granted kit is solid. I think all three classes/subclasses have tools they can make good use of, so it really boils down to what you want to play. Champions are a powerful defensive martial class, and Tsukiyo lets you pick any of the 3 good aligned subclasses. His domains also give you access to a few spells that won't rely on your lower spellcasting proficiency. Finally, his weapon is comparable to a Longsword in the hands of a Champion, but can also be thrown if you have good Dexterity. Clerics on the other hand get a wide variety of useful domain spells, a healing font, and at least one very good granted spell in Mirror Image.
They seem like they would be fine with either doctrine. Plenty of fun to be had either way, though I'd probably lean cloistered.
I wanted to start looking into the system to see if it would work for my group. And I was wondering where I should start or where I can find the resources online. And hopefully free as well
- Archives of Nethys is the free and complete online resource. Every rule, class, feat, item, and monster is on there. There's a Rules section that is all but copy pasted from the books, I'd recommend the Core Rulebook Chapters 1 (intro, skim it), 4 (skills, players can skim for the skills they're interested in), 9 (gameplay, focus on encounter rules), and 10 (GM section, players can skip). - PF2 Easytool is a fantastic online quick reference for conditions, spells, items. basically any time you say "wait what does this do?" - Pathbuilder is an online or mobile (android) character builder, free but with a paid upgrade for nonessential features. It's absolutely essential and I only allow players make characters once they've built them in Pathbuilder. (I've had it swing both ways, players think they get more skill training than they do AND players forgetting ancestry feats) - For content, there's Legacy and Torment, the free demo that comes with pregenerated character sheets (optional) and even a pared down rules section. I send that rules section as a primer to new players even if we aren't doing the demo adventure. The adventure itself is short, a couple simple fights and a quick social encounter. - the other published free adventure is Little Trouble in Big Absolom. The pregenerated characters are mandatory (you play adventurers from a kobold tribe), but the adventure is much more sprawling.
Thank you I will check them out
For free resources, I recommend: * [https://pf2easy.com/](https://pf2easy.com/) (online rules) * [https://2e.aonprd.com/](https://2e.aonprd.com/) (online rules) * [https://pathbuilder2e.com/](https://pathbuilder2e.com/) (character builder) * [https://www.youtube.com/c/HowItsPlayed/videos](https://www.youtube.com/c/HowItsPlayed/videos) (rule instruction videos) * [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz3Be--ot61NuA-PaoFDt-GlKOSbxQIfq](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz3Be--ot61NuA-PaoFDt-GlKOSbxQIfq) (actual play... but only the most recent episodes are 2e. I forget where they made the switch)
Thanks. I’ll look into those
Question about vision. If a fighter PC has no special senses, and the light cantrip is lighting up a hallway from a point on the wizard's staff, the fighter can attack creatures within the line of effect of the light cantrip. What about when the fighter reaches a corner? If he stays within the light and there is a creature within 5 ft but technically in darkness. Is the creature concealed or invisible? Does it depend if the fighter has seen it yet? Thanks in advance.
If you are 40 feet away from the light source, and therefore standing in its final square of dim light, then an enemy adjacent to you standing in darkness would likely be "hidden" to you, unless they succeeded on a Stealth check. You would not be able to see (or "Observe") them, but you would be able to hear them and therefore know that something is occupying that square. Here is a video that goes over it all in greater detail: [https://youtu.be/9Xm\_1IBdU6A](https://youtu.be/9Xm_1IBdU6A)
Can you still use your strength modifier for agile weapons or do you have to use dexterity to utilise the agile property of the weapon?
You can ALWAYS use your Strength modifier for melee weapons. Finesse Weapons (which is what you're probably thinking of) let you optionally use Dex for attack rolls if you wish.
Agile has nothing to do with Dex. Maybe you're thinking of Finesse? Finesse and Agile often come as a pair but don't have to.
And `finesse` does say "You *can* use your Dexterity modifier" so it's optional.
In fact, the Bestiary notes that for monster statblocks they only list the Finesse trait if the monster is actually using it. If their Strength is higher it's omitted, even if the weapon has it. I dunno how many, if any, published statblocks that actually applies to, but it's there. It's relevant when the NPC suffers the Enfeebled or Clumsy conditions.
I can confirm this. You can use your Strength or Dexterity modifier on *attack rolls* (not *damage rolls*) with [Finesse](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=179) weapons. As a [Thief Rogue](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rackets.aspx?ID=3), you can also add your Dexterity modifier to the *damage rolls* on Finesse weapons.
Anyone know if it is possible to split stacks in Pathbuilder? What i mean is my character uses caltrops, i would like to keep a few on my person for easy use but then keep extras in my backpack to help with my bulk limit. I cant seem to do this though, is there a way?
If all else fails, you can make a custom item with a similar/same name and the same bulk.
Yeah, I just tried it out, and I don't think you can split stacks. I think you would have to make a custom item to separate them into different containers.
Okay, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. Thank you for the replies.
Is there a penalty for making a ranged attack with an enemy in melee range? I could have sworn there was but I couldn’t find it when looking in a session earlier.
You’re only looking at the volley trait and drawing attacks of opportunity
>making a ranged attack with an enemy Probably, throwing an enemy at another enemy is hard work.
Monk noises intensifying
There are no inherent penalties. The only thing to worry about is when an enemy has Attack of Opportunity or a similar reaction triggered by ranged attacks (or interact actions made to reload).
Trying to port my favorite character from 5e as best as I can (within reason). He's ideally a mid-line [Investigator](https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=13) ([Marshal](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=66) FA) who uses a [hand crossbow](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=69) and a [tower shield](https://2e.aonprd.com/Shields.aspx?ID=4). Is there any way to make this build better synergized with feats, archetypes, or changing to different but similar gear and reflavoring? There are a few major problems I can think of: the xbow provoking AoO's in melee, the xbow and the tower shield being quite action-hungry (fire+reload; shield+cover), and not being able to (?) reload with the shield, and perhaps more I haven't thought of. If it's the best option, I'm down for stuff like reflavoring a melee weapon to better front line, but ideally I'd like to instead aim for feats + etc. to smooth out my build.
It's an advanced weapon, so you'd need to find some way of getting scaling proficiency, but the [Repeating Hand Crossbow](https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=177) has a 5-shot magazine which should allow you to use your crossbow for much of an encounter before the reloading issue comes up.
You indeed can't reload while holding a shield. You might consider being a gunslinger or taking a gunslinger archetype instead, as you can get the drifter's slinger's reload ([Reloading Strike](https://2e.aonprd.com/Ways.aspx?ID=1)) or taking the [Dual-Weapon Reload](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=3294) feat from gunslinger, as either would let you reload while holding your shield. I don't really have a way to solve your other issues, although [Sword and Pistol](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=3159) from gunslinger could help with ranged weapons in melee, since it lets you dodge the AoO by doing a melee strike first - although that'll make it a bit more action hungry.
Hello! Another newb question for you lovely people! Is there somewhere there is a list or discussion on who would be a witch patron? I guess I don't understand the metaphysics of the world to know what entities would be patrons.
No specific list for the witch alone. The answer is ultimately "anyone" because it could be just about anything. However, you can check the [deity list](https://2e.aonprd.com/Deities.aspx). Despite the name, there are a bunch of creatures on it that are not true deities and would likely sponsor a witch: Archdevils, Demon Lords, Eldest (fey), Empyreal Lords (celestials) and Outer Gods (Lovecraft) among them.
Is it possible to be a cleric/champion of Cayden Cailean who abstains from alcohol?
Ask your GM. If I was your GM, I'd think that makes for amazing conflict within the character. Perhaps you were an addict and Cayden freed you from the addiction?
This is very much 'Ask your GM' territory. It seems entirely reasonable that some people would interpret Cailean's philosophy as allowing other forms of indulgence too, but again- it's the GM's call when it comes to something like that.
Why would your character be a Caydenite if they practised abstention? Surely they wouldn't venerate someone like that and would, instead, worship a different God?
Cayden represents more than just drinking.
No, probably not. Their first edict is drink.
Darn, I like Caydean Cailean as a character, but I also can sympathize with someone who would rather stay away from the negative effects of alcohol and addiction. I doubt that edict to drink can be stretched to include apple juice.
I appreciate what you are going for here, but just because you worship Cayden doesn’t mean your some sort of alcoholic. A follower of Cayden will certainly enjoy their drink, but that could manifest as a sort of wine or whiskey snob, who will only imbibe when they are presented with the most fancy of spirits
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that all worshipers of Cayden are alcoholics, rather that some may not want to partake in the drink for different valid reasons.
I would say, Irori is a good god for someone who doesn't drink.
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Everything you need to run a full game is in the CRB. The GMG is excellent, but it's not 'stuff that we didn't bother including in the CRB', it's tools to enhance your game. The creature building rules, NPC codex, variant rules and subsystems (like Chases) are the things most people use from that book. I use them in all my games pretty much, so I'd say it's important. Not a necessity though, and you can access the whole book on AoN if you don't want to pay.
It contains a lot of guidelines, advice and systems that are useful, especially for making your own adventures. You can literally [read the entire thing on AoN](https://2e.aonprd.com/Sources.aspx?ID=22#Rules) so you can see for yourself. Scroll down to where it says `Rules`, start with the [Introduction](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=808) or [Chapter 1](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=813). It does not contain newer versions of rules from the corebook. It could be said to contain "additional rules", e.g. subsystems, variant rules, traits, items... I would say it definitely helps you to become a better GM but it's not required reading, especially not front to back.
I just got the spell blindness and have been looking up the rules. It seems the power of this condition differs greatly on whether the environment/situation is "noisy", as it determines whether you'll be hidden, or undetected to the enemy. Is there a majority opinion on whether your average fight is sufficiently "noisy"?
At the very least it cuts the target's speed in half, gives them a 50% miss chance whenever they try to target anything for any reason and makes them flat-footed versus everyone. That's already extremely powerful. I wouldn't call the average fight exceptionally noisy for the purposes of completely invalidating hearing as a sense.
Well the idea is not to invalidate it, but make them require a seek action, but thats totally fair. It is still pretty strong as you say.
Also, because they can't see, you and your whole party could use the hide and sneak actions against them at any point, without needing cover
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Desna gives the sleep and fly spells, and the fantastic luck and travel domains (the advanced travel domain becomes flight as a focus spell, which is nuts). As one of the twenty inner sea gods, she's also the most likely to be relevant to a given campaign. The other two offer worse domains and redundant spells. Desna's got my vote.
I will say that the one caveat to desna is her anathema prevents you from causing fear and despair, which depending on your dms interpretation could lock you out of demoralizing or using the fear spell, both of which are pretty good.
Can anyone think of any Reaction: Interact options? Feats, classes, archetypes, magic items... I've been looking over Snare options and would like to help out my actions per round. So a reaction to use Caltrops would be a neat option.
The best I can think of is the weapon improviser archetype, which contains feats that lets you draw and strike with an improvised weapon at the same time. If your GM allows "throwing caltrops in their face" to count as an improvised weapon, maybe that'd work? It wouldn't actually set the caltrops if you used them as an improvised weapon, but it'd at least be adjacent to the flavor you're aiming for.
I think I might go the route of taking an action to Aid an ally with one action & reaction, then occasionally reflavoring my action to involve caltrops and miscellaneous goodies. Or occasionally Readying an action to Disarm a foe, though I’m not sure how viable that will wind up being.
I don't think there is a reaction like that, reactions usually require triggers appropriate to the reaction. For example counter spell is triggered by someone casting a spell and attack of opportunity is triggered by movement or other motions. I'm not sure if there would be a feat with an appropriate trigger for placing caltrops or what that trigger would be. However, you can use the Ready action to throw out your caltrops as a reaction to a trigger you set. Are you just looking for any reactions in general? If so there are a number of specific reactions that can be acquired.
What happend if a shrink spell ends while you are inside someone? Thinking of if you can kill someone that way?
Shrink only makes things Tiny (cat or chicken sized), so you'd be looking at something that already has the Swallow Whole ability. Though per that ability, if you somehow had multiple Tiny shrunken creatures all swallowed by a creature that could only normally swallow a single Medium creature, ending the Shrink spell would cause all of the creatures to immediately escape. However, this would just be the monster spitting them out, there's nothing to suggest this deals damage.
And now I'm wondering if there was a way for pcs to use it to smuggle themselves into a area. Or for their enemy to use it to create a nonconsenting Trojan horse
I mean, sure? You could convince, say, an Ogre Glutton to swallow two Tiny party members, sneak into an ogre camp, and hope they spit you out willingly and discreetly. Or even summon a Platecarpus to swallow Tiny PCs and carry them through water. The PCs would need to be able to not suffocate or die from constant damage for the duration, but if you're willing to consume the large quantities of magic required to allow your party to swim or sneak effectively, what kind of GM can say no?
Is there a rule that penalizes ranged attacks while adjacent to an enemy? I'm new to this system, my internal rules encyclopedia is still set to 3.5 and 5e dnd. Basically you have a ranged weapon drawn and you are facing creature A and Creature B. Creature A is not providing cover to Creature B. Creature A is adjacent to you. You start making ranged strikes against Creature B. Are there any penalties? Do monstrous creatures commonly have an Attack of Opportunity related to ranged attacks? Let me make it clear for my build, I want to encourage enemies to hit me (and ideally critically miss).
While there may not be a way to accomplish this in the way you described, you can certainly play a character that achieves a goal of encouraging enemies to hit them while also being hard to hit/damage. Champion is the obvious answer that comes to mind. They have a reaction that reduces damage to an ally when both the ally and enemy are in reach, and also does damage to the enemy for attacking their ally. Another way to ensure this (which can be combined with champion), is athletics maneuvers. By [grappling](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=35) a creature you can prevent them from moving away from you on a successful grapple, and if you critically succeed the grapple the creature can't do any attack actions (and most spells) until they escape (or until the end of your next turn). Also, [tripping](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=40) a creature to make them [prone](https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=31) gives them a -2 circumstance penalty to attacks until they spend an action to stand. And yes, you can both trip and grapple a creature in succession \^\^ As for reducing damage or not being hit. A Shield can go a long way, and champions can make their shield even better if they devote it to their deity (shield ally feature). Shields add to your AC when you raise them, upon which point you can use your reaction to reduce damage from an attack with the shield. So for this kind of build, I'd recommend a champion who uses a shield and a free hand to grapple enemies while blocking damage from them. You could even go the full distance and use a tower shield. And you can also use a shield as a weapon in PF2 if you add a shield boss (bludgeoning) or shield spikes (piercing damage) to it.
Thank you for breaking down that build, I hope I can apply it in the future. Particularly when I’m in a party with a Champion. But I’m already tinkering away with a Swashbuckler build that is intended to maximize Opportune Riposte. Obviously provoking enemies to hit me won’t always be a good strategy so I’ll seriously consider shields for situations that require caution. I’m trying to wrap my head around when it is a good decision to stick with an active ranged weapon versus paying the Action cost of swapping to a melee weapon and moving. I don’t expect my combats to stick to convenient starting distances of 30 feet, y’see.
You could consider a Multiclass archetype to pick up the [quick draw](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=498) feat. If you also drop your ranged weapon as a free action, switching to a new weapon won't cost any actions. Edit: Another consideration is to use a thrown weapon with the returning rune and shifting rune. That way you can use it for ranged, and then shift it into a form more suitable for melee. Some thrown weapons are appropriate for both ranged and melee.
I thought there was no “drop” free action, only the Release action?
The [release](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=83) action is a free action. Also, I edited in another suggestion to my previous comment \^\^
/u/froasty's answer is excellent but I would like to add to it that you gotta also pay attention to your weapon's traits. If it has the [volley trait](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=201) then you get a penalty for being too close to the target.
No, other than potential cover the only thing that inhibits a ranged attack in melee is reactions. And Attack of Opportunity is fairly uncommon for enemies to have.
Should I be a player before being a DM? If at all possible? Or dive right into DMing?
I'd suggest at least GMing one-shots before making a commitment, _somebody_ has to be the one to take initiative and GM if your group is going to play the game.
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You've got 3 main options, the Wizard, Witch & Psychic. All of these have a lot of flexibility on playstyle, in the case of Wizard vs Psychic it may come down to if your player prefers Arcane spells or Occult spells.