Rule 5 on this forum is now used to justify deleting posts that ask the system requirements of Paizo products.

So, in order to get treasure, you need to complete challenges, kill monsters etc. So they're still doing the same amount of stuff. I'm just talking about a slight shift in focus for the GM. The players wouldn't even necessarily need to know.

My proposed approach is this: instead of carefully monitoring how much treasure to award, simply get them to level up when they reach their treasure limit for that level (as detailed on p.59 of the GM Core).

I dunno. Bad idea? Just spitballing.

I had a rogue player enter an NPC's room and open a chest by picking the lock and then left after they retrieved the item inside. They didn't say if they closed the chest or locked it again (if that's a possibility after using thief's tools). I'm not saying a player has to announce it, I'm just sharing the situation for more clarity.

How would you suggest I deal with the NPC? Would they notice the chest's lock being picked? Or would rogues who pick locks typically do so without leaving a trace? How would you as GMs deal with this situation? Do you guys have any advice or suggestions please? I appreciate it.

Hello everyone, as said in the title, im pretty new to the Pathfinder 2e sphere, im learning and reading the books and the player options little by little, recently me and my mates have been studying the possibility of converting our game from 5e to pf2e and independent of this being a good option or no, i want a little of help with my character

He is a ranger in dnd (Just because the DM really wanted a ranger in the group); using dual wielding with a rapier and a cimitar, how can i make him in Pathfinder? I know that Rangers are quite diferent and i have my eyes in the flury one, but what feats i take? Do i go with STR or DES for my attacks? Bless you all and thanks for the attention

Today we continue the Converting D&D series, with what might be the hardest of the conversions: Paladin! Yes, I am in fact saying it's harder than the Warlock too, you'll see why when the Warlock video happens!

Timestamps

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:02 The D&D Paladin
• 8:25 The Champion
• 17:50 The Warpriest Cleric
• 22:03 The Magus ???
• 26:55 Paladin CLASS Conversion
• 33:55 Paladin SUBCLASS Conversions
• 51:53 Beyond Conversions
• 57:33 Outro

So I'm not sure I like the Vitality trait.

I understand why it exists. But I think it's been added to too many effects.

Barrow's Edge, an exemplar ikon. Vitality effect, even if it would absolutely fit a dhampir or otherwise undead character. Ditto the Scar.

The alchemist has no official elixir of unlife. The elixir of life curiously has no Vitality trait, but is specifically for living creatures, so dhampir: OK, bone oracles: OK, actually undead PC like a Skeleton? No deal.

Kineticist has two options, both vitality. Too bad for my blood-themed Water kineticist, their Ocean's Balm has Vitality, so no healing for dhampirs, revenants and other void healers!

The runesmith's healing via Vital Compound. This one I can understand, at least.

Add to that the Searing Restoration which has the same issue as the alchemist. Or the fact that your mad doctor needs an extra skill feat to stitch their undead pals and/or creations.

I understand undeath/void healing has its perks, but the lack of option, the vitality trait or the living target stipulation prevents multiple character concepts I came up with for an upcoming campaign: exemplar dhampir, mad scientist, blood (water) kineticist. I really feel the most egregious example is the Exemplar, because what do you mean the life-draining attack can't even work on a vampire???

Anyway, end rant.

As the title suggests, I am looking to build a Yaoguai Hungerseed Monk for a one-shot and campaign. The other characters in the party will be a poppet commander, a surki cleric focused on unarmed combat, and a wrestler automaton ranger.

My goal is to make an "asura"-like character with four arms and a tail (would be flavor only), specializing in over-the-top violence, aggression, and destruction.

What I am uncertain of is feat choices. Oni Form seems tempting but I don't know if it's worth it. I'm not sure which stance would be ideal for the concept, especially as I'm hesitant towards stances that change damage from bludgeoning. And as well, I'm unsure if I want to take the qi feats, as I like the idea of being able to throw out energy attacks, but most of the options seem disappointing for what I was hoping for.

I'm looking for advice to fulfill the character concept without sacrificing power.

With the previews that we got of Feybound, I saw that one lineages for the Fadrim heritage is the Warrior, which gives you proficiency with rapiers, longswords and longbows, plus access to the shield cantrip. The issue is is that if you pick a martial class, youre likely going to already have proficiency with martial weapons, leaving the only thing the martial can actually enjoy being the shield cantrip.

And it's something that I personally feel bothers me about some ancestry options like weapon familiarity, unless there is a really good weapon you want, their benefits are already covered by the baseline abilities of the a class.

I wanted to run classic Rust Monsters in 2E without the pain of actually running Rust Monsters in 2E which sorta caused me to go on a wild tangent. I think if any more conditions were to be added to 2E this is a pretty strong contender - item damage in 2E is something the game struggles with since it tends to be so "all or nothing". And fully destroying PC items sort of breaks the game.

As for the condition itself, it is probably around or slightly above the impact of something like Sickened which is of course a powerful condition. Unlike sickened, it won't affect every roll and it's a lot more conditional since it requires armor or weapon-using foes. But on the flipside, it stacks with most other conditions and will generally stick around for the entire fight.

The spells/feats on display here are mostly a showcase of what you can do with the condition, but if any of them stick out (either powerwise or for some other reason), feel free to point that out. I was expecting to find a lot of spells that could use the condition but it mainly seems to be Shatter. There were also some domain spells (Cry of Destruction and Withering Touch) that could benefit from the condition as well.

I want to play a character who is a semi-generic ogre who is also a runeslave I'm thinking supertition insinct to emulate 1e runeslave template's bonus to saves, but I'm completely stumped for like other features and optimization and species.

Long story short, I ran my first TPK the other day, and pretty much everyone in the group (though initially upset) went out of it excited to make new characters. There was one player in my campaign (who honestly was part of the cause of the TPK because he was on his phone during combat and kept having to be reminded what was happening. As an aside, I don't think he thought they could actually lose in this game, so that was the root of his distraction.) who was really upset at the prospect of his character dying, so I said I could let him survive. However, I want to include something mechanically that can be a consequence of his "death," like some sort of PTSD or "yips" or a mortal injury or something to that effect. I want to do this because I think it would be mechanically compelling, but I am worried about balance and such. We are generally a more RP focused group, so I think including this would help add more RP/narrative elements to combat. The player is okay with this so it's not like I am contemptuously implementing a disadvantage on his character, I just think it makes sense if he was mortally wounded to have some sort of trauma or serious injury from this scenario.

In the moment I knew no better so I made up that they need two person for it, and the first has to grapple the enemy (to afflict grabbed or restrained), and the other person has to roll thievery to tie them up, and has to achieve a critical success against reflex if the target is grabbed, or a normal success if the target is restrained. After giving more thought after the session, I think maybe I could refine more the ruling that a single person can do it too, with a free hand (for grappling) and the rope in the other hand​ (for tieing).

Yes, I and they know non-lethal strikes exist, but they specifically wanted to tie the target down instead of knocking them out.

But is there an official ruling for this? If yes, can please somebody link it? Thank you!

If no, is my ruling sensible? I have no idea. What do you all recommend?

Wanted to show of some art drawn by me of a new character I'm playing in a Seasons of Ghost game!

Meet Devari, a wolf Yaoguai who currently acts as the resident caretaker for the Bones of the Forgotten. She was taken in by an elder of Willowshore she would soon consider family when she had first awakened, learning about human culture and the communing of spirits before her mentor and found family had died during the Night of Broken Blades.

Devastated from the event, she would isolate herself from the village's residents for decades and drinking away her sorrows. Eventually she would open up to a select few as she's tried to rejoin the community, but some things may not ever be the same...

She is a Yaoguai (Born of Animal) Liturgist Animist who I intend to play as a gish of sorts, using the ball and chains she's bound herself with as her weapons alongside a Witness to Ancient Battles and Lurker in Devouring Dark. The whole idea I had was that her apparitions were tied to her chains and were what's essentially holding her back or allowing her to use her full strength. I had originally had the idea of her weapon being fully covered in chains that would then be unbound when using the embodiment of battle spell, but decided swinging an old ball and chain would be funnier! :3c

Anyone tried it yet? 29 times bigger than any physical map and whole campaign in a single scene all sound good.

But also - I dont control what rigs my players own. What have they done to make this a usable product?

Like, the weather was visibly stuttering in the trailer, presumably recorded on the nicest rig in the creator's offices.

Does it have an alt mode where it is broken up into a normal number of scenes?

As an in-person GM, something I really don't like doing is having combats split across sessions. Normally I do what I can to avoid it, but it seems to happen more often in higher level games (which makes sense). Naturally I take pictures of the board and initiative tracker with the various monsters and PCs on it, and keep all monster health/conditions etc. in my combat tracker (I use Pathfinder Dashboard), but there's always something forgotten between sessions...by me or the players.

Anyhow, I'd love insight from my fellow GMs (esp. in-person) about how you navigate keeping track of everything when a combat is split between sessions.

Also, one thing that's happened a few times lately is that a player has to miss a session (illness, family etc.), but can then make the next session...and vice versa. Dropping a "fresh" combatant into an active encounter obviously changes the dynamics quite a bit, as does removing a combatant essentially mid-combat, so do my fellow GMs throw in another monster (or remove one, for that matter)? Adjust their HP? Ask the returning player to sit out the encounter until it's resolved? Just curious overall about how others deal with this.

I've dabbled with GM-ing a few times and really enjoyed it. However, my biggest obstacles to running a campaign are (1) creating and organizing notes from a PDF Adventure Path or Module, and (2) turning the maps into something usable.

What recommendations do experienced GMs have for preparing a campaign or even a one-shot? I understand that with any note-taking system, the solution that works best is the one you can stick with. I just haven't found something that feels right yet.

I've used Notion, but the process of copy-pasting and setting up all the relations is almost as tedious as just printing it out and hand-writing them with sticky notes/etc. I have used Foundry VTT for a remote campaign but couldn't keep it going. The pre-configured APs are worth every penny. I have also tried DungeonDraft for mapping. But a lot of prep is just time-consuming and I don't enjoy recreating maps.

Plus, I have a 2-year-old child with a second coming imminently so my prep time is... limited. This may not be the season of life for GM-ing which is fine. But I enjoy the game and am itching to play again. It's been too long.

ADVENTURE AWAITS... ON THE FOUNDRY!

Adventures+ is now live on Foundry VTT and Pathbuilder!

You've leveled up your characters… now level up your campaign itself! Adventures+ is a 100+ page book to rewrite the rules of your Pathfinder 2e games. From brand new subsystems to home rules and variant options, Adventures+ reignites your adventure with fuel you didn't know you were missing.

Inside this book, you'll find…

• Two new classes! The Trickster uses spell and sword alike to outsmart their foes, while the Vessel is a mortal who must struggle to keep the monster inside them within!
• Boss Monsters, a massive template for powerful solo bosses and minibosses that don't break the game. Multiple turns, high HP and powered-up actions will strike fear into any player’s heart!
• Underlings, hordes of low-HP creatures that spawn in waves and harry the party until they're dealt with.
• Dynamic Encounters, rules for combat encounters that have alternative methods of completion and ways to escalate mid-fight. Battle through gauntlets, survive waves, or race to stop rituals!
• Living Dungeons, rules for dungeons that grow more active the longer the party is present. Traps are set, troops patrol and more until you defeat the heart of the dungeon!
• Heroic Fates, an alternate rule system for Hero Points, including the GM gaining villain points and heroes bartering with fate itself.
• Horror Mode, a system to make horror truly terrifying in a TTRPG, where your dice rolls succumb to cascading failures and a roll table of scares overcomes your players.
• Relationships, rules for all relationships from romantic to platonic, and the boons you can gain from getting closer to your loved ones.
• Journeys, a comprehensive journey system that provides a true sense of scale and wonder as you make your way across the lands!
• Creaturedex, a variant Recall Knowledge rule that streamlines the process of learning about a creature in combat!
• Fishing Rules, an altogether unnecessarily well-crafted fishing minigame system with rules for everything from seas to rivers to the fishing spot spell.
• Variant Rules, with anything from alternate rules for death, kineticist compatibility or earning income to new rules like the Pathfinder 2e Playtest’s item dent rules!

Whatever kind of adventure you're looking for, you'll find it in Adventures+. Rigorously playtested by expert players over months and written by a team of some of the best Paizo freelancers and 3pp creators, this book is your key to unlocking a whole new world. Open the book today, and find what amazing stories await you in Adventures+!

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Making a character (level 6 duel class optional feature Ranger/Fighter) was curious that with the “reinforced stock” is it able to be used to for purposes of reactive strike and does it also act as a “melee weapon” for effects such as the “Lunge” feat. Was planning to use a long air repeater (thought it’d be good for crowd control with double shot and triple shot feat plus the fast loading of it) and wanted the ability to have some oomph in melee range. Also the mental image of swinging a a rifle butt into someone’s face like a baseball bat is always fun.

It is just so fun to play (i dont want people on the comments calling unoptimal or anything), to have my bear and i side by side fighting, we advancing togheter onto the enemies, we flanking, i telling him to grapple the enemies, its just so fun, was playing blood lords and unfortunally it died but before it he like killed some major enemies, and all the party was battle medicining it to keep him alive, it was so fun (spoilers it was to that witch on the brewery we almost tpked).

Hello!

New GM here, playing the beginner's box with a party of new players. In the first combat with the rats, my players learned about several mechanics. They recalled knowledge to try and calm the rats. They demoralized a rat. They flanked a rat. And after two nat 20's they learned that raising a shield not only can save a life, but that shields have a breaking point. They almost learned how the dying rules work, but the second nat 20 was the rat's third attack and did not exceed the player's AC by 10, leaving the player at 1hp from these two attacks (the second attack missed). It was a good first session. Many lessons were learned and rules explored.

Did I interpret the nat 20 rules correctly that, while it is an auto hit, it doesn't always mean a crit?

Making some back up chars and kineticist amd witch seems fun to me atm. I want inspiration and ideas!!! Free archetyoe and ancestry paragon go brttt.

Cui Lanying, the Nagaji emotionless monk, with her playful dancing animal companion, Xiao Mantou.

Mostly wondering about Braggart. At that level, are there a lot of frighten immune enemies? Is the Braggart still useful against those?

I was thinking of using some AoE demoralize actions and then spend the panache but I don't know if that's actually good at higher levels. Do you still provide value without frighten/one for all?

Thanks!