r/Pathfinder2e

So just had a rather flat session where some of the players were upset about how it turned out and thought I'd see what people think.

The setup:
The group was entering a town that was being held by an enemy faction. There was a small group of enemies holding out in the tavern and a couple of other groups patrolling around some distance away but within earshot.

What happened:
The rogue tried to sneak and eavesdrop on the tavern group, critically failed, and the group was alerted but had not actually seen him, with the commander telling two to go investigate. The rogue snuck away. But another member of the group engaged the enemies.
I said that after a couple of rounds i'd make checks to see if the patrolling groups noticed the combat around the inn. Then the players started getting really loud with big flashy spells (fireball etc) so the patrols joined in, turning a moderate encounter into an extreme one.

Outcome:
Players had a really rough time. At the 9th level enemies have so many hit points and the group is very dps light so it turned into a slog. One of the players complained it was my fault, as it was clearly designed as 3 separate encounters, and I had instead combined them. Whereas I felt that yes, while it did make it more difficult, it was the players who had combined them. They could have approached it differently and had a very different outcome. That it would take some pretty heavy suspension of disbelief to have the patrols not notice fireballs exploding and people transforming into elementals, etc.

Just wondering how other GMs handle realism vs. keeping things balanced. I certainly didn't purposely combine them just to make it more difficult.

We're all new to pathfinder, I'm not new at all to ttrpgs, I've been playing for over a decade. 3 of them have been playing dnd for two years and two have only been playing for a few months. I GMd torment and legacy to them last week with the pre-made characters. The classes they've picked are: Commander, Bard, Cleric, Inventor and maybe a swashbuckler

Wanting to build a PFS character focused on using a Barricade Buster. Why? Because wielding what I headcanon as a fantasy version of a minigun is fucking awesome! But also because I see two important merits to it, compared to a bow: one, the D10 damage dice at range is juicy; two, unlike bows, the buster, being a gun, is compatible with Fake Out from Gunslinger Dedication, making for a very consistent use of your reaction.

Right now, for the class, I'm lending towards Ranger, specifically Precision, because having a 20 to 80 feet of effective range seems better than having 0 to 40 from something like Point-blank Stance. I don't want to go Flurry because it seems like it's way too easy to run out of bullets, but if I go Precision and strike twice, I'm going to have 4 turns of not worrying about reloading, and combats hardly go too long after turn 4.

Besides, Precision gives me more things to do on my turn besides Striking. Hunted Shot is still cool, for the action economy (giving me essentially five actions for three, when combined with Fake Out not necessitating me to use an action), and for giving me two chances to land the extra damage from Precision and from Gravity Weapon with a single action. That extra action economy also helps when I have to Hunt Prey again, or move to be able to shoot away from Volley range.

But I'm having a bit of a conundrum when it comes to filling out my turns when I have ideal action economy turns, actually. When I don't have to move, or Hunt Prey, when I can do a Hunted Shot and still have two actions to do stuff. At level 8, I can sort of alleviate this problem with Warden's Boon, but that is too far away in my career. Also, from levels 1 to 3, the Aid action kind of fills that action gap, too.

At first I was thinking about using Munitions Crafter, to activate some alchemical ammunition, but it comes only at level 6 and it seems incompatible with the Repeating trait.

Using two actions for spellcasting from something like a Spellheart would mean I have to sacrifice Gunslinger and Fake Out to get a Dedication that gives me spellcasting (although this seems to be a nice plan at level 9 via Multitalented). Also, there's the issue of having low WIS, since, with a Human, the best I can start with is 2 WIS, when I need 4 DEX and 2 STR. This also kind of makes the other Warden Spells kind of awkward to use. One possible exception being Soothing Mist, but it comes at level 4, just like Fake Out.

I was then thinking about the skills to use. One action to stride before cover and one to Hide seems possible, but I'm not sure how "effective" it is to spend two actions for these. Demoralize would be okay, but the enemy would need to be in the very limited range of only 25 or 30 feet away for me to be able to use this and not stay inside of the Volley range. Create a Diversion, maybe? But then I won't be able to get a good Background for the stat distribution I want and for the Skill Feats I'd like.

Finally, there's the Animal Companion. It's a good way to fill your actions, but by picking this, the only way to also have Fake Out would mean I have to drop Gravity Weapon. That +4 to damage until level 12 would be kind of replaced by the extra 1d8 damage that my companion could deal, in theory, and in exchange of the lower accuracy, I would have another body in the party. I wonder if trading Gravity Weapon for the Animal Companion is worth it, though. I would have it starting at 3rd level (via Ancestral Paragon feat into Natural Ambition).

So, what are your opinions on this matter? Which would be your suggestions for this build to enjoy the action compression the most?

Dude I'm hyped as hell for this one. Can separate you predictions from the stuff that they said? Like I was looking at the schedule for releases.

Prediction I hope this leads to more planar books and the netherworld being next?

Monk is a class that is excellent at action compression, between its Flurry of Blows ability and the growing bonus to their speed. However, when trying to think of Monk characters, this often leaves me at a loss for what a good "third action" would be on them. Demoralize, Feint, and similar skill actions are a decent choice, but a lot of these are a bit context-dependent (i.e. you can't use mental actions on mindless creatures, or Battle Medicine not being useful if no one's been hurt yet).

My group usually uses Free Archetype, though, and that makes me wonder what kinds of archetypes might offer good "third actions" Monks can make a good use of. Off the top of my head, I can imagine a spellcasting archetype being useful, if for nothing else than for spells like Shield, but I'm kind of drawing a blank otherwise.

Does anyone here have any advice for other kinds of archetypes that might be useful for this?

I find that the DnD5E adventures are kind of barebones and awkward a lot of the time. How do people fine the PF2E adventures to be in comparison?

A druid picks up the cleric archetype. At 14th level he can cast 7th level primal spells and 5th level divine spells. He finds a staff of Control. If he prepares the staff can he cast Dominate?

From the staff rules:

*You can Cast a Spell from a staff only if you have that spell on your spell list, are able to cast spells of the appropriate rank or higher*

The question is, does that cross spell casting traditions?

Are you familiar with Pathfinder lore? Or maybe you are just familiar with The Harrow Deck? Then I’d love your help!

I am an artist who loves playing TTRPGs, and I also do Tarot readings regularly. Through my Pathfinder character, Kir (a Gnome Sorcerer with the Harrow bloodline and Harrow Dedication), I have fallen in love with The Harrow deck and its reading system.

However, I don’t feel as connected to the official Harrow Deck that Paizo sells as I’d like to, so I started thinking… why not create a custom deck for myself? And that opened up an even bigger question: maybe other people have felt the same way.

So, where do you come in?

Well, I love how in other fandoms like Arcane, D&D, and Critical Role- there are fanmade Tarot Decks where specific characters fit beautifully into their own Major and Minor Arcana equivalents. So I’d like to do something similar with Pathfinder.

The problem is, I’m still fairly new to Pathfinder. We’re early into our Seven Dooms for Sandpoint campaign, and while I’m obsessed with the setting, I have NO idea which iconic NPCs, historical figures, or major lore characters would be the best choices to include.

So I’m making this post to open up discussion, ideas, and suggestions for creating a fan-designed Pathfinder Harrow Deck!

Here are some things I’d love input on:

• If you were reimagining the Harrow Deck, what kind of art style would you want to see? (Please link artists for inspiration- no AI, please!)
• Which figures from Pathfinder lore feel important enough to include?
• If you have ideas for which Harrow card a character should represent, that would be incredibly helpful.
• Is there something the current Harrow Deck does well that absolutely should be kept?
• Is there something about the current deck you feel could be improved?

For example, I personally think the suit symbols and position markers are really important for gameplay readability, so I’d want to preserve those.

• Have you ever made your own custom card deck before and want to share advice?
• What do you personally look for in a deck, especially one intended for actual in-game use?
• I’m leaning toward making the cards square. Do you think that works well, or would you argue for traditional rectangular cards? Maybe even circular or diamond-shaped cards?

I’d love to hear any thoughts, opinions, or suggestions you have. Whether it’s lore recommendations, design advice, or just your dream version of a Pathfinder Harrow Deck.

I hope this reaches you well.

I have made a post here before on how to begin Pathfinder 2e. I bought the starter box which has served well.

I now ask the following questions.

1: What are some great follow ups?

2: Are there variant rules for less feats? Even at low lv's, it had me wishing for no feats. It does feel like you have to try to be sub optimal in feat selection, so that's refreshing. It's just that there's a lot.

3: I have some DnD 5e adventures that I like the idea of but 5e bores me to tears, anyone willing to help me translate the adventures from "Tales of the Yawning Portal" to Pathfinder 2e? My guess is that finding the 3.5e versions for them would be best but that would mean spending more money instead of using what I have. Plus, I am uncertain if all have 3.5e conversions.

Any assistance would be appreciated. I typically prefer the meatier end of rules light (one of my favorites is Call of Cthulhu for example, that only has about 14 pages of none character creation, none item description rules). However, Pathfinder 1e was my first ttrpg game and I had a tactical blast playing 2e for the solo adventure I had and now wish to share it with my friends and allies.

Thank you and have a wonderful day!

What is this to you?

why is there a gap between basic spellcasting benefits and expert spellcasting benefits? and why don't palatine detective or spellshot get master spellcasting benefits? (even though bloodrager, beast gunner, eldrich archer, rivethun involutionist, and all the spellcasting multiclass archetypes do?)

also the bloodrager is a class archetype like palatine detective and spellshot so that's not the reason.

• lv 4 1st rank
• lv 6 2nd rank
• lv 8 3rd rank
• lv 10 nothing
• lv 12 4th rank
• lv 14 5th rank
• lv 16 6th rank
• lv 18 7th rank
• lv 20 8th rank

I've been playing PF2E for a few months now, and I recently finished reading all the classes in the game. I have played the Witch class for months; I've noticed that the class itself seems to be in a somewhat strange middle ground, in my opinion. I don't know how to explain it, or if it's just my individual opinion, but I feel that the Witch class is very "pricey." Don't get me wrong, the class is okay and clearly not bad, but I find the way it works very strange. It seems like everything good is through feats; almost nothing is given to you for free. Sure, you get the familiar and the hex cantrip, plus the phase familiar or patron puppet, but I don't know; I think that compared to other spellcasters like wizards, clerics, etc., the witch doesn't really have a clear class feature. Like, wizards are arcane; they have the thesis and the school. Most of the theses have very unique and cool abilities that work in different and cool ways, not to mention that the wizard has 4 spell slots per rank while the witch has only 3.

Clerics have a divine font, 8 hit points per level, and deity spells that somewhat alleviate the limitation of divine spellcasting, not to mention that depending on the doctrine, you get a free level 1 feat (Domain Initiate or Divine Simplicity).

But when I get to the witch, the abilities are the familiar and the hexes, but none of them, in my opinion, compensate for this lack of a clear class feature.

Not to mention that there are many feats that are too good to pass up, like Cackle, which has many interacting feats (I personally think that Cackle should be a class feat if so many feats interact with it); Cauldron for its utility; and Basic Lesson. I feel that at least some of these feats should be given to the witch for free or be part of her class feats.

Like, okay, Witch has the initial Patron lesson that gives her the hex cantrip and a spell. The hex cantrip is fine; it's very important, but the spell is usually garbage, like the Resentment witch spell, which gives Enfeeble, which doesn't help you at all because you can usually learn that spell.

I don't know. When I look at the wizard, for example, they have 4 spell slots per rank, thesis, and school with unique focus spells (technically, the patron familiar ability should be like this). but I personally think some ones are kind of weird), etc.

I know the familiar gains a unique familiar ability from the patron, but I don't know; I feel like it doesn't compensate that much. I think the witch is an okay class and certainly has many good feats that make it a good class, but I don't know; I feel like something is missing to make it more unique, even if it was giving a free basic lesson or, for example, making the cauldron feat a class feat and you could customize it to make it a little unique. For example, it would be cool if only witches could, say, take two low-level potions and combine them into one potion, like instead of making a level 10 potion, taking, say, two level 4 or 5 potions and combining them into one special potion, or something like that.

Of course, I'm not amazing at balancing, but it's just an idea, something that, when someone mentions it, reminds you of the witch. The witch class is in a weird middle ground for me; it's a good class, but I don't know. It lacks something special or something unique. What do you guys think? Am I judging too harshly, or do you also have the same impression of this class, or are there other classes that you also think have this problem?

I saw people expressing similar opinions years ago in posts. Do you think that in a balanced campaign with other casters, the witch should have some kind of fix, or does it depend a lot? I saw many people talking about a book called Witches+, but I don't know how balanced it is or if it's good. Even so, I really like the witch; I just wish she had something more interesting.

Are there any plans to change the witch class in some way for the future? It would be really cool to know!

Title. I'm hoping to see hopefully a whole bunch of spells that aren't just reprints so to speak but I hope the divine list gets some more love.

That being said do you think there are areas of magic that can be explored / expanded upon ?

I'm a very experienced DM and over the years I've run many groups in different settings, often while supporting teen and adult clients with disabilities. I love roleplaying, it's a great way to develop social connection/experience, and I find PF2 rules to be pretty straightforward for onboarding new players.

I've been approached by a nonprofit to offer a group, and they'll likely promote it as "D&D" since that's the commonly-understood term for the genre. In the past, I've had a few issues with some players coming in and feeling disappointed that they were playing PF and not "real" D&D. In one instance they even brought characters and books for 5E and were very upset that their stuff wasn't compatible.

I'm curious if anyone has any suggestions for how to adjust wording or otherwise explain the difference, or lack thereof, in succinct terms to layman. I know the history and can explain in detail how PF came to be from 3rd edition, but a dissertation on the history of RPG rules won't fit on a flyer. :)

Any advice would be welcome. Thanks!

As it says on the tin. Obviously plenty of casters can do this sort of thing; particularly a certain brand of psychic; but is there a good way to unlock this sort of mobility option as a consistent gimmick on a Martial? Starfinder2e Classes may be included in this discussion I will say. Psychic archetype into unbound step helps a bit; though it takes a while to get enough focus points to do it consistently. There's also shrink the span with monk. Though I'm not sure if it's possible to get something more at-will for shorter distances.

Edit:At a glance our main ticket here based on the responses is (1)-Gap-Touched! Grab the various short-range one action teleport feats from that (2)-Either grab Monk for Shrink the span, or Shadow Magus for dimensional assault and (3)-Grab a thaumaturge archetype to get the mirror at level 6 giving you a way to teleport a decent distance at will (If as 2 actions). Will have all you need for a flickering boy by level 6~ or so.

What do we do if a creature has weakness to holy but immunity to the underlying damage? For example, how is a construct (immunity to spirit damage) with weakness to holy damage affected by a sanctified divine lance (spirit damage with the holy trait?).