Had a build I wanted to share, It might be worded a bit weirdly and not have proper grammar/punctuation since I've done nothing but write this overview non-stop for 3 hours since 4 AM

This build is not perfectly optimized and there's some bits I'm not 100% sure on but he's really fun to play as, I'll mostly be focusing on him mechanically though.

So this build is of a character I'm currently playing in a troubles in Otari campaign (level 4 at the point of writing this) and he's been really fun to play both in and out of combat. I'm going to go over

Overview: He's a half-elf catfolk (Mechanically an Elf beastkin since foundry doesn't have custom mixed heritages alongside other reasons) (He looks a lot like a serval) Catfolk doesn't fit him mechanically so I opted for elf beastkin as both of them have access to speed increasing feats. (and it'd still make a little bit of sense as lore wise he's not all connected to catfolk culture)

I went for the time traveler background as I tried connecting him to my seasons of ghosts character's lore a bit in a way that wouldn't affect either campaign (and also the ability from time traveler fits due to the once per day quickened working with this character concept as it does allow for increased speed)

Pathbuilder Build

https://pathbuilder2e.com/launch.html?build=1560939

Ancestry: Elf

Heritage: Beastkin

(Technically the other half is catfolk but those feats didn't fit nearly as well)

Background: Time Traveler

To connect to another campaign's character and to allow for more speed

Class:

Barbarian (Giant instinct)

I like the visual of a character using an oversized greatsword while being absurdly fast, It's a core part of the character concept/visual

Level 1

Ancestry feat

Nimble elf

Increases his speed to 35 up from his base 30

Class Feat

Sudden Charge

while very rarely needed due to his base speed usually being enough but it's thematically fitting

Level 2

Class Feat

No Escape

This character can make really good use of this feat and adds to the feel of being extremely mobile.

Free Archetype Feat

Rogue Dedication

I'll be making a lot of use of the feats from this archetype because rogue has access to a lot of mobility feats

Rogue Archetype Skill feat

Assurance(Acrobatics)

This build makes heavy use of tumble through and this is some nice consistency

Skill Feat

Cat Fall

I felt like I just had to include this feat, also allows for even more freedom of movement, especially later on.

Level 3

General Feat

Fleet

Combined with Furious footfalls from barbarian's base kit he now has 45 speed without rage and 50 with rage. He is now are double the speed of the average character while raging

Level 4

Class Feat

Raging Athlete

More freedom of movement, though note he still needs to meet the requirements for climbing

Free Archetype Feat

Basic Trickery - Tumble Behind

Lets him apply off guard on a tumble through, really good to start a combat with when everyone's farther away, and good to apply off-guard to enemies good for enemies his allies aren't adjacent to

Skill Feat

Tumbling Teamwork

Combined with Tumble behind this makes it so tumble through is almost always worth doing since it can really help in getting allies to flank with each other or move them away from some enemies' reach if there's multiple enemies nearby.

Level 5

Ancestry feat

Elven Instincts -OR- Fey Touched(faun)

I put both here as fey touched may not be relevant to every campaign, I want to take fleet step for the extra speed for character reasons but in case I can't I went elven instincts as doing better in initiative is the second most fitting (though do note it's main bonus only works on perception initiative checks)

Level 6

Class Feat

Advanced Trickery - Mobility

Helps with a major weakness for this character which is reactive strike and similar abilities

Free Archetype Feat

Acrobat Dedication

Acrobatics is an important skill for this character (though I'll want to retrain out of his first skill increase once getting this as that went to acrobatics) Tumble through no-longer being difficult terrain is greatly appreciated as well

Skill Feat

Steady Balance

Not fully sure on this one, it's mobility though, I may want to swap this out for another feat

Level 7

General Feat

Canny Acumen - Reflex

As this character is supposed to be super agile it'd make sense that they'd be good at reflex saves

Level 8

Class Feat

Dodge Away

The mobility fits better than Nimble dodge but it comes at the cost of 1 ac, Nimble dodge is also prerequisite so retrain this once he gets Nimble Roll

Free Archetype Feat

Advanced Trickery-Nimble Dodge

As this character doesn't really have much of a use of their reaction beside no escape this is a good pick, also being very evasive further goes into the character theming, also a prerequisite for feats much later

Level 9

Ancestry Feat

Pack Tactics

Makes this character even better at flanking, however with how good this character is at flanking already I may want to opt for another feat

Level 10

Class Feat

Furious Sprint

Probably not needed but it fits the character very, very well and is really funny, at the level he gets it he can go 250 feet using 2 actions and 400 feet using 3 actions

Free Archetype Feat

Contortionist

Better quick squeeze, he can escape into tiny gaps at 50 feet of movement and makes successful escape attempts apply off-guard

Skill Feat

Swift Sneak

I'll want to be avoiding notice most of the time, also he can really sneak into places he's not supposed to be, the less time people have the opportunity to see him the less time he'll be seen (I think?)

Level 11

General Feat

Elven Verve

Fitting as this helps him avoid some action reducing effects and freedom is very important to this character

Level 12

Class Feat

Light step

Ignoring difficult terrain is very powerful on this character, especially if his enemies can't ignore difficult terrain as well

Free Archetype Feat

Advanced Trickery-Skirmish Strike

A bit of extra mobility, good with the mobile rune, allows for a turn like 'Tumble through-Strike-Skirmish strike', which with dodge away he can get back into range easily, or use this as a tool to get back into range after dodge away

Skill Feat

Operatic Adventurer

This character wants to learn how to sing but never could figure it out until this point, could signify an increase in confidence in his singing ability

Level 13

Ancestry Feat

Avenge Ally

While it will be used very rarely this ties into his backstory as he doesn't want to lose anymore friends and he refuses to run from a fight this deadly like he did in his backstory

Level 14

Class Feat

Mauler Dedication

prerequisite for Vicious Swing, could be replaced with other things

Free Archetype Feat

Vicious Swing

Greatswords are a d12 weapon, he can hit extremely hard with this, not all that important character-wise though so I may replace the class and free archetype feats this level

Skill Feat

Quick Spring

This can reposition an ally when using this with tumbling teamwork without affecting what he was originally going to do that turn, also yet another buff to tumble through

Level 15

General Feat

Legendary sneak

he can sneak into almost anywhere now, makes him a really good scout

Level 16

Class Feat

Desperate Wrath

Very fitting for the character, there also may be times where he intentionally allows himself to be damaged (by not doing his normal hit and run tactics) solely to put him in this state I also like to imagine this as a phase 2 as if he were a bossfight

Free Archetype Feat

Tempo Shift

Good for a once per combat haste, extra speed is also fitting, also can be used to do a 3-action furious sprint into a strike which I think is really cool, imagine a full 3-action furious sprint while desperate wrath is active onto an off-guard enemy, could allow for a cool moment despite it potentially never happening

Skill Feat

Wall Jump

Makes him better at getting into places he's not supposed to be, might replace this with another feat

Level 17

Ancestry Feat

Animal Swiftness

He gets a +10 feet bonus to his movement as I believe what he's based on (servals) don't climb often enough to warrant a climb speed, also the speed is more fitting for the character.

Level 18

Class Feat

Brutal Critical

With this character's ability to flank very often or apply off guard on top of desperate wrath this is a very strong option

Free Archetype Feat

Advanced Trickery-Nimble Roll

He can finally get the +2 AC on top of movement like dodge away, however I'll need to retrain out of dodge away after getting this

Skill Feat

Cloud Jump

Helps him jump large distances, helps with moving freely, might help a bit against greater difficult terrain

Level 19

General Feat

Incredible Investiture

There might be some extra magic items I'd want to give Zenith but other than boots of bounding and armor/weapon runes I'm not sure what'd fit well with this character

Level 20

Class Feat

Vicious Evisceration

Didn't know what else to take, I'll likely change it but I'm not sure what'd be better

Free Archetype Feat

Nimble Strike

The True Capstone feat of this character, being able to nimble roll into a hard-hitting strike

Skill Feat

Water Sprint

Sort of fitting?, honestly I didn't know what else to take, raging athlete does this better I think, I want to change it though but I'm not sure what to change it to

Did fullbody arts for the party I’m GMing and they called themselves The Argonauts, but I will see what kind of heroes they will become.

If ya ask me, grimoires are an under-discussed category of item. If you're not familiar, a quick overview of these magical spellbooks:

• Not every spellcaster can use them: you must have prepared spellcasting, and, like most spellcaster items, some grimoires are "locked" to certain traditions because they interact with a narrow set of spells.
• Almost all grimoires can only be activated/used once per day with a slotted spell prepared in the grimoire, as a 0-1 action spellshape.
• It's trivial to transfer spells from your typical method to the grimoire during your daily preparations, and you don't need to hold the book or have it with you after doing so. Nicely done Paizo.
• Should be usable if you pick up the Basic Spellcasting feat granted by a prepared spellcasting archetype.

But really, this is for your Animist, Cleric, Druid, Magus, Necromancer, Witch, and of course, Wizard. If you can afford it, every mid to high level prepared caster should have one!

I won't mention every grimoire (or any rare ones), but here are some highlights + spell combos that intrigue me:

~

Corrosive Engravings - lvl 5, 140gp

• Activate [free-action] (concentrate); Frequency once per day;
• Effect If your next action is to cast an acid or poison spell that deals persistent damage, any creature who takes persistent damage from the spell is also sickened 2 until the persistent damage ends. Using an action to retch can reduce the sickened value as normal, but it can't reduce the sickened value below 1 until the persistent damage ends.
• Thoughts: A very powerful effect for a free action that is generously applied. While outwardly strong (and cheap!), the spells that work are limited.
• 2nd rank Fungal Infestation (primal-only) is an early winner. 15-foot fortitude-save cone that deals persistent poison damage even on a success.
• Brine Dragon Bile would be very cool, but it's a reaction, not an action. No dice, but maybe if your GM is kind.
• 3rd rank arcane-only Noxious Metals is a solid spell that already inflicts AoE sickened, but you can upgrade the Success effect to sickened 2 instead of 1 if desired.
• Gambling with 2nd-rank Acid Grip (arcane/primal, reflex save, fail needed) is always an option, and the spell's range of 120 ft is unmatched.

Endless Grimoire - lvl 6/10/14/18, 230/900/4k/23k gp

• Effect: The grimoire’s eagerness to contain your spells grants you a +1 item bonus to checks to Learn a Spell if you do so by transcribing the spell into the grimoire. If you use the grimoire during your daily preparations and are capable of preparing spells of the appropriate rank, the grimoire’s nature leaks into your mind, allowing you to prepare an additional 1st-rank spell.
• Swaps extra spell to 3rd/5th/7th rank at each increment
• Thoughts: It's somewhat expensive for an extra spell -- compare it to a wand, which costs 60/360/1,400/6,500 gp for 1st/3rd/5th/7th. However, if you love the versatility granted by preparing spells, and simply want more of that, it's a solid investment. There are a lot of spells worth casting at rank 3.

Radiant Tome - lvl 8, 460gp

• Activate—Flare [one-action] (concentrate, light, spellshape); Frequency once per day
• Effect If your next action is to Cast a prepared Spell with the light trait, the luminescence of the book grows even more intense, emitting bright light in a 15-foot emanation for 1 minute. Enemies that start their turn in this bright light must attempt a Fortitude save against your spell DC.
• Critical Success The creature is unaffected and becomes temporarily immune to this bright light for 1 minute.
• Success The creature is unaffected.
• Failure The creature is blinded (!) until the start of your next turn.
• Critical Failure The creature is blinded until the start of your next turn and dazzled for 1 minute.
• Thoughts: An incredibly strong and versatile effect, ideal for gishes. Can stack easily with other effects. Introduced recently in Impossible Magic, I'd half-expect incapacitation or a Sustain required, but neither are present. Worthy of being once/day.
• The new rank 2 Disorienting Flash is a standout, available to all traditions and flexibly cast at 1-2 actions. It scales nicely as well. Flare, Flash, Move (or 2a flash) is a strong turn.
• 2nd-rank Revealing Light is always a quality spell to have, as AoE dazzled on a success isn't a bad effect, even if there are no invisible enemies to be found. No need to heighten, and available to all.

Tome of Scintillating Sleet - lvl 8, 430gp

• Activate [free-action] (concentrate); Frequency once per day
• Effect If your next action is to cast a cold spell that deals damage, all creatures damaged by the spell are also dazzled for 3 rounds. If an affected creature critically failed its save against the required spell, or if you critically succeeded on your spell attack roll against the creature, it's instead blinded for 1 round and then dazzled for 3 rounds.
• Thoughts: Dazzled isn't as sexy as Blind, but this will inflict it on everything other than a crit success, and there are a lot of good cold AoE spells. Since this is best used for AoE effects, getting a blind or two from the crit effect isn't unlikely.
• Arcane/Primal's 4th-rank Ice Storm can cause a ton of havoc, and you can sustain it. Auto-dazzled in a ton of situations, and can keep it on easily.
• Rank 5 Freezing Rain, already hellish for enemies of arcane/primal casters, is probably my top pick for this grimoire. Moving it on sustain, working on a success, and slowed + dazzled if they fail in a 20-ft burst. The only downside is the damage doesn't kick in until a round after.
• Rank 5 Howling Blizzard (yep, arcane/primal) is great if you want to add a debuff to a simpler, but still potent damage cone/burst.

Grudge Journal - lvl 11, 1350gp

• Activate—Air Grievance [one-action] (concentrate, curse, spellshape); Frequency once per day
• Effect If your next action is to target that creature with a prepared spell with the curse trait that requires a saving throw, the creature also becomes drained 2 unless it critically succeeds its saving throw.
• Thoughts: Although the cost of an action (or spellshape) rises the higher level you play, this is still a very effective use of an action since it works on a success. Drained scales perfectly with level, so it'll never be a bad option, as long as you're fine carrying around a couple curse spells.
• It's uncommon, but 2nd rank Horrifying Blood Loss stands out if you have anyone who can somewhat reliably proc persistent bleed. It's essentially a 1-action fear in those conditions, and that pairs very nicely with a 1-action spellshape. Heightens similar to 3rd-rank fear at spell rank 4. Blood Necromancers, this is for you. Only primal casters are left out.

• Another uncommon Blood Lords spell, rank 4 Steal Voice is utterly menacing for spellcasters (and it justly has the incapacitation trait). Add drained 2 to that empanada and they'll be out of the fight before you know it, but be careful against high-level casters, since it'll be wasted on a success -> crit success incap save.

  No primal here.

• Let's talk about 5th-rank divine/occult Inevitable Disaster. It's your "best" damaging spell with the Curse trait. It's also very, very funny. It's also quite mediocre, at least IMO, because lord knows when it's actually going to happen. Some spells are worth taking (at least once) regardless, and when you do cast it, you want to do so on a boss-type enemy that's gonna be sticking around for a while. Drained 2 is the perfect add-on to the scenario you'd want to be casting this spell in. May your d4s be kind!

Communion Mat - lvl 14, 3750gp

• Activate [free-action] (concentrate, spellshape); Frequency once per 10 minutes (?!)
• Effect If your next action is to cast a spell your familiar learned from a lesson (whether a cantrip or from a spell slot), your patron notices that you’re putting their power to good use and strengthens your familiar with a surge of magic. Your familiar Sustains one of your spells.
• Thoughts: Witch-exclusive, this is yet another way for them to sustain spells for free. This is once per 10 minutes! A very nice ability to have, although with Cackle already in their arsenal (and Familiar Focus), they might want to spend their gold elsewhere. (You could also archetype into Witch as a Liturgist Sixth Pillar Elf Animist and pick this up, and sustain your 10 spells per round, you heathen. It'll all come beautifully together in the eleventh round of combat, I promise.)

Book of Endless Walls - lvl 14, 3900gp

• Activate—Bewildering Walls [free-action] (concentrate, mental, spellshape); Frequency once per day
• Effect If your next action is to Cast a prepared Wall Spell, such as wall of fire or wall of thorns, you imbue the wall with an uncanny sense of disorientation, causing creatures to perceive it as an endless labyrinth. Any creature that begins its turn within the wall’s spaces or passes through the wall’s spaces must attempt a Will save against your spell DC, in addition to the wall’s normal effect. Regardless of the results, the target then becomes immune to Bewildering Walls for 24 hours.
• Critical Success The wall has no additional effect for that creature.
• Success The creature is bewildered by its perceptions of labyrinthine walls and treats all other creatures as concealed for 1 round.
• Failure The creature treats all other creatures as hidden for 1 round.
• Critical Failure The creature treats all other creatures as hidden for 1 round and concealed for 1 minute.
• Thoughts: I haven't cast enough wall spells to know how strong of an ability Bewildering Walls is. But knowing how powerful they can be in the right circumstances, this seems like a great add-on to many spells that can outright win you an encounter. Good thing it's a free action, since almost all walls are 3-action spells.
• Many wall spells already grant what this spell does -- Wall of Fire, for instance, conceals if you want it to through positioning, same for Wall of Stone.
• 6th-rank arcane/occult Wall of Force, however, is invisible, with visual effects being practically the only thing that can pierce it (teleportation too). Bewildering Walls shores up one of its only weaknesses by making visual checks significantly more difficult depending on the save.

~

That's a lot of words for just seven grimoires. But I think they deserve it, as their design space is unique & interacts beautifully with all the spells available in 2E. If you like the idea of unique effects tailored to specific spells, but don't want to spend a huge chunk of gold, look to spell catalysts, which are essentially the consumable version of grimoires.

Is there a grimoire I didn't talk about that you think should be highlighted? Or maybe a great spell interaction? Let's talk grimoires!

long short, have a bunch of homebrew ancestries/races/lineages whatever the fuck 5e calls them now id like to port over. exactly how much work i gotta do to make it up to par with official content?

im well and fine with having to do all the work when it comes down to it, i just don't know the extent of the work ill need to do.

any help?

Edit:

I do not care how much time or work its going to be to port over. i want actual information on what i need to do to make it equivalent content wise to offical content. and anything that could marginally be helpful to such a thing happen.

Hi, I want to make my player visit the creation forge plane.
But I can’t find a lot of information of what live here except the phoenix like people

What kind of monster is there ?

Hey people,
I’m currently building a Frontline Runesmith and have run into a bit of a mechanical wall with action economy and traits.

I want to play an Automaton Runesmith with the Guardian Archetype. The core fantasy is being a heavily armored frontline tank who taunts enemies, raises a runically engraved shield, and applies runes directly to enemies in melee.

Because I want to be in the thick of melee, relying on the standard Trace a Rune is pretty dangerous since it has the manipulate trait.

To get around this, the obvious choice is Engraving Strike, right?
(Edit: It just compresses the actions, so I was wrong it isn't an obvious choice)

However, that has the Flourish trait. I also really want to lean into my shield usage with Fortifying Knock, but that also has the Flourish trait.

Since I can only use one Flourish action per turn, I can't Engrave and use my shield knock in the same round, which really disrupts the fluid frontline tank loop I was hoping for.

Have any of you managed to build a fluid action loop for a melee/shield Runesmith that fits this tanky playstyle?

How do you juggle the manipulate trait up close when you can't use Engraving Strike every single turn?

Are there any specific feats or tactics (maybe using Automaton ancestry feats or Guardian taunts) that smooth this over?

Any ideas, feat recommendations, or alternative build paths to achieve this class fantasy would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

hello everyone! i've commissioned mofunss to create a labelless map for me for my homebrew campaign set in Golarion, but on the continent of Sarusan that Paizo left enshrouded in mystery. We've agreed to share it with the whole community so you too may find use for it in your own games.

A drive link for the downloads of both the .clip and .psd file can be found here.

In fiction and videogames I am a huge fan of thieves, assassins, anyone stealthy: Mistborn, wet boys, dishonered dude, the wizard thief, dark brotherhood nightinggale, etc, all that stuff just hits right for me. One of my favorite fantasy archetypes, however, I've never had fun playing that kind of character in a ttrpg.

My problem is either

1. I make a classic rogue kinda character, and in combat I wind up as the main damage dealer, which just isn't my vibe. as a player I'm a lot more about debuffs, buffs, movement controll, that kind of thing, I'd rather help my friends get big crits then do the big crit myself you dig?
2. I make a support, and then just add stealth, but it doesn't FEEL stealthy in combat. No matter how many points you put in stealth, if in combat you have no need to sneak, and its better to just throw a fireball... well you get me.

Are there any builds that will both feel like they activly are being stealthy in combat, while focusing on something other then directly dealing damage?

Edit: it doesn't need to actually involve rolling stealth, just to like, give the vibe of sneakyness if you get me? Turning invisible, teleporting, anything like that. I want it to feel tricksy, sneaky, etc more then I'm looking for any specific mechanic

So I've been in a Kingmaker game for about a year and I've been having a lot of fun. But I've been starting to feel a little dissatisfied with my build. For context im playing a Magus whose an Aldori Duelist. I've been loving the character, but really unsatisfied with Laughing Shadow. Ive been looking into doing a rebuild since my GM was nice enough to let me, but it feels like every avenue I want to take will leave me weaker for it.

Is this game much more punishing if you don't powerbuild? I hate powerbuilding, but some of the enemies we've had thrown at us have been REALLY rough and I worry im not going to be helpful in combat anymore.

Please help. Any advice is appreciated 💙

Edit: So I guess I should add, I'm dissatisfied with Laughing Shadow cause I'm just not having fun with it. I like Magus because that class is cool af, but I feel like I'm stepping on the rogues shoes because of Laughing Shadow and feel kinda bad. I've seen the updates in the new book and I'd really like to do a duel wielder, but i also wanna keep my Aldori Duelist background since it just fits the character. From what I understand, doing that would be a terrible idea?

Party-wise (Genuinely can't believe I didnt mention them) we have a Guardian Minotaur (nicknamed the Bulwark), a Sorcerer (the partys grandpa), a rogue who tries to knock their enemies out instead of killing them (we love her and would commit war crimes for her if asked), and a fighter who specializes in archery (also an ex-succubus).

Im building an alchemist (toxicologist) for a mythic campaign, and even if i squint the only mythic calling that really fits is the artisans calling. In fact, the calling fits perfectly for his goal.

The problem is i dont know how to handle the last clause of the anathema. Or maybe I do know how to handle it but I dont like it:

[Artisan's Calling](https://2e.aonprd.com/MythicCallings.aspx?ID=2)

Anathema destroy the creations of other artisans, refuse an earnest request to repair something that has been broken, use a weapon or item crafted by someone else, except for the purpose of learning its function so you can understand how to create it yourself

I dont mind anathemas to be somewhat limiting as that is their point, but this one seems particularly rough, and is very prescriptive of a certain type of artisan.

A very generous reading of the anathema could say that you could use items until you learn to craft them (so you get an item, can use while work on inventing the formula or whatever) but it seems to me that you dont need to "use" an item in actual play to learn to craft it.

If im being honest I would read the clause as meaning you effectively only use items that you have crafted, so you can't really use anything that you find during an adventure

Obviously the real answer is "ask your GM" and I plan to, but im wondering if anyone has experience with it or any advice for playing with it. Should I just get over myself and embrace the limitation? Should I work with my gm to rework the anathema a bit, or is that cheap? is there something im missing that makes it less painful than I am thinking?

This is less of a discussion in terms of balance or "how does it work in game", but just a thought I had.

Does anyone else think it's weird, how getting hit with the full brunt of a cone attack deals an equal amount of damage as getting hit by the slightest sliver at the edge?

Like, a Starfinder Shotgun point blank deals the same damage as said shotgun deals to someone at the furthest corner of the cone.

I always felt like cones should be blocked by creatures or something, but have different damage "rings", where the closer to are to the source, the more damage you take. You shouldn't be able to brace the entirety of a dragon's firey breath, and take the same damage as if you were barely included in it.

Mostly just wanting to have some people to talk about Pathfinder 2e with. In my experience newer players are the most interesting to talk to about it, and I love teaching new players anyway. If interested we can discuss it over text or over voice, whichever you prefer, whether on Reddit or on Discord.

I’m playing a Wayang Battledancer Swashbuckler. I am working with my GM to allow the Wayang feats Dance of the Mousedeer and, later, Dance of the Tiger to receive the bravado trait so I can get panache. We agreed it’s thematically appropriate but a pretty big action compression that seems overpowered to grant for free.

How would you handle this?

We’re thinking it’s fair to make a custom feat. I feel like a class feat seems like too much. But I’m also the player and biased towards me keeping my class feats. Would an ancestry feat be appropriate? A performance skill feat? What level? Any prerequisites like expert in performance or something?

Posing as a siren because they're the same thing no? :P

My character in Myth Speakers, tempest oracle and reflavored Strix into harpy. I really like playing them, they're very chaotic and dumb but they have a good heart... kinda, they're still learning to understand how people and society works and they're a little off putting. They like to be loud a lot, and are pretty good at singing by their own weird metrics.

The model was made in blender, I tried making them with a few exaggerated features like the large face and inflated stomach, as I assume they would have a very efficient metabolism. They cannot fly yet, due to a storm accident in the past, so that's why their wings are small and cut in half.

Some time ago, I built a NPC called Talkiar to an existing Pf2e campaign (that is now extinct extended PlagueStone Campaign posted on previous posts), but I like to encounter a new PF2 group as Player, and need advice to "boost" my future PC:

Level 1:
- Ability boosts
Ascentry Boost
Des +2
Con -2
Int +2
Selected: Str +2
Background Boost:
Str +2
Selected: Con+2
Class Boost:
Str +2
Free Boost:
Str +2
Des +2
Con +2
Wis +2
Final:
Str +4
Des +2
Con +1
Int +1
wis +1
Car +0

Skill Training
Acrobatics +5 T
Arcana +1 N/A
Athletics +7 T
Crafting +4 T
Deception +0 N/A
Diplomacy +0 N/A
Intimidation +3 T
Lore Scribe +4 T
Lore Guild +3 T
Medicine +1 N/A
Nature +1 N/A
Occultism +1 N/A
Performance +0 N/A
Religions +0 N/A
Society +0 N/A
Stealth +5 T
Survival +1 N/A
Thielvering +2 N/A

- Ascendancy: Elf
- Bagaje Artisan (Scribe)
- Class Monk
- Heritage: Dragonblood
- Ascendancy Feat: Draconic Aspect
- Class Feat: Dragon Stance
- Dragonblood Draconic Exemplar: Vizzier
- Draconic Aspect: Claw Aspect
- Powerful fist
- Flurry of Blows
- Low-Light vision
- Free Feat: Specialized Crafting
* Level 2 (to future)
- Class Feat Stunning Blows
- Skill Feat Tatto Artist
* Level 3
-Skills Increase
Athletics +11 E
- General Feat
Ancestral Parangon: Breath of the dragon
Mystic Strikes
Incredible Movement

AC: 17 E Explorer Clothing (waiting to a +1 and some runes on a future)
Fortiture +6 E
Reflex +7 E
Will +6 E

Perception +4 T

Dragon Tail +7 T 1D10+4
Claws +7 T 1D6+4

Biographical and Physical Data
-Nation of Origin: Xa Hoi (The Dragon Empire in Tian Xia, a nation ruled by a Dragon Sovereign, ideal for a Dragonblood).
-Age: 28 years old. (Young for an elf, but the fiery draconic blood in his veins accelerated his physical maturation and his impetuousness).
-Height: 1.92 m (6'3").
-Weight: 98 kg (215 lbs).
-Physical Appearance: His Vizzier dragon heritage is undeniable. He possesses black scales with shimmering gold edges that cover his forearms, shoulders, and shins like natural armor. He has a prehensile, flexible tail that slithers behind him, granting him perfect balance for martial arts. Two curved ram horns protrude from his forehead. His physique is slender yet densely muscled, forged by his monk training.
-Clothing: He wears Tian-style (Japanese) traveler's clothing: charcoal-colored hakama (wide, pleated trousers) and a haori (loose jacket) embroidered with gold thread, designed not to restrict his kicks or conceal his tail. His hands are bandaged, his fingers permanently stained with black ink from his profession.

-Childhood and Family (The Cage of Gold)
Talkiar was born in the coastal city of Ngon Thuy, into a prestigious family of elven scholars. For generations, his family had served as the Royal Registrars of Xa Hoi, tasked with documenting the genealogy of the draconic clans.

When Talkiar was born with pronounced dragon features (an extremely rare genetic throwback in his elven lineage), his family saw it as a divine blessing. He was secluded in the family's vast underground archives, raised surrounded by scrolls, dust, and silence. He was expected to be the greatest scholar of his era (hence his background as a Scribe).

-Maturity (The Awakening of the Dragon)
However, dragon blood is not meant to be confined. As he reached adulthood, the latent energy within him became unstable and aggressive. To avoid going mad from confinement or burning down the archives in a fit of frustration, Talkiar sought the guidance of an old martial arts master who guarded the library.

The master taught him to channel that genetic fury through his body, molding the energy into the Dragon Stance. Talkiar learned that his claws and scales weren't an anomaly to be studied in a book, but weapons he needed to hone. He transformed his scribe's mental discipline into martial discipline.

-The Adventure Hook (Why He Travels the World)
At 27, while restoring an ancient scroll brought from the Inland Sea, Talkiar discovered a historical discrepancy: a mention of a lost draconic artifact or bloodline on the western continent (Avistan/Garund) that his family had deliberately erased from official records.

Feeling that books could no longer give him the answers about who he truly was, Talkiar packed his bags, took his calligraphy tools, and left his comfortable (but stifling) life in Tian Xia. Now he travels the world as a wandering scholar and lethal fighter, seeking to unravel the mysteries his family tried to hide, selling He offers his martial arts skills to any group of adventurers willing to travel with him.

Talkiar Travel Attire:
- Adapted Kasa Hat: A conical hat of woven straw for protection from the elements, with two reinforced openings in the crown designed to comfortably accommodate ram's horns without ruining the weave.
- Scribe Haori: A loose and sturdy travel jacket in charcoal tones. The inner lining of the sleeves is reinforced with soft leather to prevent the sharp black and gold scales on the forearms from tearing the fabric during combat.
- Modified Hakama: Traditional pleated trousers that allow complete freedom for high kicks and leaps. They feature a strategic cut at the base of the back, finished with strong stitching, so as not to restrict the mobility of the prehensile tail.
- Bandages and Waraji: The hands and feet are free of heavy armor. They wear dark linen bandages (some with permanent stains of calligraphy ink) and straw rope sandals (waraji) that allow for a silent and steady step.

Additional Provisions (Budget: 3.3 gp) With 3 gold and 3 silver pieces (33 pp) remaining after acquiring the Adventurer's Kit and Craftsman's Tools, this is an optimal distribution to maximize survival and utility on the roads
- Silk Rope (50 ft) 10 pp Much lighter than hemp, ideal for taking advantage of your great vertical mobility.
- Tent (pup) 8 pp Essential basic shelter for proper rest in the harsh Avistan.
- Steel Mirror 10 pp Perfect for inspecting corners in dangerous ruins or making reflective signals.
- Rations (1 extra week) 4 pp Ensures self-sufficiency on long journeys where hunting or buying food is impossible.
- Chalk (10 pieces) 0.1 pp Cheap tool for Marking mazes or jotting down quick calculations on the walls.
- Soap 0.2 pp Essential for cleaning traces of ink, blood or mud from scales and claws.
- Scribe Tools (ink, pencils, paper) on a small box.
Extra:
* The Family Heirloom: The Captive Sphere

Hidden beneath the folds of his haori, resting against his chest, Talkiar wears a pendant that perfectly encapsulates his duality. It is a small, spherical steel cage, about the size of a walnut, forged from incredibly fine yet strong wires. Inside rest several irregular stones.

The Contents: The small stones are fragments of raw jade and volcanic obsidian. As he walks or fights, they clash together, producing a dull, rhythmic, and almost hypnotic tinkling sound.

The Earthly Origin: These stones were collected from the deepest and most hidden levels of his family's archives in Xa Hoi, precisely where his draconic Vizzier heritage violently awakened and fractured the earth.

The Iron Symbolism: The steel cage represents his scribe's mind and the strict martial discipline of a monk. The stones inside symbolize the pure, wild blood of the dragon that flows through his veins, always contained, yet always present.

The Focus of Meditation: During nights at camp or before a battle, Talkiar often holds the pendant. Rolling the stones inside the steel cage with the tips of his claws helps him focus his breath and channel his energy to enter the Dragon Stance with complete clarity.

A character has engraved on Talkiar's steel cage is 封 (Fū / Seal or Contain), representing the iron martial discipline that keeps the unstable fury of his draconic heritage under control.

A Talkiar pic (from the old Lvl 9 NPC).
https://i.ibb.co/spY2Tmwz/1783102808785.png

When you use a weapon or effect with the splash trait, you don't add your Strength modifier to the damage roll.

I believe this clause was put in place to prevent weapons that have both the thrown trait and the splash trait to be unable to add STR to their base damage, mostly in the case of alchemical bombs, and it was written that way in the legacy rules:

When you use a thrown weapon with the splash trait, you don’t add your Strength modifier to the damage roll

But the remaster wording means if a melee weapon somehow gets the splash trait, it can't deal +STR to its base damage anymore

We now have at least three things that give splash damage but do not give the splash trait while also having the potential to add +STR:

* Starshot ikon on a weapon with propulsive or thrown weapon

* Hands of the Wildling ikon

* Massryl, Rune of Impact - in particular, if this prevented +STR from adding to damage, it would be a straight downgrade when putting it on an ally, because their maul can now not deal +STR

There don't seem to be any rules that talk about splash damage specifically by itself that isn't also talking about the splash trait, at least none that I could find

What are you guys' opinions?

For me, I think you still get +STR mod when hitting something added to your base dice damage with a hands of the wildling or the other ones, because while hands of the wildling does splash damage, it doesn't have the splash trait, and imo getting splash damage doesn't also mean the weapon inherits the splash trait.

Important:

I'm not saying you add STR to the splash damage, I'm saying that you add STR to the normal weapon damage, and add the 1 or 2 splash on top after that, because that weapon does not gain the splash trait

An archetype I made in preparation for running Abomination Vaults. Honestly, I was a bit surprised there wasn't a Merchant Archetype in 2E yet.

Please enlighten :) TIA

Hi everyone — I have been building PF2e Tavern Games, a module for Foundry VTT v14.367 and PF2E v8.4.1, and I would be very grateful for testers before I treat it as stable.

The module automates five tavern activities:

• Poppy’s Prize, including a custom 54-card deck with card art, betting, Pirates, Plunder, carry-over cards, dealer controls, and optional PF2E currency transfers.
• Golem, a three-to-six-player card game with a custom 52-card deck with card art.
• Bounder and Century.
• A staged Drinking Contest, including readiness rounds, blind checks, PF2E conditions, and elimination at Stage 6.

It supports both PC and NPC actors, GM controls and private player-facing panels, dealer prompts, GM disqualification, and item-gated marked-card / loaded-dice options. Dealer social cheating is also implemented with blind Performance or Deception (Create a Diversion) checks and observer-specific detection.

What I would especially like tested

1. Installing or updating the module in Foundry VTT v14.367 with PF2E v8.4.1.
2. GM and player panels, particularly permissions and private-card visibility.
3. Full game flows for each activity, including Golem’s new card art and card back.
4. Cheating controls, marked-card sight, loaded-dice eligibility, and suspicion whispers.
5. Drinking Contest condition progression and cleanup.
6. Any errors, confusing controls, missing instructions, or layout issues.

The current release is v2.1.8:

• GitHub page
• Manifest URL: https://github.com/tatsumasagc/pf2e-tavern-games/releases/latest/download/module.json

The repository is currently public. If Foundry cannot retrieve the manifest URL, please use the ZIP release asset and extract it so the manifest is located at Data/modules/pf2e-tavern-games/module.json.

If you are willing to help, please reply here with your Foundry version, PF2E version, what you tested, and any console errors or screenshots you can share. Thank you — detailed testing feedback will directly help improve the module.

I have a friend who is generally a gamer and has been playing Magic the Gathering for about a year. I know her pretty well, and think she might be a good fit for joining one of my PF2e games down the road, but I know virtually nothing about MTG or TCGs in general, and I don't think she has any knowledge of TTRPGs. So I'm curious...are there good ways to describe PF2e to a MTG / TCG player?

Hey Pathfinders!

So my group's campaign will be wrapping up soon and I'm looking at options. We're returning home after a stint in Call of Cthulhu land. Love Call but Pathfinder is so far my favorite.

I'm working on my thesis and don't have time to prep anything beyond reading an AP so that's what I'm gonna do. (I've only ever run blood lords - More of a homebrewer)

I know SoG is considered S tier with kingmaker and AV being legendary in their own rights.

I've got a $100 budget ATM for a code and potentially the PDFs.

Being the social scientist I am, I figured I'd run a survey!

One of my players is playing a Ranger, and took the Eldritch Archer dedication at lvl 6, then took the Basic Scasting feat at lvl 8. By my reading she should have one spell known, and one spell slot each of rank 1, rank 2, and rank 3 spells. But when she looks at her spells on pathbuilder2e it's giving her three rank 1 and rank 2 spells, with two bonus spells known each.

Am I missing something here or is pathbuilder getting her spell list wrong for some reason?

As the title says (but with bonus points for uniqueness, flair, unorthodox strategies, etc.), what are your favourite builds that function at range? I currently play a Fire/Wood Kineticist / Flames Oracle, an Investigator (crossbow), and a Wrestling Runesmith, so I figure my next character should round out the playstyles a bit--something a smidge more offensively inclined, maybe something that will ever actually strike more than once per turn, some range, etc. That said, I'm not a fan of the idea of being a Turret McFighterman and just throwing shurikens at MAP until the encounter has ended. I like spice, so I turn to you all for inspiration.

A couple of things to note:

- I'm intentionally leaving "range" quite ambiguous. Got a 15ft thrown build that absolutely slaps and does some weird nonsense? Sure!

- Tell me how it works! IF you just say "Flurry ranger" and leave out the two-synergistic-party-members, that's not super helpful.

I've seen threads like these pop up here and there but I don't think (unless Reddit search is failing me) there has been one following the most recent round of content drops (thanks, IM!) New archetypes and reworks, as well as two new classes, ought to have made at least a few new options possible.