Welcome to your #1 resource for in-depth Pathfinder Second Edition guides, videos, and content! I've played this wonderful game for almost 5 years now, and I'm always hoping to get more people interested in trying it for themselves! I have guides for the game's classes, mechanics, and a plethora of other topics. Enjoy!
I basically just started my D&D type experience and I’ve always loved the monk class from FF 1. So this is where I started. Almost wish I had seen this first cuz I got stunning fist a little late, but it’s shaping nicely and I’ve done some of the highest damage so far, and some of the coolest actions. Being a noobie I was kinda nervous I wouldn’t bring much, but I’ve been able to come into my own. With some of these tips, and my friend helping me flesh out some things based on my play style I’m going for, it’s been awesome so far!
Pick something where your character is going to take the bait every time, and then tell your DM what that is. I know every time my party gets to a new town, one character is going to get wasted, one character is going to go to a secluded spot to write, one character is going to start handling supplies and the practical stuff, and one character is going to try and scam somebody. I also know that oppression, elitism, cowardice, and old rivals will always get them to fight. It makes it so much easier to make a story that centers these characters and put interesting things in places I know they will find them.
I am playing one now, and it is nuts. I Did also take the Champion Arch feat which gives you heavy armor right away at level 2. So I am pretty sure I am about to be OP. I have been loving it. I play with the Scar the Bangles and the Barrow edge, and switching from one to the other is super easy and fun. when I get to dazzle for no save it's going to be a good time. We also have a we also have a commander and a kineticist so our auras are over lapping frequently. I have been having a good time.
I'm a bit disappointed to see that they still have the gigantic gap between moderate bombs at level 4 and greater bombs at level 12. They really should get an upgrade in between, so bombs can at least stay ahead of cantrip damage. And the chirurgeon's field vials is just insulting - 2d6 healing for an actual action from level 4 through 11? Water kineticists do 1d8 per odd level, and Wood kineticists either heal 1d4+5 per odd level (minus 4 because the ability is weak at level 1) or prevent 10 hp per odd level for two actions (with the latter ability not having a target-based cooldown like the other two). Lay on hands does 6 points per odd level (unless that got changed), and though the vials replenish twice as fast, that would be 3 per odd level. If they wanted to give the chirurgeon a decent combat heal, they should have given them Battle Medicine but with a 10 minute cooldown on the target instead of 24 hours. For the barbarian, I gotta say an additional 5 to 10 points of damage on a single attack per combat doesn't seem all that exciting as an 11th level ability (when you're fighting things with like 115 to 295 hp), but on the other hand the barbarian was doing pretty fine already. Godbreaker seems very "magical Christmas land" to me. I mean, it's a cool visual, but... three actions for three attacks, and if you miss one the other actions are wasted? At regular MAP? I mean, the potential is there, but you could otherwise just attack twice for one action (with MAP on the second attack) and have two actions to do something else.
Consider that pathfinder has a whole book all relating to homebrewing everything about the game and how to balance said homebrewing. Settings,Items,Campaign,Feats,Skillfeats,Spells... you name it and the guidelines are there in what is now the GM CORE.
I swear, I'm not trying to begin a spat, but: if you're using eyeliner and/or shadow mascara, respect. If not, there's something wonky with the lighting and the shadows around your eyes.
Eh...yes, but homebrewing without experience needs a caveat: the player has to be prepared for it be adjusted by the DM, without the player feeling too bad about it. Homebrewing can get OP really fast and ruin the game for the rest of the party, adjustements will probably be needed.
First pathfinder game I made a cleric with the sun god ra and one of the anathema’s was that I can’t darken any room. I flavoured the eternal torch thingy to be an illuminated crystal that also was my casting item. Best part was first time we got to a dungeon my GM was like why is it already bright? (Playing on forge I think) and I was like oh that’s my crystal, it created some unique and fun situations
Homebrewing is pretty overwhelming when you're trying to understand how the game works. One of the reasons I find dming for pathfinder2e easier than dnd5e (you can focus on learning the rules instead of homebrewing half the rules just to fix the game). After understanding the rules, it's better and easier at this moment to know what to change in the game to add what you want.
Characterwise, I'll probably list some others but - My first was a fetchling monk/wrestler/oozemorph. Was inspired by the ring/grudge. Climb anything, grab and strangle or throw ppl. Cloak of the bat to grab while hanging from the ceiling - Most recent was a mother vulture cleric/swarmkeeper/spore druid to keep with the whole decay theme (and enough shrooms to make the last of us proud) - Next one's probably going to be an armor inventor/clockwork reanimator/golem grafter. Does a lot of self mod a la the mechanicus, testing them on the minion first. Also dip into psychic for fire/ice. Grab a target then break them down.
I think a point that a lot of people are missing in the comment sections is that 5e helped TTRPGs break into mainstream culture. Were there thriving communities before? Of course. Were there dozens or even hundreds of systems floating around? Absolutely. Had the average person heard of those systems or did they have any clue what they were like? Certainly not. 5e brought recognition to the general public. It isn't that 5e created the space, it's that it helped non-players to acknowledge it as a valid hobby. Even in the early 2000s, TTRPGs and TCGs were heavily stigmatized (I was bullied a fair bit for playing MTG) and people were quite cruel toward the enjoyers of those hobbies. The caveat with all of this is that it mostly applies to North America and especially the USA. I am well aware that several countries had/have more broadly accepted communities that predate 5e. All that said, play what you enjoy and experiment with other systems. I always come back to D&D but I have and do play many other systems. I would be hard pressed to remember and name them all.
Personally, archetypes and sometimes free arche are necessary to make my char concepts work. They're also about 90% of the character variety in my opinion It's usually popular to pair it with starting at level 2 both to skip the issues with level 1 and start with the archetype (useful for builds built around proficiencies the arche gives) The 3 action economy generally keeps the power level in check One way to limit options could be having the player give character reasons for the arche instead of mechanical ones The other issue I've seen with f.a. is if the archetype you want to take starts at lvl 4 I've never seen the ignore the special text done. Usually theyre allowed to take a skill (or class with a generous gm) feat in that slot instead
Giant instinct barbarian themed as a samurai. Big dumb nodachi sword with reach. The increased size is the susanoo ability from Naruto. To whoever it may concern I apologize and you are welcome.
this reminds me of the one time i tried DMing for my friend group and literally all of them made characters with explicit lack of motivation to engage with events. was the most frustrating TTRPG experience i had.
As a GM I try to create these connections myself. Players give me their rough backstory and I connect them to the main story. It is far better to have just a rough backstory which is relevant than to write a detailed book of backstory that never comes up. And as a DM it is fairly easy to put a NPC of one players backstory somewhere into the adventure without telling the player too much about it ("you heared rumors that this guy is there...") In my current campaign, all 7 players have their own reason to group up but eventually it will get them to a point where they realize there is something bigger going on...
OMG 4 minutes in and I'm so happy. I was just thinking about switching my character in the my brother's brand new kingmaker campaign because unlike a cleric I have to used an action to ready an elixir of life then wait for an ally to take it and drink it. I didn't know if we could wait until I got "healing bombs" at 4th level (I think)
Old 2e Swashbucklers gain 5 feet of movespeed when not in panache and 5 extra when in panache. Every time a channel goes over swashbuckler they go over stylish combatant but don't elaborate on whether they still gain the additional 5 out of panache or not. Do they?
Regarding Furious Sprint, if your Barbarian is compelled to take that feat over the other level 10 options (or even going back get an earlier level feat, there are more than one per such levels!), there's also a good chance they're taking Fleet in their build, bumping up to 40 feet. So, we smoke Usain Bolt with this!
I'm still waiting for summoner to get remastered... But, really looking forward to Dangerous Sorcery being base class. Can't wait to try out Remastered Sorcerer!
Throughout the video, you keep using Giant Barbarian for calculating rage damage benefits, but it's worth realizing that their improved damage is ONLY while wielding an oversized weapon. So the Thrash feat example where you are grappling and throttling someone probably doesn't count, and similarly for other non-strike situations. And the Raging Thrower probably only gets the improved bonus if the thing you are throwing is oversized...
Like this high level change video, that way I can see if there is something that catches my attention. Excited I can finally play a alchemist healer and not get laughed at. Really looking forward to that Oracle video though NoNat, builds seem a little more simplified now but hopefully we can still get that same build diversity from the remaster with the class
I'm going to be running my first PF2e game and I am SO excited to see what my players pick using the Free Archetype rules. We've used them before in our other game and it has had very few drawbacks. It just adds to the fun!
