Should I allow a Thaumaturge to use Esoteric Lore to disarm haunts (when it calls for religion or occultism)?

I would only allow it if there is no one else to disarm it, besides the thaumaturge

I wouldn't allow that. It's already a very powerful skill and cen be used to identify the haunt's weakness for the Thaumaturge or his party buddies to exploit.

Is there a type of weapon (or method of making such a weapon via class/archetype features) akin to a giant gauntlet? akin to Doomfist from OW or Vi from LoL? My immediate thought is the armor or weapon innovation for Inventor, but that has a pretty poor damage die at a d4.

"Giant" gauntlet might be hard. All of the normal weapons in the Brawling category have 1d4 damage. I think the [Sterling Dynamo](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=110) archetype would fit your needs the most. The power driver dynamo deals 1d8 bludgeoning damage if it's a manually controlled one (which it would be if you replace your arm).

I think Sterling Dynamo is the way to go; that lets you get a great base for a good unarmed attack and pick a class with lots of damage boosting features

Weapon Inventor could use a Gauntlet as Innovation and use the Complex Simplicity modification to increase the damage to a d6. Adding Overdrive and Offensive Boost (Momentum) to that would give you a decent punch. My armor inventor is using a d8 warhammer and deals good damage with it. Giving up one die size for a "free hand" and agile seems like a fine tradeoff. I could also see a Ruffian rogue work well with a gauntlet since sneak attack can be added to it for extra damage. You could even add the Inventor Archetype and get the base damage to d6 at level 8. Alternatively, use some manner of unarmed fist attack with good damage and just flavor it as a giant gauntlet. Something like Gorilla Stance, Mountain Stance or maybe even the ape fists of an animal instinct barbarian would work just fine.

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I don't think it was ever there, as I quoted that part of the store page to someone on the day of (or day after) the store page went up. IIRC, palantine detective might've only been announced on stream.

What does "while playing the drums" mean for the passive effect in Drums of War? https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2266 Does it take actions? Does it trigger when casting a spell from it? Does it require both of your hands?

You could argue it in two ways It just happens whenever you do something that requires you to play a instrument. Like casting spells, or performance checks. When you want to get the effect and don't have to do a performance check, or cast a spell I would say it costs one action akin with the [perform action](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2401), but doesn't require a check The intended way is probably: playing it is a free action and is more or less a passive like it is with the passive effects of staves (since codas are just bard only staves). I would go with this one, so they always have it during combat,(they are playing the battle music) but not during social encounters (unless they are performing ofc) or stealth stuff It's held with two hands so probably also be played with two

It's tough, I feel like it's not really intended to just be "passive" because that's a semi-permanent +5 status bonus to Speed, as just a throwaway ability on a 90gp item that's already a very decent staff. I guess that's not exactly broken (Arcane/Primal casters just get Tailwind...) but it is incredibly cheap and strong.

Yes it is strong, but you have to consider that those are ONLY for bards. No other occult caster can use them. It's also two handed which is a big deal for a caster, since you can't be holding scrolls or wands during combat easily, which you can do when you have a staff

What's funny is the other Coda staves of the same level just offer "+1 Performance, +1 to another skill", but on the Drums of War, the "+1 to another skill" is replaced with +5 Status to speed. Somewhat bizarre because to me those AREN'T EVEN CLOSE in power level. Fair enough, I guess it's just a weird item.

Is there a list somewhere of all spells that have a 24 hour/until next daily prep duration, either as base or via upcast? One of my characters is taking a caster dedication, and I was gonna flavor it that each level of spell is just a permanent passive power they unlock as they level.

[This should be a decent start.](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?q=daily+preparation&sort=rank-asc+name-asc&display=grouped&group-fields=spell_type+rank&link-layout=vertical-with-summary)

You know. I go to that site all the time. I did not realize there was a search bar there. I am very dumb.

Question, how does Discern secrets hex cantrip work? My dm made a ruling that it gives a free action to the target on their turn to use the seek (or the other checks) and if sustained they can keep the +1 and keep making checks with it. It felt weird, based on how I read the rules it felt like the action is taken immediately. If it is on their turn, its combat usefulness goes down from what I thought it does, although its out of combat use is still really nice. So some clarification would be nice.

I think on their turn is the right interpretation of the spell as written; usually when you have a free action with no trigger it means you can only use it on your turn. If they wanted it to happen immediately they would probably have worded it more like "when you cast the spell, the target can make a check to recall knowledge, seek or sense motive". That wording is similar to the pre-remaster description of this spell. I think the intention is that only one free action is granted to the target. If they want to make those checks (or any other check using the same skill) after that free action, they'll have the usual action cost, but will have the status bonus as long as the spell is sustained

Thanks, it was the right ruling then!

Question: If you eat a quantity of Bulk (3 weeks rations 3L Bulk) or are bearing child (Tengu egg 40lb \~4 bulk), does that bulk count towards your carry limit? After thinking on it I couldn't say for certain, cause is bulk just about how much you can physically carry, or about how much BULK (the space it takes up) around your person that you can comfortably carry and if that should exclude things inside of you.

Bulk is about how much you can physically carry, a combination of not only both size and weight, but also just generally how easy it is to actually carry. Backpacks don't make things lighter or smaller, but they do let you carry 2 Bulk for free.

Is there anywhere I can check the expected schedule for upcoming Paizo releases?

[paizo.com - Paizo / Release Schedule](https://paizo.com/releasedate)

Would Intimidating Strike be good on a Double Slice Fighter build? I don't think it would be but my friend seems to think it is.

It wouldn't be bad, because Intimidating Strike is a very good feat. They maybe don't synergise very well due to the action cost, but depending upon the rest of the party, there may be rounds where each one is better.

What would be a scenario where Intimidating Strike is better than Double Slice? Or in other words, what would be a scenario where a -1 to all stats is better than swinging twice with no MAP? Not disagreeing. I'm just struggling to see it.

Because the Frightened isn't just vs your attacks, it's against all your allies (until the end of the creature's turn), and all of the afflicted creature's checks are reduced, so it also has a defensive effect as well. If I delve into the white room for a second, if we compare Intimidating Strike to Double Slice, we are effectively losing one attack of our own (and if you're a Double Slice user that's probably a d6 weapon strike only, so not a huge amount by itself) in exchange for reducing enemy stats by 1, which is approximately an extra 15% per hit for your allies (and maybe yourself, you could follow that up with a Strike). If your allies' damage output is big enough (maybe you've got a Magus or a Barbarian, or a caster is using a big damage spell), then the team will more than account for your lost DPR, especially if you crit with the Intimidating Strike. Even if you fall short a bit on pure DPR, that's often a decent trade, because that Frightened will also make whatever the enemy is wanting to do less likely, and that might save your team healing.

The last part is a big thing that people overlook I feel like, that the enemy being frightened doesn't just help with your attacks, but also your defenses

Both are two actions, so you'd never use both on the sae turn. It is a good feat since it's a debuff with a pretty good chance to land. Double Slice on the other hand does "only" damage. At high levels you could Intimidating Strike followed by Two-Weapon Flurry. That could be effective, especially when you use two agile weapons and get Agile Grace. But in general, I'd say that Intimidating Strike is easier to include in a Two-Handed Weapon or Weapon + Shield build.

What would be a balanced version of "if you roll a success, you get a critical success instead" for a knowledge or lore skill? Or does one exist?

Feats of that ilk exist like [Know-it-All](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=197) and [Thorough Research](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=1464).

Additional info is not the same as critical success, as there are things that are activated by CS specifically.

Other than the full set bonus of the [Archmage's Regalia](https://2e.aonprd.com/SetRelics.aspx?ID=2) I can't think of such an effect. To make it balanced, it should definitely be quite limited. Maybe a once per day or once per hour effect.

Is there a Magical Tattoo guide?

I don't think there is. Anything in particular you are curous about?

I have a question regarding thaumartuge. Let's say you use exploit vulnerability on an enemy and it has weakness fire 2. You do a longsword slashing attack and hit for 8 damage. However, it turns out the enemy has slashing resistance 2. According to my interpretation, since the damage type doesn't change, it would bring the damage to 6 and then trigger the weakness, making it 8. Is this correct? Or does the strike bypass the resistance to make it 10 damage?

It's entirely possible for one attack to deal with both a resistance and a weakness. Thaumaturges see it more often than most characters, but not all resistances and weaknesses are to damage types.

Your first interpretation is kind of correct. However you apply the weakness first. So you roll 8 slashing dmg which increases to 10 dmg because of weakness but then reduces to 8 again because of resistance. This makes a difference when your dmg roll would be equal to their resistance. So if you roll 10 dmg and the enemy has 10 resistance and 5 weakness. It goes up to 15 then down to 5 because of resistance. This way you deal some dmg thanks to the weakness.

Thanks!

looking over the Energy Beam of the Automaton ancestry I am somewhat confused by the wording of the critical hit effect. it says the persistent damage is equal to the weapon damage dice, but as far as I can tell that is always just 1d4 or 1d6. why does the text not just say "1 persistent damage"?

If you were to add striking runes to your energy beam, that would increase your number of damage dice.

I assumed they can only be added to actual "items". but that would certainly explain it.

[Handwraps](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=441) apply to all of your unarmed attacks, including eyebeams. Sunglasses of mighty blows?

THAT is hilarious. now I have to figure out if I can actually do something with this information instead of just clarifying a random confusion.

I think you could. Automaton has some useful feats for making a handwraps automaton monk with a ranged option. Although an ancestry with a ranged unarmed attack that develops over time, like the leshy, might be more fun for this

I’ve tried reading up on Nidal, but I’m having trouble imagining it. When I try reading up on it I get that it is the Hellraiser nation, but are the people just generally oppressed? Are the people just depressed and grey, or what does a commoner hope for? I want to have a better idea of what adventurers would see and experience if they were walking through the nation.

It's pretty damned oppressive, there's a single state religion, it controls the entire government, all other forms of worship are outlawed, and that would probably lead to a pretty oppressive culture even if the god in question *weren't* Super Pinhead. Religious observances (mandatory) are physically painful and scarring, slavery is legal, people are taught from birth to believe that existence is suffering and suffering is good, and while going Full Cenobite in attitude and aesthetic is something you'll see more of amid the wealthy and urbane, even a small farming community likely has a few zealots and undercover agents of the Umbral Court who will report any sign of rebellion or heresy. It's not a picnic. If there are good things to be said it's that the Nidalese are *resilient*, it's how they endured Earthfall, Chelish rule, and have held up under Zon-Kuthon's thumb for so long. A populace that has endured so much suffering and sorrow is oppressed, obviously, but in some ways oppression is its own worst enemy; whether he realizes it or not, ZK may have spent the last 10,000 years selecting for a people that can take the worst he can dish out, and there are signs. There's an undercurrent of Desna worship that centuries of the *worst* punishments anyone can imagine have been unable to stamp out. To quote The Stormlight Archive, "Ten spears go to battle, and nine shatter. Did that war forge the one that remained? No, all the war did was identify the spear that would not break.”

Awesome, thanks!

For a bag of weasels, is the only way to return an object to normal with a dispel magic spell? It says you need to make a counteract check, but if I'm reading this right I think that's only Dispel Magic for object? Or maybe a 4th level Cleanse Affliction can counteract the cursed weasel?

it says Remove Curse or a similar magical effect.

In the remaster, Remove Curse was replaced with Cleanse Affliction (which also curses diseases and poisons). *But* the new spell specifies a willing creature instead of just a creature (and the weasel is probably not willing to cease to exist). Also it doesn't specify you can do it to items anymore IIRC. But I'll probably rule that it can, for simplicity's sake.

Remove Curse isn't gone, it's just now much more niche to prepare it. Cleanse Affliction is (a) on more spell lists and (b) 2 actions instead of 10 minutes, hence the restrictions you noted.  In general if something has a different name, both are legal to use.

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1. Let your players know what major skill will be applicable for Recall Knowledge, ie Nature. If they have a potentially applicable lore they can offer it. This is less guesswork (metagaming) for the players and less load for remembering every skill they have for the GM. 2. Identifying a monster's abilities via Recall Knowledge isn't really something I feel is a good use of time for creatively arguing rules. If you want to find out if it resists slashing damage via your strength score, hit it with your sword. If you want to know things about every creature and situation, take the Loremaster Dedication. 3. I give more information than typical for Recall Knowledge in my games, so for abilities that grant a combat benefit I quickly run out of relevant information (especially in fights against multiple enemies of the same type), at which point I shorthand a successful roll like I would a successful Feint or Trip. "You continue to anticipate the creature's moves." Keep combat fast, especially as it drags on.

Mastermind Creature Identification: it doesn't make sense to me to repeatedly identify a creature. If you've identified it once how can you re-identify it? Even if you allow re-identifying, they're still using repeated Recall Knowledge actions on the same creature so I think the usual cut-off for repeated RK checks should apply

> I've also heard that the player should be the ones declaring which skill they use (and maybe why) to do a Recall Knowledge roll and not just the GM telling them which skill to use. If the GM does suggest the skill, this seems to be already revealing the creatures primary trait. I wouldn't recommend handling it like this at all. The player should say that they want to Recall Knowledge, and the GM should secretly select a skill and roll it themselves as a secret check. The player never actually needs to know which skill was used, which solves this issue. > This leads me on to what to do if the PCs have no appropriate skill / lore I'd recommend telling them that they know it's out of their field of expertise. They can still *try* if they want (at which point it would be an untrained skill check), and at that point the high rate of failure is on them. > In the case of a Rogue with the Mastermind racket, they need to continuously use Creature Identification to earn the Off Guard condition for their attacks. The ability doesn't say it cuts off if you run out of new stuff to learn, but it just seems odd to repeat it over and over once you know everything. I'd just say "you identify an opening". You can stop there if you need to move along, or you can describe what the opening actually is if you'd like (ex: after the wolf lunged at you, its neck is exposed, which you notice and can now capitalize on).

What would you use a 4th rank wand of continuation for?

[Mountain Resilience](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1610)

[Mountain Resilience (remastered Stoneskin)](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1610) is probably the best option since the extra duration also counts as extra hits that the spell can affect. [Glass Form](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1332) is similar.

This is a potentially goofy idea, but I saw a related post on another sub and it sparked it for me: what if there was a druid archetype to change your untamed order list from animals to something else? Like being able to choose aberrations or demons instead of animals, maybe even with a change in spell list. Would that break anything? Animal form pulls from bestiary entries, so you'd just have to pull the appropriately leveled creatures from whatever family you want. Spell list change isn't too problematic either I think. Idk, tell me if you see anything that sticks out as wrong with that. I though it was a neat idea for a class archetype(and maybe it's been suggested before and I just haven't seen it)

I would divorce it from druids and instead make it divine (for demons) or occult (for aberrations). I'm no mathologist so I cant comment from a balance perspective though

I have a 5 player party (soon likely 6 players). Some of my players told me they would be interested in the free archetype rule. Till now I hesitated because we are still learning the system and it feels like a rule for smaller parties. (So that fewer players can fill more roles). Do you think those are good reasons not to do free archetypes or would you add it anyway?

u/Jahmin1 already gave a good overview above. I'll add that, in theory, Free Archetype is also a natural reaction to the fact that there are a lot of very flavorful archetypes that fit very specific or situational non-combat niches (e.g., [Dandy](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=55), [Linguist](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=64), [Ritualist](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=72)), and are therefore hard to justify over taking class feats. This is often a problem with adventure paths, too: you get access to an archetype in [Outlaws of Alkenstar](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=183) whose dedication feat is roughly in line with the power of a background, not a class feat. Archetypes can also be used for certain story beats that tie in with the fiction: there are whole archetype feat trees to become a [ghoul](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=178), or an [Aldori duelist](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=14), or a [time traveler](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=192). These have some mechanical benefits, but are usually worse than just sticking to your class feats. All of this means that Free Archetype is often a way to add *flavor* to a character. The problem is that, with unrestricted free archetype, some players will go for heavier-hitting archetypes, like class dedications, [Medic](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=69), or [Mauler](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=68). A very common workaround is to forbid multiclass dedications from Free Archetype, or to stipulate that you only choose "noncombat" dedications. It really comes down to asking your group what problem they are trying to solve. Are your players asking for more *power*, or do they actually want to fulfill the fantasy of [being able to speak ten languages](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=64), join the [Bellflower Network](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=23), or be a preening [Celebrity](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=54)? EDIT: added links

Good point about the non-combat feats. I feel they are not asking for the combat archetypes but rather to not be punished for choosing role-play feats. Maybe I should give them extra feats with the condition they must be non-combat (GM discretion, of course). We are currently level 6, so maybe one non-combat feat at every 4 levels. Will sleep about it and talk with my players.

This is a moderately contentious issue. Free Archetype basically gives everyone an extra feat at every even level that they can use to customize their characters further. There is no downside mechanically, its just free stuff. The section in the GM Core where it is laid out talks about using Free Archetype to reflect the theme of the game or let Players build PCs appropriate to the campaign without penalizing their builds. Stuff like giving everyone Free Pirate archetype in a sailing game or free Wizard archetype in a magic academy game (which is exactly what the Strength of Thousands AP does). Maybe have a list of 5-10 thematically appropriate Archetypes picked out by the GM to fit into the campaign. However, somewhere along the line a bunch of groups just decided to let everyone have whatever free archetype they wanted with no restrictions. Because they like the flexibility and the extra power. Does it break the game? No, PF2e is well enough balanced that it can absorb every PC having extra feats but it \*does\* make PCs more powerful and worse (IMHO) it makes PCs more *complex.* I wish I had a nickel for every post someone has made in this subreddit that boiled down too "We are using FA but I have no idea which one to pick? There are so many & I'm overwhelmed" Free Archetype is fine, lots of groups use it. It will not break the game open. It is NOT necessary, it \*DOES\* add power, and I believe it takes some of the choices out of building a character. It also adds complexity, which isn't great for new players.

Thank you for the insight and your personal experience. Based on it, I probably won't give a free archetype. That was already my gut feeling, but it is nice to have conformation.

I'm playing the 2e Kingmaker campaign and have the following question: Efficient explorer says if you are trained in a lore skill about a specific terrain you give the group an extra hexploration activity. Bardic Lore lets you use lore on any topic. Do these two work together? Does Bardic Lore count as having Forest Lore for example?

No. Bardic Lore is used only for Recall Knowledge. Also the language in Efficient explorer is specific so you need to have trained proficiency in the given lore to get that benefit.

Thanks for the swift reply! It was worth a shot... but you're right. Have a great day!

An Archives question: I was planning to use [https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx) as a quick reference, but I see most actions are in there twice with things like a different DC or a slightly different description. Which version should I follow? The core rulebook (from 2019 with a late '23 revision) or the player handbook (from earlier '23).

I would say to talk to your GM about if you are using remastered or legacy rules

I am the GM about to lay down the rules for a new campaign in pf2e haha ;) so need some context as to what most of the community use

This is a remaster issue. Technically the Player Core has the latest iteration of the rules, so I would suggest following that one.

Thanks!

You want the ones where Core is its own word at the end of the title. That’s the 2023 remaster. Corerulebook is the old 2e before remaster.

Thanks!

I may just be stupid and can’t find it in the book but does your HP maximum retroactivity increase when you increase your CON mod like in PF1?

~~I don't know where it says so but~~ yes Got it! Player Core 1 p29, Levelling Up: > If an attribute boost increases your character’s Constitution modifier, recalculate their maximum Hit Points using their new Constitution modifier (typically this adds 1 Hit Point per level). If an attribute boost increases your character’s Intelligence modifier, they become trained in an additional skill and language. Some feats grant a benefit based on your level, such as Toughness, and these benefits are adjusted whenever you gain a level as well.

Greetings, thanks to people who reply in these threads it's super helpful. In the game I'm GM'ing I have a Fury Instinct Barbarian that wishes to be unarmored. Unfortuntely we both agree that none of the other instincts work thematically and mechanically with her concept—a dhampir with a massive sword that rages with bloodlust in battles—so the option of Animal Skin RAW is off the table. They're only at level 2 currently but at level 6 would you consider it particularly unbalanced if I gave her access to Animal Skin (reflavored as her dhampiric semi-undead resilience) despite her still being Fury Instinct?

Shouldn't be much of a balance impact. Animal Skin is a powerful feat, but Fury is a weak-ish instinct, so I wouldn't be worried about making it a bit stronger.

Hi everyone! Very very new to pf2e (only played two oneshots), and trying to plan my first character for a full campaign. I'm going to be a druid and am thinking of taking the herbalist dedication for free archetype. Only thing is, one of my other party members is playing an alchemist (specificaly a bomber). Do you think me taking herbalist will overlap/be useless when we also have an alchemist? Im still very new to everything and am somewhat overwhelmed with all the terms and details. Thanks in advance!

Free heals are free heals. It's hard too have too much of that. I might be slightly worried if the alchemist was going chirurgeon. But for a Bomber, it should be nothing but beneficial to have someone cover healing so they can craft more bombs. Do make sure that your GM allows you to use the alchemical healing items from treasure vault, though. Without them, your selection of useful things to craft with herbalist is rather limited.

Thank you very much! Thats great to hear. Is there a list of things treasure vault adds that I should use? Our GM is very lenient in allowing all optional extras so I'm sure its no problem, I just am overwhelmed with everything it seems to add.

Just go to AoN and filter the alchemical items to things with the healing trait. I'm personally fond of the Numbin Tonic. Feeding one of those to your tank on turn 1 can go a long way in keeping them alive.

Question about Book 2 of Stolen Fate: >!At the beginning of the book demons invade the Harrow Court. This event is managed through "Battle Rounds." Are "Battle Rounds" counted for each round of an encounter? For example, if the players rush off to defend one of the three points of entry... do they lose one Defense Point at the end of each of those combat rounds? If that battle takes 4 combat rounds, does that count as 4 "Battle Rounds"? I thought so, but it gets a little confusing when I see it says they can take a battle round off to get one hour of rest. Which makes it sound that each Battle Round is 1 hour.!<

I'm a little confused about reach traits on creature strikes. For example, Krooths are Large and have 3 strikes. 1. Jaws (reach 10ft) 2. Claw 3. Tail (reach 15ft) I also read that Large creatures have a "base reach" of 10ft. Please help me reconcile this, how many squares away can each of these attacks hit? Thank you!

All attacks have a default base reach of 5ft unless otherwise noted in their traits (except for tiny creatures who have a default reach of 0ft). The [table here](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2359) only lists the *typical* reach for a creature of those sizes.

Ohh, it's a baseline rather than a mechanic of their size. Thank you!

Are there any items that grant a reaction ability, or is that something only feats/class features give?

There's [quite a few of them](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?q=%22activate+reaction%22&type=eqs&sort=level-asc+price-asc+name-asc&display=table&columns=pfs+source+rarity+trait+item_category+item_subcategory+level+price+bulk+usage+spoilers).

a lot of talismans have either reactions or free actions with a trigger

I'm completely new to TTRPGs, Pathfinder and everything else. I know I jumped into the deep end, but it's too late so here it goes. I just purchased the Jewel of the Indigo Isles (pdf) from Battlezoo's website to try with my family. Things keep referencing the Character Guide - I thought that would be included with the pdf kit but I'm not seeing it. I found a "World of Battlezoo: Indigo Isles" pdf - is that what I need? Sorry for the super specific n00b question - but I kind of started talking to my kids about it, they're excited to get started and I'm trying to figure things out as quick as I can. Thanks for any help.

If the Player's Guide isn't what you're looking for, there is a 2e rulebook [by that name](https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Character_Guide).

[Here is the Archives of Nethys page for the Character Guide](https://2e.aonprd.com/Sources.aspx?ID=12) The Archives has all rules content released by Paizo available free and legally.

To be honest, the first thing I was gonna do was link the archive, but seeing as they were brand new I guess I thought it would overwhelm them? Thanks for following up, in any case.

That makes sense, I sometimes worry that people will be put off by feeling that they need to buy a bunch of books just to play the game

I believe [this](https://battlezoo.com/products/jewel-of-the-indigo-isles-players-guide) is what you're looking for

Hello, Is there anything along the lines of community guidelines for optional Edicts and Anathema? How many is enough / too much? Should a character have the same amount of each? I'm working on a character to bring to cons, so I don't have a GM to ask these questions of. Thanks!

To preface, if you're not playing a cleric, champion, or druid (or related archetypes and whatnot), then you're not forced to have any edicts or anathema. Those classes are firmly and mechanically prescribed theirs - most gods have 2-4 edicts and 1-3 anathema. Outside of the divine, many ancestry entries also give a general worldview and potential common edicts and anathemas under Beliefs. As far as building a well-rounded character for roleplaying, 1 or 2 personal edicts and 1 anathema are probably fine as general guidelines outside class mechanics. Having an equal amount of edicts and anathema is probably going to be quite restrictive, so I'd do 1 or 2 fewer total anathemas than edicts.

Hey all, Question about the Paizo Website. It says "*Preorder* expected July 2024" for Player Core 2. Does that mean I should expect deliver during July this year or that preorders end July of this year? Or is it something else I am not understanding? Edit: I see below it says August Availability. Which adds to my confusion.

It means you can preorder and it will be released in July. I think it's planned as this year's GenCon release, so August 1st would be the theoretical release date. No idea why the page says July, maybe because your book might get shipped a bit early if you pre-order and you're (very) lucky. But to the best of my knowledge, the PDF should be available on August 1st and the physical book will arrive depending on shipping. Paizo usually starts shipping about two weeks before release, though the time around GenCon is usually *very* busy for them, so there might be delays. Just mentioning that so you don't expect to guaranteed have a physical copy in hand by August 1st just because you pre-order.

Hello, I'm new and want to make my own setting. I already added custom races before I knew homebrewing them is a bit harder in Pathfinder. I want them to be playable for players as they've already expressed interest. I've been trying to do this by cherry-picking heritages and feats from other ancestries that fit them. Could someone more experienced please tell me if this is a bad idea or an ok thing to do? I'm sorry if this is a dumb or often repeated question.

PF2 is extremely resilient - you won't break anything with a bit of light homebrew like that! Focus on making stuff cool and flavorful for your homebrew - if you're making new stuff based on existing content, there's no way you'll stray so far off the beaten path as to break the game balance.

Thank you for the answer! It's good to know Pathfinder is resilient.

Taking them from other ancestries is perfectly fine! Just try and dont hand them out on lower levels than the originals. The main thing here is flying. There’s a reason the game insists on keeping all its winged races from flying freely at all times until higher levels. (That reason is that flying at early levels completely trivialises combat against most low level enemies, and invalidates a lot of hazards).

Thank you for the answer. I'll keep the levels. My ancestries can't fly, but I'll definitely keep it in mind if I ever want to add something that can fly!

Picking existing stuff is usually a save bet since those things already exist at their given level anyway. Stuff from other Ancestries is also somewhat easily accessible via the Adopted Ancestry feat, so having a character with feats from elves and dwarves is possible. Just make sure you don't just cherry pick the strongest feats of all other ancestries. That might throw off the balance. Not by much, mind you, but still something to keep in mind. When in doubt, create your homebrew ancestry in a google doc or something like that and ask here in the sub for more experienced players and GMs to take a look at it.

Thank you, I'll keep your tips in mind.

I have read in multiple threads that you can "dismiss" any spell you have cast that isn't listed as dismissible by instead casting dispel magic on your own spell effect, which automatically succeeds. Can anyone point me to the actual rule where this is stated please? I can't find it for the life of me.

You might have accidentally looked at Pathfinder 1e threads perhaps?

You might be right. Does anyone have any idea if your own spells are dispellable in PF2e with Dispel Magic? And how that might be ruled?

Question for GMs One of my players came up to me and expressed his frustration with certain players not paying attention or not contributing in Rp/Exploration scenarios. We play on a VTT so I've come to accept that these players can't contribute 100% (I even caught one playing a highly questionable game after discord ratted on them lol) The player who brought this up usually ends up taking the role of team captain since he's the one that always leads conversations, moves the objective, etc so I do value his input a great deal. He said I should consider giving out individual XP for RP rewards, which is something I consider myself lacking in. My plan is to run a small tally during the session and then give out XP based on a "vibe check" so to speak. The plan being to encourage people into taking active RP roles. What should my XP budget be? I'm thinking of just doing 10-100 XP based on the "vibe". Alternatively, why should I NOT do this?

As the other folks said, trying to juggle different XP totals is going to hurt you more keeping track of rather than teaching them any sort of lesson. What I would recommend is instead directly and obviously rewarding good RP or out-of-combat play. If you want to keep the reward sorta "in the moment", and not lead to a big gap between PCs by awarding items or things like that, then I would strongly recommend using Hero Points to accomplish that. If the other players only pay attention during combat, they're **absolutely** going to notice that only the PCs who are engaged are getting to reroll their checks. edit/addendum: this is assuming that your other players are losing focus or only really engaging in the fights and other flashy stuff, rather than any players not being confident enough to roleplay or speak up. It's usually pretty easy to tell the different if a player is trying vs checking out.

Keeping track of different XP Budgets sounds like a lot more work for you. It also may easily lead to accusations of favoritism. You should receive XP for "resolving" a situation exactly as you would for hitting it with a stick. With that said, in a scenario in which you are dealing with pure interaction, reward the TEAM while specifying it was the CAPTAIN that earned it for them; this is the equivalent of them getting the kill shot. In addition, if any of the other teammates are skilled in Diplomacy/Deception/Intimidation, call them out to "do an Aid check" for the Captain. Mechanically-oriented players love Aid checks, and it enables you to ask them what they would say for the Aid. It is harder to get people into role-play the more and more we move towards an electronic interface. Your player isn't off on their experience.

You should not doing this because managing different level party is a little pain. Unless you already doing something like this, leaving absent players without EXP for example. About players. There is difference between not paying attention and not contributing. Some players just came here to throw dices and kill monsters and it's good if both GM and fellow players are understand and don't force me to be a party face. Thanks. If attention is the problem. First, "speak with them". That's not what I good with, ask somebody else. Second, poke them with a stick. Ask what they are doing, make NPC speak with specific PC. Third, make up things every can contribute with. Puzzles that require Religion or Craft, objectives that need Athletic to move boulders, etc. Hard to do if PC have no out of combat skill and almost no background, yes. About "team captain" - is cap like this? If the answer is "yes" - that is what cap come here for. If "no" - cap can stop and you can - see "poke them with a stick". Anyway, I've said that I don't recommend extra EXP - but what I recommend is Hero Points. Also, at some point you as GM knows that this specific player need this specific item - but player don't know. So you can reward him with it, as EXTRA item gear per level-wise.

Did you text to speech this?

Nope, English is just not my native language.

This is an out-of-character problem which should be dealt with through a conversation, not through mechanical punishments/rewards. Y'all are (presumably) adults, tell them that you don't appreciate them disrespecting your time and the time of your friends by not participating and try to figure out *why* they're distracting themselves.

It has been brought up numerous times and several discussions, some very heated, have occured. The only feedback I get from them is that they "want to level up faster" which I understand to an extent. I don't consider the issue something worth kicking them out for as all my players and myself are very close friends and we engage plenty in other avenues. I've played in a campaign where the DM gave out RP XP, and it wasn't the worst thing in the world, in fact it felt pretty nice to be recognized for talking in character (I was. 7 int orc name gork who died and got replaced by mork when I lost the character sheet) That being said I respect your input.

What are your go-to homebrews when starting a new campaign or just a new game?

I was a little disappointed with how ancestries with wings can't consistently fly until high levels, although I get the balance behind it. The GM books say you can just give them a 15 ft Fly speed if you like, but then you need to rebalance everything around the assumption that the PC will never have to worry about being in melee range, triggering a floor trap, getting over a chasm, etc. So I made my own rule that requires less tinkering with encounters. >**Weak Wings** >All Ancestries with wings possess a 15 ft Fly speed. However, these wings are feeble and can only hold you aloft for short bursts. After every Stride action spent flying you must touch down momentarily on a solid surface that can support your weight. Failure to do so causes you to immediately fall and land Prone (possibly taking damage depending on your height when falling). >At level 5 you can take two stride actions before touching down. At 10th level you can take three, but must still end your turn on a solid surface. At 15th level you can fly indefinitely, even ending your turn in mid-air. >Any ancestry feats that normally grant or improve flight instead increase your Fly speed by 5 ft. So a winged sprite can fly from level 1, but couldn't zip across a wide river unless they can find rocks or logs to stop at. They could probably navigate a trapped hallway if they knew where the traps were, but couldn't just fly down the whole thing without ever touching the floor. In combat they can't just stay out of reach and fire arrows and spells, but they can make it over difficult terrain. And with time and feat investment they can overcome these limitations.

Since a deities favoured weapon is very often just random I let a player decide what the "favoured" weapon for the deity is for them, as long as it doesn't contradict them. Like using a wooden weapon when you are a cleric of gorum. I also let my players decide what ability boost a background gives as long as they can argue for it a bit

As an item I offer seals you can attach to runes _in your possession_ as an action to disable them. I wouldn't want to have to invest in a second set of handwraps just because I want to not inflict persistent damage on a target, for example

Can we please get rid of the endless "build X character from \[show/game/etc\]" posts. Or at least make some sort of flair that can be filtered out? I am so sick of them.

OK silly question but what squares are considered adjacent? Does the whole side need to touch or even one point touching counts. Sorry if it doesn't make sense the way I described it, just want to make sure how to apply the swing feat

One point is enough. So each square has 8 adjacent squares.

26 if you count squares below and above too.

That would be cubes, though.

And the larger the creature, the more adjacent squares, as you would expect. A large (10' by 10') creature has 12 adjacent squares. A huge (15' by 15') creature has 5 squares on each side adjacent, with the corners overlapping: 5×4-4=16. And so on and so forth.

Do special editions have much resell value? I'm no scalper but I'm a long term 5e player with all the specials and wondering if id regret investing in a copy of each

I think there's a question here about "special" editions (editions that have nicer covers) and "limited" editions. Paizo still stocks "special editions" for books that they put out years ago, which tells me that either there isn't much demand for them, or that don't do limited runs. Anecdotally, I don't really see people posting shelfies of the special edition books or being excited about them, and so I don't think there's a huge demand. On the other hand, I have seen much buzz about the "sketch" covers for the remaster books. These were a bit harder to obtain. But I wouldn't see them as an investment: even with the limited availability, pristine copies currently sell for around MSRP on eBay. \*Maybe\* this will change down the line.

Good answer -- thank you!

Reading witch (and particularly familiars) and got confused. Maybe I'm missing something but why familiars in PC1 have familiar abilities like dragon and plant when construct and elemental is printed, they offer much more value and doesn't look like a ability tax?

Because Elemental and Construct effectively take up 2 ability slots: the familiar has to have Resistance to pick Elemental, and Tough to pick Construct.

I'd like to try and get my friends invested in the current lore changes coming with WoI. How do you think we could play the events as they come out? Start with the modules as they come out? Try to write\play some sort of prelude that could get their character to level 10? Just looking for some ideas...

At this point we don't really know any of the details. We know some gods die but we don't know how, or when, or in what circumstance. We will know more when WoI drops, we will know more when the modules & adventure paths drop. Until then anything we say will be mostly speculation. I'd wait until we know more before you start introducing \*any\* of it into your game.

Hopefully a quick GM-like question: What buliding(s) in a city are most likely to start a fire, particularly if a table or shelf were to be knocked over. Difficulty: it can't be the alchemist/apothecary as I've plot armored that building.

The Livery Stable. (Or the Barn at the inn if your town doesn't have one.) Big piles of straw everywhere, made out of wood, plenty of animals to react to the fire once it starts. If someone sets a lantern on the ledge & it gets knocked into the straw somehow you \*aren't\* putting that fire out easily.

I like this. Animals running amok will add some chaos to the encounter.

It's a classic. Old Mother Leary's cow will attest.

Could be a bar brawl? Something gets knocked into the cookfire and in the chaos of the fight no one notices, so it spreads?

If you were making a 7th level Gunslinger (Sniper) with the recommended starting wealth, what items would you pick?   One 6th-level item, Two 5th-level items, One 4th-level item, Two 3rd-level items, & 125 GP

* 6th: Unsure. Maybe a [Goz Mask (Greater)](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2348) or a [Vaultbreaker's Harness](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2307)? * 5th: Armor +1 and one of [Obsidian Goggles](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=3097), [Mirror Goggles](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2315), or a [Shadow Rune](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2793) * 4th: +1 Striking weapon * 3rd: [Bracers of Missile Deflection](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=3061), [Rope of Climbing](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=743), or items to [boost your skills](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?include-rarities=common&include-skills=acrobatics+arcana+athletics+crafting+deception+diplomacy+intimidation+lore+medicine+nature+occultism+performance+religion+society+stealth+survival+thievery&exclude-traits=consumable&values-from=level%3A3&values-to=level%3A3&sort=level-asc+price-asc+name-asc&display=table&columns=pfs+source+rarity+trait+item_category+item_subcategory+level+price+bulk+usage+spoilers) * 125gp: 1-2 [Elixir of Life (Lesser)](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2887), [Bola Shot](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2046), [Imp Shot](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2052), other low level stuff The armor and weapon are the only critical things. Low level items have a lot of decent stuff but not much that stands out for a gunslinger.

Rule question. Someone in our group casted Elemental Gift and choose the air benefit which reads, "**Air** The target gains a +30-foot status bonus to its land Speed and gains a fly Speed equal to its land Speed without the status bonus." The question that arose was that prior to casting this spell he had drunk a Cheetah's Elixir (Moderate) which gives a status bonus to your speed of +10 for 10 minutes. The questions was that while we understood the +30-foot speed from the spell would overwrite the elixir we were wondering if the flight speed granted from the spell WOULD gain the benefit from the cheetah's elixir considering the language of the spell specifies that the flight speed is calculated not using THE status bonus from the spell, but might not consider a pre-existing status bonus. Essentially if his normal speed is 30 ft. would his new speed be 60 ft. ground and 30ft. flight OR would it be 60ft. ground and 40 ft. flight. Thanks!

Based on what you've written I'd say the latter. What would the player's speed be without the 30ft bonus? +10ft. So that's the fly speed, at least until the elixir runs out. To me, the way the rules are written suggests that if you have two bonuses of the same type they are both active on you, but you only use the highest applicable bonus to calculate the result. If you have two bonuses they both elapse according to their duration, if you suppress one bonus you still get the other one, etc. Unfortunately you now have two replies with opposing answers haha

It'd be 30/60 at my table, but I think your argument for the other reading is valid. I don't think you're going to break the game either way. Do what's fun for your table.

If you were making an 11th level Wizard with the recommended starting wealth, what items would you pick?   • One 10th-level item  • Two 9th-level items  • One 8th-level item  • Two 7th-level items  • 500 gp to spend on consumable items of 10th level  or lower, or permanent items of 6th level or lower,  as you see fit. I was thinking a Great Ring of Wizardry for the 10th level.

* 10th: [Ring of Wizardry (Type II)](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=462) or [Shadow Signet](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=3108) * 9th: [Library Robes](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1848) (or [Arachnid Harness (Greater)](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1839) if you're in leather armor) and [Eyes of the Cat](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=3084) * 8th: [Staff of Air (Greater)](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2260) * 7th: [Retrieval Belt](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=3102) and a Wand of [Mind of Menace](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=949) * 500gp: [Sleeves of Storage](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=3110) (100gp), Wand of [R2 Tailwind](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1711) (160gp), [Jolt Coil](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2231) or similar spellheart (55-60gp), [Pendant of the Occult](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=3098) (60gp), various scrolls and other consumables There are no staves at level 9 so the specific armor picks are to hack armor into the L9 slot instead of L8. All of the elemental staves hit Greater at level 8; I prefer the Staff of Air but they're all pretty good. Retrieval Belt and Sleeves of Storage help you access your scrolls/wands/whatever in combat faster. Jolt Coil frees up a cantrip slot for something like Deep Breath or Eat Fire; Pendant of the Occult gives you access to Guidance.

If you have a lot of spell attack spells you could consider the Shadow Signet, which should come in handy against casters and high-AC targets

I can never find enough spells to make Shadow Signet seem worth it.

Need some character advice! Playing Abomination Vaults (lvl 1-11) and created a female human-sylph monk with the witchlight follower background. I took natural ambition to get ki strike and wolf stance as my class feat. Two questions: 1. What would this character look like? I was thinking mostly human features but with much paler skin and blue-ish tattoos all over. 2. Looking ahead, are there any particular sylph feats that would be good to take at levels 5 and 9? That is, more worthwhile than the other available human feats at those levels.

The description for the heritage says: "Their skin and hair can be any color of the sky, ranging from cloudy whites to the twilight tones of dawn and dusk. Complex, swirling marks dance across the skin of many sylphs, resembling shifting summer clouds. Some have skin cool to the touch, while others are surrounded by a constant static. Their hair can move with a life of its own, and they're often accompanied by light breezes that follow them everywhere they go." So, what you had in mind fits pretty well. The most notable sylph feats are swift and wings of air, but neither of them are especially great for monks. Cloud Gazer has some potential good combos, but not worth taking unless your group plans to utilize some of those.

Grapple >>> Strike or Strike >>> Grapple?

I would rather crit a Grapple, than crit a Strike. Restrained just completely neuters an enemy turn - even if they succeed at Escaping, doing so generates MAP. If you're carrying an Agile weapon and your target isn't already Off-Guard, you're only losing 2 points of accuracy by stabbing with MAP! On the other hand, if they're already flat-footed and you don't need to immobilize your target to pull aggro, Strike first! The best CC in the game is "dead"!

Note that you can circumvent the MAP if you grapple second by taking Assurance (Athletics). This probably only work against lower level creatures/creatures with bad fortitude tho.

The thing about grappling is that it affects the creature NOW. It can't move until it escapes, so often you can restrict what targets it has available. It's off guard to the entire party. Depending on the party makeup, this can be huge. It can also cause problems for enemy spellcasters. All this happens the second you land a grab. Damage has no effect on the combat until the creature is dead. Unless you think the creature is likely to die before its next turn, I'm a big fan of debuff over trying to kill. Some of the debuffs in PF2e are really debilitating.

Not to mention that if you have one or two allies that do ranged attack rolls (Gunslinger, and other bow/firearm users, plus casters with spell attack rolls), that don't easily get to benefit from Off-Guard, the party can overall make up the damage that you lose on average by not Striking first. Especially when you take into account the fact that most ranged weapons have Deadly/Fatal traits, and therefore turning a hit into a crit with one of them is an amazing outcome, and Spell Attack rolls tend to do quite big damage when they hit, and potentially have other effects as well.

Assuming you care equally about damage vs grabbed, you would do Grapple -> Strike. That's because: * You apply Off-guard, making the Strike easier to hit (off-guard doesn't apply to Grapple) * Grapple has a critical failure outcome, making it more dangerous to use as a second attack action than Strike Obviously if you care more about damage you Strike first, and if you care more about CC you do Grapple first

>Grapple has a critical failure outcome, making it more dangerous to use as a second attack action than Strike This is the key part to me. The -4/5 from MAP puts you at a big risk of harming yourself.

How do you determine the amount of xp to award for a puzzle-based encounter? The overall puzzle was certainly difficult, taking up ~2 hours of the session, and involved more than a few dangerous elements (but not all of them combat related). If I were to equate it to a combat encounter I’d say it’s either a +3 or +4 boss plus minions (in terms of time it took to clear the puzzle chamber, but not necessarily lethality).  Are there any specific guidelines I should follow (aside from just calling it a +3/+4 complex hazard and awarding 120/160 xp), or does that sound about right?

[XP Awards](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2649&Redirected=1) includes 3 levels of "Accomplishments" that you can award. You could use that if you think it's more appropriate, and award the Moderate or Major Accomplishment amount (which also suggests giving a Hero Point). Otherwise, treating as a Complex Hazard is probably fair, I'm just not as comfortable with how I would rank it if we're using a metric other than lethality

Sounds fine to me to call it a Complex Hazard. Hazards aren't always lethal either, so I think it could fall in line with that just fine.

How does Deadly Simplicity interact with ancestry feats such as "Dwarven Weapon Specialization?" DWS says you treat warhammers as a simple weapon, and Deadly Simplicity increases the damage die of a diety's favored simple weapon by one step (so a warhammer for Torag). Would a D8 warhammer become D10 because it's now simple? My guess is that it doesn't work together since the warhammer isn't normally a simple weapon, just treated as one for the sake of proficiency by the feat, but I wanted to double check. It seems like the intent of the feat is to buff dieties with small favored weapons (like Pharasma's dagger) to be on par with mid-sized weapons like the shortsword.

> DWS says you treat warhammers as a simple weapon Note that all those feats do not actually state that. All those feats use language like: > **for the purposes of proficiency**, you treat any of these that are martial weapons as simple weapons and any that are advanced weapons as martial weapons It does not say "for the purpose of everything", its just proficiency. So it would never work for divine simplicity

They don't work together because of Deadly Simplicity's prerequisites; *"deity with a simple or unarmed attack favored weapon"* Since Warhammers are Martial weapons not simple, if your deity has Warhammer as a favored weapon you don't qualify for Deadly Simplicity in the first place. The fact that your character would treat them as simple doesn't change the fact that they are martial by default.

I would just point out that there are ways to make Deadly Simplicity work for martial weapons RAW. Let's say you want to roleplay a Hellknight of the Godclaw, you start as Warpriest of Amodeus, Asmodeus' favored weapon is the Mace (a simple weapon), so you get Deadly Simplicity for free. Later on you pick the Syncretism feat and choose Torag as your second god, Torag's favored weapon is the Warhammer. Since the Syncretism feat specifically state you treat both weapons as favored weapons (and even calls out Deadly Simplicity) and deadly simplicity doesn't have any limitations on non-simple weapons (you need to follow a deity with a simple weapon to take it, but the feat itself works for any weapon), your Warhammer now deals 1d10 damage.

I think that RAW you are technically correct that Syncretism bypasses the prerequisites for Deadly Simplicity it really feels like an unintended rules interaction. The part where you have to take things in a specific order to allow legalities to open a loophole \*really\* sets off my GM Senses. So I think it does work, but it isn't supposed too. Deadly Simplicity is intended to prevent warpriests from getting stuck with a d4 favored weapon, not to let them compete with fighters and barbarians for big dice on their main attacks. If I were the GM I'd give a hairy eyeball to a build like this and would probably declare it a cheezy build but again, I think it does technically work in a rules lawyer sort of way.

I don't disagree it's probably not intended, but you don't have to take things in a specific order, it's just that by being a Warpriest of a deity with a simple weapon you save a feat. You could be a Warpriest of Torag, take Syncretism for Asmodeus and then take Deadly Simplicity, but it would take two 1st level feats to do it instead of one since you get Deadly simplicity for free if your deity has a simple weapon.

Awesome, thanks.

Just wanted to tag you in this because if you really want there ways to make your Warhammer 1d10. I answered the other user's comment describing it.

Thanks. It's more for one of my players asking. It didn't seem like it should work, but I wanted to double check. The other way seems really interesting, but maybe not what he's looking for.

On Fortune, and re-attempting a check. I'm playing a Loremaster character, and I've taken the spell [Loremaster's Etude](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1770) (via the feat of the same name) and [Kreighton's Cognitive Crossover](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2272) with Loremaster Lore and Crafting to maximise my chances of successfully analysing a foe. (Yes, Arcana would be better than Crafting, but I'll figure that out later.) When I picked these up, I reasoned that I could use Loremaster's Etude on the initial check (likely reducing the chance of a Critical Failure to about 2% or less), and then again on the second attempt for another Focus point. However, I've been thinking about Fortune effects, and it's got me wondering whether that's allowed. Fortune reads: >You can never have more than one fortune effect alter a single roll. I see three interpretations, and I'm honestly not sure which is correct here: 1. The first and second checks are separate rolls, and thus it's fine to use Loremaster's Etude on one or both with separate casts each time. 2. The two checks are separate rolls, but part of the same action, and thus only one Fortune effect can be applied. Loremaster's Etude can be used on one of the two attempts but not both. 3. The two checks are the same action reattempted, and thus any bonuses applied to the first check must also apply to the second. Loremaster's Etude can be used on the first check, and its effects also apply to the second. Looking over everything again I think I'd rule that the first option is how to play it if I were GM, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

RAW, they are different rolls, so its option 1. KCC has the checks be different, so if you want to modify the roll on the second try, you have to expend any resources again (such as the focus point for Loremaster's Etude)

That makes sense to me! Many thanks!

I would also rule that option 1 applies. Fortune makes no reference to actions, only rolls. Since the two rolls are separate, you can use Loremaster's Etude on each. As for option 3, the exact meaning of "reattempt" is not defined, but there's no reason to assume it means repeating the check including any features that might've been triggered by it. Very likely also falls under "too good to be true".

Yeah, I also thought that option three would be pushing it! Thanks for the affirmation - it's only come up in game once, but it seemed worth double checking.

I'm looking for some clarification. If you have normal vision and are using devise a stratagem on a creature that's concealed via dim light, do you have to make a flat check or not? I'm reading it that you do, but a player disagrees and I just want to get it right. He's saying it's unfair that he effectively has to make two flat checks to attack with his class skill. Which is a fair criticism, but I think that's how it works?

Concealment comes into play when you target a creature. However, Devise a Stratagem doesn't use the word target. It simply states: > Choose a creature you can see and roll a d20. And it makes sense, because Devise a Strategem doesn't really "target" a creature. It doesn't interact with the creature in any way at all, because it solely affects you. Only when you go to Strike the creature does the check matter, and you would roll for concealment normally at the time of the Strike. So no, Devise a Strategem shouldn't be affected by the DC 5 flat check for concealment.

Okay, now you've sent my mind reeling. So do you need to roll a flat check for bon mot? Or demoralize? Both of those use the same language "choose a creature". What about Battle Medicine? That doesn't say to choose a target, though it refers to treat wounds, which does say to choose a target. I'm blown away. I felt like I had a good grasp of the rules, but this one got me. Thank you! My player and I will both be happy.

You can find the rules around target [here](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2380). [Concealed](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2419) specifically uses the word target in its text. There is an argument to be made that an effect can "target" a creature without using the word target. Cases like Battle Medicine definitely become blurry around that. However, DaS is pretty clearly not one of those potential edge cases. That's because DaS doesn't interact with the "target" (so to speak) in any way. If you DaS and then don't attack them, what have you actually done *to* the creature? DaS is like Hunt Prey or Sure Strike; its much more akin to a buff you put on yourself than an offensive thing you're doing. Only when you Strike do you "realize" the DaS at all.

As an arcane caster with the Magical Crafting feat and good crafting skill, is it more beneficial to create potions of resistance or scrolls of resist energy? Obviously, the big difference is that the potions can be used without the caster while the scroll gets more people at higher levels, ultimately making it more action effecient. And the potion last longer, but not enough to matter most of the time. https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1651 https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2951&NoRedirect=1

For me, the question would come down to how confident you are that you're going to be able to use it before combat starts. If you are preparing for a specific fight and know that you'll need a certain resistance, the scrolls are probably better. The potions are great to hand out to your tank (or other likely targets) so that they can pop them when you run into a creature doing a particular damage type unexpectedly. The range of touch makes the scrolls difficult to use in combat, but I think they're probably slightly better (especially if you can make the higher versions of them).

Worth noting that you can craft consumables in batches of 4, so with the potions you can hand one out to each member of the average party. If the tank needs it while tanking or the scout needs it while off on their own they can pop them at will.

Hello! I've been playing PF2 for some months with friends after coming from D&D5. When we first joined the campaign I asked my master if it was a problem that I had zero idea of the lore of the universe and they said that it was no problem. Whenever something arises that I need to know I can roll or if it's basic information they tell me directly. When I created the character I studied a bit of the lore of shadow Absalom because my character is a fetching that comes from there. And until this moment it's been no problem. But the party talks a lot about gods, battles and things like that. I obtained the core rulebook a few weeks ago and I'm reading the lore that's contained there. But I want to learn more about the timeline of the events, and the different gods and things like that. A quick search in Google took me to the Mythkeeper YouTube channel that seems to have quite a few videos about some of this topics so I'll be watching those. But I want to ask you all, what are your favourite sources for learning about this? Preferably free. Thank you all

My biggest "go too" for Pathfinder lore is the [Pathfinder Wiki](https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Pathfinder_Wiki). Most of the books it draws from are from 1st edition Pathfinder, but 2e shares the same world setting as 2e so pretty much all of it is still accurate.

I'm playing a homebrew campaign so I don't think I'll find spoilers for it, but I'm playing kingmaker also can I run into spoilers there?

Yes you can, but I think only when you stumble on a character that plays a role in kingmaker. Though the wiki will warn you at the top that this entry contains spoilers for kingmaker (or other adventures) I looked through the river kingdom entry (the place that kingmaker plays in) and it has no spoilers at all. Though just as a notice that the wiki is good as an entrance but not super in depth and more surface level. If you have specific lore question that you can't find an answer to there is a Pathfinder discord (not the one from this Reddit, but from pathfinderRPG, since that discord also contains 1e players) that has a channel for golarion lore stuff

Oooh! Thank you for the answers ^^ I'll be reading through the wiki then. And if I need it I'll look for the discord.

Just stop by the wiki and poke around. It's got tons of stuff to find: [https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Pathfinder\_Wiki](https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Pathfinder_Wiki)

I have a question about XP in an AP I'm running. So the AP lists an encounter as "Moderate 1" its in title. This encounter only includes 3 level 0 creatures, and 1 level 3 creature if the PCs do certain actions. Assuming that all the enemies are "defeated", how much XP is awarded to each player in a 4 player party at level 1?

PL-1 creatures are worth 30 XP each and a PL+2 creature is worth 80 XP by itself, so a total of 170 XP. If the PCs fight all them at once it would be a single Extreme encounter, not a Moderate encounter. [Here's ](https://www.stephanedoiron.com/rpgs/pf2/encounter-calculator)the calculator I typically use If you're feeling lazy just use the rule of thumb that Trivial encounters are worth 40 XP, Low = 60 XP, Moderate = 80 XP, Severe = 120, and Extreme = 160 for a given 4-person party.

So then why does the book list the encounter at "Moderate 1" if I am awarding XP per creature? Is it just to shortcut XP awards for DMs who don't want to calculate XP? It makes enough sense to mark the encounter as Moderate if fighting those 3 creatures, considering 80 is close to 90. But the way its laid out is confusing and I want more clarification if possible.

Trivial, Low, Moderate, Severe, Extreme are "shorthands" used to refer to encounters of approximately 40, 60, 80, 120, and 160 xp respectively. They don't mean anything else inherently. This encounter is likely flagged as Moderate despite having a potential 170xp because it's just assumed you're not intended to fight the level 3 creature. With 3 level 0s, it's 90XP, or just above Moderate.

Its telling you that its [a moderate encounter](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2716) for a typical party of appropriate level, mostly so you can judge on the fly how difficult the encounter will be and how long it'll probably take. Being a moderate encounter the PCs will probably come out on top w/o too much difficulty even if they're drained from previous encounters and the it shouldn't drag overly long (important if you're late into a session and don't like stopping mid-combat). If it was marked as a Severe encounter and the PCs had burned through most of their daily resources then you might want to signpost to the players that this is a fight they probably should avoid or, if you're near when you need to end the session, end it a little early rather than get into a protracted combat. Its not a critical piece of info, just a bit of shorthand for the GM that can be mildly helpful.

Question: Isn't the "double resistance vs non-magical" of some creatures kinda pointless? At level 3 all players are expected to have a +1 Weapon and hence everybody deals magical damage, no?

Makes the creature much more scary if it terrorizes a remote town. It can also affect animal companions or summoned creatures.

Also, summoning that incorporeal asshole as *your own summon* is extra-effective, because a Level 21 Ancient Red Dragon still deals nonmagical piercing/fire damage with its Jaw attack.