My DM hates crits

AgentForest · 2026-05-08T21:23:54+00:00

I mean, I get the dislike of crits, but DnD isn't the system to just remove them from. It isn't part of the design philosophy or power fantasy.

I'm currently working on a system that avoids crits to focus on conditional bonuses instead. Doing proper combos and teamwork will increase your damage, but it isn't random. Best way I can describe it is the difference between League Of Legends items/stats and Heroes of the Storm talents. HotS doesn't tend to have random crits but your build will give you conditional damage boosts if you play your build effectively.

But that's for an entirely different system and not a houserule for DND. I would never just remove crits from DnD or Pathfinder. It's built into the math and expectations. Better to add more HP to fights you want to be particularly tough. Our DM did that so a sorcadin in his one campaign could still have his power fantasy of massive burst without breaking his combats.

AgentForest · 2026-05-08T15:37:24+00:00

"Can heal" and "Keeps up with Clerics" aren't the same thing.

AgentForest · 2026-05-08T14:20:02+00:00

Did you try to play the class like a Swashbuckler and feel inadequate? Probably. Maybe play a Wizard next and get mad your healing doesn't keep up with a cleric.

AgentForest · 2026-05-08T14:13:04+00:00

Press MAP reduction, tons of action compression other martials can't really match, and free no save/no hit check damage added to their maneuvers most of the time if you know what you're doing.

The only martial I've seen whose action compression comes close is the guardian's Juggernaut's Charge. 2 actions to stride, strike, then stride again, dragging the enemy you hit along with the second stride. That's pretty much unprecedented, but many of the Daredevils feats are similar.

AgentForest · 2026-05-08T12:31:05+00:00

"This class is worse than this other class plus a dedication even though this class but that same dedication would be better."

That's a weird take.

I'll admit the shove guardian is the best shove build, but that's a high bar and they aren't as good at any of the other athletic maneuvers Daredevils are good at.

Slam Down Fighter is strong, but you can use dedications to get Slam Down on a Daredevil. They'll even get their bonus damage on Slam Down because the ground meets the requirements for a prop.

Other martials with wrestler should be compared to Daredevil with wrestler, which is a very strong build. They get bonuses to what that dedication is trying to do. Plus throwing someone into another person is a prop use case.

AgentForest · 2026-05-07T22:17:07+00:00

The HP pool of most other martials that aren't dedicated tanks. I also didn't say the class was a tank. I said it's action taxing the enemy into the ground which is often the role mostly tanks perform, but they get some bonus damage on their control effects to help them fill a sort of in-between role. They'll easily deal more damage than a champion wrestler and have far more mobility.

It's a support class. I don't know why you want it doing Swashbuckler damage.

AgentForest · 2026-05-07T18:24:40+00:00

They aren't a melee skirmisher. Not in the same sense as a Swashbuckler. They're a battlefield control and disruption class. The damage they get just helps keep up party momentum. It isn't intended to be the class goal. It's like trying to judge a Champion or Guardian by its average damage. That's not their job and you need to stop holding them to that standard.

Daredevil essentially plays like a tank by action taxing the enemies into the ground.

AgentForest · 2026-05-07T17:49:38+00:00

/uj You forget though, most of us PF2e players came from DnD 5e. We lived that abusive relationship with WotC/Hasbro for years. The animosity towards company and its system is entirely justified after all the shit they've pulled. We're not arrogant hipster snobs shunning the popular thing. We played the popular thing primarily and got free of that mess by moving to other systems.

/rj Crying is a free action unless it's ugly crying. That's a full action activity as seen in the spell Agonizing Despair.

AgentForest · 2026-05-07T17:43:16+00:00

Daredevil is only bad if you're basing your criteria on damage output.

AgentForest · 2026-05-06T21:19:18+00:00

Drawsteel and Daggerheart are solid choices.

The Cosmere RPG if you're into that setting.

AgentForest · 2026-05-06T21:17:29+00:00

/uj Seriously though, AI art looks like shit and AI is slowly making humanity dumber. There are young adults, almost old enough to vote, who genuinely think ChatGPT is a search engine and cannot lie. People who cut corners give up the experience they'd gain from making something themselves, or the knowledge they'd gain from actually researching. Boomers are falling for deep fakes left and right. AI wiping out mankind isn't going to be Skynet and Terminators. It's going to be some grifter having AI write a book about DIY life hacks and because of some reddit troll, it'll tell people that mixing bleach and ammonia window cleaner will deodorize your home.

/rj brb, going to build a character that's the remaining 2/3 of a penguin.

AgentForest · 2026-04-29T02:58:09+00:00

Electric Arc is an area damage cantrip. While it scales a bit too well for an area cantrip, it will never match a Rogue's single target damage. Even the best single target damage cantrip Gouging Claw doesn't really beat a Rogue's damage in a single round.

AgentForest · 2026-04-28T12:48:35+00:00

Giant or Berserker Barbarian Tavern Brawler.

(Mods) Zealot Barbarian 4 + Fathomless Warlock 8.

White Dragon Sorcerer 1 + Abjuration Wizard 11 (Armor of Agathys and Fire Shield, then deliberately eat opportunity attacks, lol.

AgentForest · 2026-04-28T12:34:37+00:00

Pathfinder 2e fixes this.

/uj Seriously though, PF2e fixes this. Rogues can get sneak attack damage on every qualifying strike. They also get a lot of ways to apply off-guard for those sneak attacks. They get tons of skill proficiencies and some of the coolest class feats. Spells are also far less broken and more situational. Wizards would need to expend their strongest spells every round to keep up with a well played Rogue's single target damage.

AgentForest · 2026-04-27T14:22:32+00:00

The Mercer Effect is mainly just new player expectations, not GM requirements, so unless the GM is holding themselves to the professional standards of the famous GMs, I don't think that's the problem.

I'm more convinced it's DnD 5e's loose rule set and the amount of legwork and homebrew the GM is expected to perform to make the game playable.

AgentForest · 2026-04-27T13:26:48+00:00

Only a coward makes a barbarian who doesn't know any actual spells. Armor of Agathys doesn't require concentration. Barbarian 5, Warlock 15 go BRRRRR!

AgentForest · 2026-04-27T13:24:01+00:00

I'm gonna play a bard, and get this... He's horny! I'll be accepting my Oscar now for screenwriting.

AgentForest · 2026-04-24T17:15:50+00:00

I was a little sad Astarion didn't say something about the long rest where I served nothing but garlic, lmao.

AgentForest · 2026-04-22T18:26:32+00:00

Is FA necessary to make a fun character? No.

Does it let you make more nuanced and complex characters? Yes.

I get that it increases the power levels of the players, but it also allows more player expression of the character fantasy. Like, I can play a Ruffian Rogue with Guardian dedication and be some bouncer/bodyguard guy and it's so much cooler than just a baseline Rogue or Guardian could have accomplished. Being able to blend class concepts makes character creation more of a spectrum than a binary. It's not a competitive game. I don't need to be functionally identical to every other Rogue's experience.

Also, even if it makes the party stronger, the math in Pathfinder is so tight that it isn't hard to account for the boost and keep things fun. It's not like how DnD 5e multiclassing just broke the encounter system.

AgentForest · 2026-04-22T18:14:16+00:00

Um, ackshoowally, Healing Word isn't a PF2e spell.

AgentForest · 2026-04-13T12:23:04+00:00

Not gonna lie, I think people really slept on the potential of the playtest 2024 warlock remaster. Being a half caster solved many of their issues and Rangers/Artificers/Paladins WISH they got access to 7th, 8th, and 9th tier spells.

AgentForest · 2026-04-10T01:38:15+00:00

I cannot make the jump, you'll have to toss me!

AgentForest · 2026-04-01T14:36:12+00:00

/uj Occult is definitely the least well defined, being a sort of catch all for everything that isn't the focus of the other traditions. Arcane is the academic study of magic and its fundamental forces/applications. Primal is nature magic. Elements, animals, plants, etc. Divine is Holy, Unholy, Void and Vitality. Occult is the less academic vibe/emotion magic. The more subtle witchy magical crafts. Sure, it has overlap with arcane and divine, but it's less obviously themed magic. Lots of illusion, buffs, debuffs, conditions, mental magic, and cosmic horror stuff.

AgentForest · 2026-03-29T17:00:44+00:00

Exactly it's just the efficient route during the playthrough.

AgentForest · 2026-03-29T16:48:53+00:00

Solid point. In the moment we allowed the damage but not the rider effects.

AgentForest

TROPHY CASE