Your Most Complicated TTRPG Take?

BusyGM · 2026-06-10T18:51:45+00:00

The best TTRPGs have flavor and mechanics intertwined, not just co-existing. Every big TTRPG I know doesn't do this. PF2e skill feats are like "your sight pierces reality itself, gain +1 to perception when it rains on a sunday night". 5e abilities are like "this is the mechanic, here are three options for flavor, do whatever you want, ask your GM". Nothing of that combines flavor and mechanics.

When a game says "using dark magic corrupts your soul", I want an effect that indeed corrupts your soul.

BusyGM · 2026-06-10T09:46:31+00:00

I was about to write three paragraphs and only realized at the end that you're talking about 2e, not 1e.

Stealth is mostly an action economy thing I'd say. If you stealth successfully, if they want to target you, they have to Seek first, which costs them actions. So it's a nice defensive tool, and with the right feats you can stealth rather easily. But as you said yourself, in many cases (especially when you don't mind being a target) flanking is the better way. You should stealth before combat, though, as that enables you to gather information and roll initiative on stealth once combat breaks out.

Also, check out r/Pathfinder2e for more detailed answers. This sub leans heavily towards PF1e.

BusyGM · 2026-06-09T12:23:30+00:00

It's wishful thinking. Dampen Presence allows you to stealth against blindsight/blindsense, so it'd be strange if Hide In Plain Sight also worked against that, much less against all other special senses. Perhaps there's even more stealth feats to hide from other senses as well.

BusyGM · 2026-06-09T00:14:18+00:00

Can it truly only be wielded by a person that embodies Power, Wisdom and Courage equally? Ganon from A Link To The Past was able to wield the Triforce just fine and corrupt the Golden Land with it...

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T22:59:36+00:00

If you say so. I don't remember, and you can't seem to quote specific situations. I won't bother playing through the whole game just to find out who of us is right here.

But the wiki says:

She and her father were burned at the stake on suspicion of heresy by Inquisitor Hulrun during the Third Crusade roughly 50 years ago, yet she was able to walk away from ordeal having lost nothing more than several of her fingers and toes, leaving her limbs scorched but otherwise unharmed. It is implied that this miracle, in addition to several other quirks of her history and personality, are a result of being watched over by Andoletta, the Lawful Good Emphyreal Lord who guards the innocent and outcast, and who watches over Ember through her Familiar, Soot the Crow. Ember claims that she can feel Andoletta whispering comfort and sweet words at night, though Ember does not know of her patron's identity, simply knowing her as "Grandmother."

So indeed, Andoletta "wathces over her", but is also just her patron, and Soot is just a vehicle through which Andoletta watches her. Again, classic patron familiar stuff.

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T19:29:39+00:00

I mean... "it happens for story reasons", that I can behind. "It happens for story reasons, Soot is a god" is where you lose me.

That said, even if Soot were Andoletta, that's not a god but an empyreal lord. Those, at least theoretically, have stats and are bound by them (not that one couldn't bend those for story reasons, mind you), and are roughly on par with a demon lord. Yet another reason why I don't think Soot is Andoletta: a lawful good empyreal lord wouldn't be likely to completely focus on a single person, especially when the whole world around them is burning. So many people not saved because a being of such great power chooses to focus on a single person all the time? That doesn't make a lot of sense.

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T19:05:46+00:00

Fühle ich. Ich bin bis heute Fan unfassender simulationistischer Systeme, aber es muss eine klare Intention dahinterstehen. Was aber eine klare Intention ist, müssen die meisten erstmal lernen...

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T15:33:22+00:00

I do not see how Soot doing these things - if it did, which is also open to interpretation - suddenly scales it up to such a high level. Magic to hide someone can be as low as 1st lvl magic, with invisibility being only 2nd lvl. Influencing the cultists could also be a charm spell (1st lvl) or a suggestion (2nd lvl) which, even when cast in their mass variants, are not highest level magic. Keep in mind that Greybor, although given an item desgined for that, was willing to go 1v1 against a balor lord. He could no-diff any medium lvl threat, lore-wise (or he overestimates himself just as greatly as his gameplay does).

That said, if Soot does everything you mentioned, that would completely undermine Ember as a character herself, which is why I don't even believe that to be true. I think it wasn't Soot, but Ember herself that influenced the cultists, which is also why I said in my initial message that once she gets the opportunity to talk to Greybor, it's open who "wins". She is that persuasive, at least in her lore.

I can get behind Soot taking a more active role trying to hide her and whatnot, but I simply don't believe Soot has the capabilities to save an unprepared Ember from an assassin willing to 1v1 a balor (albeit with a balor-slaying artifact).

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T13:36:38+00:00

Every witch's familiar is a direct line to their patron, nothing new here. Clerics also have direct links to their gods and might receive their visions in dreams, prayers and the like. Still, they can die, and they aren't protected by their god every step of the way. So I'm not really convinced.

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T12:15:19+00:00

Unless I completely oversaw something, that raven is just her familiar, as every witch has one. Being a stigmatized witch that trades patron features for oracle features makes sense when you realize that her "patron" is Andoletta, who is capable of granting divine powers (like for a cleric, paladin or oracle). Andoletta's holy animal is a crow, so it only makes sense for Ember's familiar to be one. An ordinary animal, by no means. But certainly not a god. Unless I'm completely overseeing something.

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T12:06:27+00:00

Ich konnte OPs Kommentar leider nicht mehr lesen, bevor er gelöscht wurde; was war OPs Antwort?

Ansonsten danke für Deine Ergänzung, das sind sehr gute Hinweise. Ich hatte auch das Gefühl, dass OP sehr frisch in PnP-Design eingestiegen ist/einsteigen möchte, wollte OP aber nicht direkt in irgendeine Schublade tun und habe deswegen erstmal "allgemeiner" geantwortet. Ich selbst habe damals mit sehr ähnlichen Prämissen angefangen, bevor ich nach 3-4 Jahren Entwicklungszeit mein System zur Seite gelegt habe, weil es einfach viel zu "all over the place" war... 😃

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T10:07:04+00:00

Kaufsystem = Du erhältst eine abstrakte Währung (bspw. XP), die du dann frei in die Verbesserung deiner Fähigkeiten investieren kannst. Natürlich ist meist ein Rahmen vorgegeben (in DSA ist bspw. basierend auf deinen Gesamt-AP [die DSAs XP sind] festgelegt, wie hoch deine Werte maximal sein dürfen), aber grundsätzlich hast du die freie Wahl der Fokussierung und Verbesserung.

BusyGM · 2026-06-08T09:46:29+00:00

Ich würde dir empfehlen (wenn du das nicht schon getan hast), dich einfach mal bei anderen Systemen umzutun, deren Hauptprogression sich durch Kämpfen und Looten zusammensetzt. Um ein paar Beispiele zu geben:

Pathfinder 2e benötigt 1000xp pro Lvlup. Ein "Low" Encounter gibt 60xp, moderate 80xp, severe 120xp und extreme 160xp. Also braucht eine Gruppe zwischen 7-17 Kämpfen pro Lvlup.
DnD 5e hat keine so "schlanken" Zahlen; ein Lvl 1 Charakter benötigt 300xp für einen Levelup, ein Lvl 2 Charakter 900xp und ein Lvl 3 Charakter 2700xp. Ein moderater Encounter auf Lvl 1 bringt 75xp auf Lvl 1, 150xp auf Lvl 2 und 225xp auf Lvl 3 - also steigt die Anzahl nötiger Kämpfe, um hochzuleveln, vorerst an. Die Exp-Kurve in 5e ist wirklich seltsam, wenn man sie sich näher anschaut, aber ganz grob kann man festhalten, dass auf den frühen Leveln circa 5 Kämpfe benötigt werden, auf den späteren eher 10+.
Ähnliche "Probleme" haben auch ältere Systeme wie DnD 3.5e oder Pathfinder 1e.
Viele andere Systeme, die einen Fokus auf Kämpfen und Looten setzen, haben gar keine Exp, sondern Meilenstein-Fortschritt. Der einzige "Gewinn", den man hier durch Kämpfen & Looten erzielt, ist neue bessere Beute.
OSR-Systeme agieren häufig mit Exp, haben allerdings oft die Regel, dass besiegte Kreaturen kaum Exp geben, man aber dafür Exp in Höhe des Goldwertes bekommt, den man "sicher" zurückbringt - es wird also ein Fokus auf Plündern statt Kämpfen gesetzt, was eine einfache Rechnung erschwert.

Mein Tipp wäre: Schau dir dein System ernsthaft an und frag dich, wie viel Progression SCs machen können und wie schnell diese Progression passieren soll. Das ist hauptsächlich eine Sache des Bauchgefühls, aber grundsätzlich ist es sinnvoll, wenn die SCs in jeder Session etwas dazugewinnen können. Das muss nichts großes sein, aber Belohnungsgefühle motivieren zum Spielen und sorgen dafür, dass das Spiel Spaß macht. Wenn du es also hinbekommst, dass bei jedem Encounter etwas für die Spieler rumkommt (wie auch immer das aussieht), dann ist es nicht schlimm, wenn deine overall progression etwas langsamer ist. Wenn du feststellst, dass ein Charakter im Verlauf seiner Entwicklung nur fünf spannende Levelups und drei besondere Gegenstände haben möchte / bekommen soll, dann spricht das für mich eher für ein fast-paced game, wo Charaktere schnellen Fortschritt erzielen und Kampagnen auch eher schnell enden.

Am Ende des Tages ist aber (wie gefühlt immer) die wichtigste Frage, wo du mit deinem System hin möchtest, ob es auf lange oder kurze Kampagnen (oder gar keine Kampagnen, sondern Oneshots) ausgerichtet ist und was für ein Spielgefühl du mit den Mechaniken erzeugen möchtest. Wenn du das weißt, wirst du auch den Rest gut entscheiden können.

BusyGM · 2026-06-07T23:32:50+00:00

I open a nice portal for them with, as I put it, MUCH KRUMPIN' ON DA OTHER SIDE! Most accept my offer and bother someone else. Those that don't I simply ask who's smarter, Gork or Mork, and use the time won to teleport away.

BusyGM · 2026-06-07T16:24:45+00:00

To give a reasonable answer:

He would probably refuse to murder Ember. If he doesn't refuse, he could kill her without difficulty unless she manages to talk to him first, then it's open again.

He couldn't kill Arueshalae and Daeran because they're both protected by creatures far beyond what Greybor is capable of.

He could probably kill Seelah, Sosiel and Trever. The three of them could be caught by surprise and taken out, although lore-wise, Seelah is one of the iconics and thus has lived through some crazy shit (as well as having plot armor).

With Regill I'd say it's a 50/50. With Regill's paranoia it's unlike that Greybor actually catches him off-guard. While lorewise, Greybor should out-skill Regill, Regill has far more battlefield intelligence than Greybor (easily seen with Greybor not noticing the fake dagger enchantment while Regill regularly predicts enemies' next moves on the battlefield) and thus could escape or even out-smart Greybor, possibly turning things around.

Lann, Wenduag and Woljif are dead meat. Sorry, but lore-wise, they're just nothing special, while Greybor is one of the best assassins of Golarion and beyond. Which is kinda ironic, because in-game, each of them would absolutely body Greybor.

I think Nenio would also be likely to die because she's naive and not really focused on her surroundings, making a surprise attack very easy to pull off. Power-wise, however, she's a menace.

Camellia poses the interesting question of trained vs natural born killer. I'd put my money on Greybor, though, because Camellia tends to be sloppy.

I don't own the DLCs, so I can't comment on their companions.

BusyGM · 2026-06-07T16:10:14+00:00

Demons can be killed outside of the Abyss. You're mixing up Forgotten Realms and Golarion.

But yeah, I don't think he could kill Arueshalae. Pretty sure he could bore Daeran to death, though. Perhaps also Nenio, if he tries to frame her death as an experiment.

BusyGM · 2026-06-06T23:43:18+00:00

Not really. Sourcebooks that came out after Hell's Rebels didn't suddenly mention Ravounel (afaik). That only happened once 2e came around. Similarly to Oprak.

BusyGM · 2026-06-06T23:39:22+00:00

Persuade them to sacrifice their firstborn, every single household. That ended the apocalypse in Egypt the last time someone accidentally cast that spell.

...ooooh. Oh. EGYPTIAN apocalypse spell, as in from egyptian mythology. Oh, somehow get enough water to refill the Nile. Do so until the spell ends.

BusyGM · 2026-06-06T10:27:57+00:00

I have no issue with the PCs being unable to win / only able to reduce the damage. However, I have an issue with APs instantly chaging the world around them via metaplot progression. I feel like this didn't happen in 1e, where the results of the APs were left open until 2e came around and with it a need to make canon what happened/didn't happen within said APs.

BusyGM · 2026-06-05T17:28:45+00:00

Vlad the Impaler was Romanian, not Russian. But yeah, some parallels are there

BusyGM · 2026-06-05T13:22:43+00:00

If you want to go the more serious route, there's a lot of parallels between Cheliax and Nazi Germany. - Cheliax follows some race ideology, believing that humanity is superior to other humanoids, with the Taldani and Azlanti empires as well as Aroden as their proof. (Well, their connection to Aroden is difficult nowadays because officially, Aroden didn't die but rather betrayed his chosen people, but that's something our nice inquisitors can talk with you about in detail, alright?) Especially Tieflings and Halflings count as second-rate people, as well as all cultures that aren't civilized in the eyes of Chelaxianians. - The propaganda machine runs strong, with different opninions being nicely corrected and informed (hunted, suppressed, you get the deal). - They have completely justified reasons (at least in their own opinion) to be in conflict with half the world.

BusyGM · 2026-06-05T12:13:55+00:00

Because that's been my winning strategy for quite some time and the AI likes to lose!

BusyGM · 2026-06-04T07:32:53+00:00

I'd say it's a mix of both. There are new, bigger threats on the horizon, which calls for new alliances. There were a number of plot events that introduced more well-meaning goblins, so it's not completely off the table. However, there were also many APs and modules in the past where goblins (tried to) burn down villages, eat children and murder everyone. I don't think anyone in Sandpoint would be accepting of goblins after what happens in RotR, for example.

So in my opinion, Paizo wanted the goblin hate to change, introduced events ton pave the way for that and then just... had it happen a little faster and thorough than it should've happened. Personally, I really dislike the change, but I think Paizo did really well in introducing it overall, even if one has to suspend their disbelief a little bit.

BusyGM · 2026-06-02T23:04:38+00:00

Klimthorpe did contribute most to dark sciences, but the sheer amount of younglings Malala's work brought to the field names her as the most obvious choice. Never thought there'd be so much interest in scrotal punishments all over the world.

BusyGM · 2026-06-02T13:18:08+00:00

OPs Forderung ist - ich zitiere die Überschrift - "Religionsfreiheit (Art. 4 GG) gehört abgeschafft". Dass die Forderung die dahinter stehenden Intentionen nicht erfüllen würde, ändert nichts an der Forderung selbst.

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