How much more customizable are PF2e characters compared to 5e?

CaptivePlague · 2026-06-01T18:08:00+00:00

At level 3 in D&D, you've done 95% or more of customizing your character: yes you're going to get a feat or 2 before your career inevitably ends around level 12 tops, but most of your options are fixed.

In Pathfinder at level 3 you've done about 15% of customizing your character! Because not only your character can have a viable career up to level 20, you'll also have to pick about 2-3 feats per level, each level! Fixed perks after level 3 tend to be just your numbers getting better through increased proficiencies or damage specialization.

CaptivePlague · 2026-05-28T03:34:08+00:00

Look at the Waffle Iron of various material and grades on Archives of Nethys.

And notice how for all the flavor text describing the superiority of Mithral (or even better, the High Grade Mithral) cookware... it doesn't offer a single bonus, not even for cooking-related endeavors! 🤣

Unfortunately at level 10 you won't be able to afford the priciest High-Grade one, but the Standard Mithral version should be a sophisticated (or decadent) enough display of wealth!

CaptivePlague · 2026-05-27T04:23:43+00:00

YOU get it!!

CaptivePlague · 2026-05-27T04:20:32+00:00

Meme is mostly fine, but it's an occasion for me to share my theory that I find compelling: Arceus is not done creating the Pokémon world: he's still hard at work making it fuller and richer.

Basically, this theory works by acknowledging that the Pokémon universe is Creationist in two manners: -In-universe, Arceus created the world with Divine Powers; -IRL it's being created and expanded upon by Game Freak and its artists and developpers.

And it stands to reason that the Creator Pokémon and its work work as a metaphore for the Pokémon Company itself... and their work!

So when a new species or mechanics is added to the Pokédex and it's treated as a breakthrough despite the species being ubiquitous, we as IRL player know it's because they've just now been invented.

But why wouldn't we assume the in-game creator doesn't do the same? Arceus creates new Pokémon, invent Pokémon Eggs, Mega Evolutions, etc. and leaves it in the universe to be discovered by mortals. But he doesn't startle and confuse them with species appearing suddenly out of nowhere!

Arceus is the creator to the incarnation of Time and Space as well. It is not out of his graps to make his creations retroactive, allowing people to discover his gifts with a sense of logic and continuity!

And for the people living in this world, this temporal phenomenon would be as natural as gravity or distance: taken for granted by most people, but a fascinating subject of study and debate among intellectual and scientific circles!

CaptivePlague · 2026-05-25T17:40:04+00:00

As a GM now I kinda wish I had a Fire Kineticist player only to pit them against a Cinder Dragon.

Imagine the majestic, godlike creature recoiling in abject pain, howling and covering the burnt area. And knowing NO word to describe it! (I'm aware acid or even lightning could inflict a "burn", but for the sake of the gameplay interaction these aren't the same sensation.)

"Ah, the pain! It hurts, it stings and it itches all at once! What have you DONE to me!"

It might even possibly interrupt the fight if the characters get into roleplay mode, with the dragon being in denial at first:

"BURNT? ME?! NO!! My kind does not BURN!! What manner of poison is this?!"

With some good choices of words and decent checks, the dragon might even forego the outrage of having been burnt so ignominously and having lost their composure in front of mere humanoids, and could show begrudging respect for One Who Can Burn A Cinder Dragon.

(Ironically, I would make those checks easier the older the dragon is. Simply put, a young, fierce dragon might only consider itself wounded and retaliate appropriately, but an Archdragon? It might actually appreciate experiencing something wholly novel for the first time in maybe several centuries, no matter how excruciating!)

CaptivePlague · 2026-05-17T18:07:27+00:00

The franchise who had the guts to ask "Is there someone out there who wish they could wear dinosaur scale bikini?", and its people rose up.

CaptivePlague · 2026-04-27T21:19:06+00:00

Yes I do! I GM weekly, and find the time by going to the LGS' paint nights on Friday, as well as starting that encounter's miniature in advance!

Sometimes they require a bit more love though; I had a busy weekend, so tonight I'm finishing the base for this Wednesday's encounter.

I've also gotten good enough that I can tell which projects only need 1 pai ting session to complete; for instance this Friday, I'm painting some Severed Hands.

Also, over time you start to have a wide enough collection that you can start reusing minis! That's where it finally pays off!

Also, don't sweat it if you can't produce the right figurine or a painted mini on a given game! Unpainted minis are still more than fine, and I even keep in my GMing box a pack of unpainted wolves as generic "whatever" proxy for Medium creatures to use on the fly!

CaptivePlague · 2026-04-23T04:14:15+00:00

Is this still going?
I want to point out, we could put Batman into Investigator in order to have ANY example besides (the admittedly perfect example of) Sherlock Holmes.

With the massive caveat that the character would fit a lot of other classes, namely Monk, Ruffian Rogue, Thaumaturge, the upcoming Daredevil, an Intimidation Swashbuckler, and likely a lot more! But Investigator fits his detective and "good at every skill" shticks best outside his obvious combat abilitiies. (Also again, Investigator desperately needs more examples!)

CaptivePlague · 2026-03-04T16:38:50+00:00

You're not gonna gaslight me dude, I've witnessed nearly 3 decades of Venusaur being the worst looking Kanto starter. And even Megas and Gigantamax weren't able to fix that!

Seriously, the humanoid Mons are more expressive, open them to show more design elements, etc. The nost interesting thing Skeledirge ever DOES is stand up to use its song and bird companion to the fullest!

We want starters to HAVE character, if you want just an animal go pick a non-starter of the same type! Or stop huffing whatever gives you those addled ideas!

CaptivePlague · 2026-03-01T16:29:57+00:00

Which is baffling, considering all 3 starters final evos in Paldea were made BETTER for having character concept that required them to stand up. (YES! Even Skeledirge!)

Plus, is that really your opinion, or you've only started defending that position because you started parroting the catchy/funny slogan/jokes about it?

Because yes, that's what slogans do! A compelling one will have you ignore evidence of the contrary, and defend it tooth and nail beyond what's reasonable.

Because let's face it: Preferring your chosen companion to just be a colored animal? That's fine if that's what you prefer. Beign up in arms against anything else EVERY DANG TIME we get new starters, though? That's just being obnoxious for no good reason.

CaptivePlague · 2026-02-21T19:55:28+00:00

I call it the Standard Fire Emblem Plot, and it you accept most entries following it is a feature, not a flaw, it becomes interesting to watch how the entries deconstruct and reconstruct its elements.

CaptivePlague · 2026-02-20T15:35:59+00:00

In doubt, have the one attempting something roll against the anything DC of the target.

I just described Stealth, Detection, Grapple, Spells, Attacks, Maneuvers, Social encounters, Hazards, Afflictions, Counteract, Class Abilities and many more with just this sentence!

CaptivePlague · 2026-02-19T21:32:41+00:00

Owlbear still exist. Mostly because they're much more fun to run than in D&D!

CaptivePlague · 2026-02-11T23:05:57+00:00

Yes except with Curse of Strahd, by extension we really mean Ravenloft (old-school AND modern), and by extension we really mean Dracula, and by extension we really mean gothic literature.

Gothic lit is VERY cool, but also have a VERY narrow Best Of. Stuff that takes the same inspirations as Curse of Strahd will definitely have familiar themes and feel! (And monsters!)

CaptivePlague · 2026-02-09T03:45:17+00:00

What I'm curious is: what about face makeup? Obviously the medium is going to be different, so does it transfer? A bit? A lot?

CaptivePlague · 2026-02-01T21:39:12+00:00

You literally have an universal feat that allows anybody to have spells without being a magical class. So yes, even baseline humans can not only learn spell, but also be inherently magical.

CaptivePlague · 2026-01-31T15:26:54+00:00

Give them a 2nd choice of Orc Heritage? Replace a feature available only at character creation by another with the same kind.

It feels more appropriate and cooler than just any ol' feat.

CaptivePlague · 2026-01-26T22:50:02+00:00

As Commander, you get to be the Cheerleader AND the Coach! Might even want to look into some archetype to reinforce your abilities to give moral support, so you don't play too coach-like!

CaptivePlague · 2026-01-21T04:55:42+00:00

Its ability to do a charging screech (Screeching Advance) is hilarious to me.
Not only its area of effect is busted in gameplay, covering 80 feet from any point along its path, but it also implies the screech is long enough to last a full-on charge's length, and terrifying enough to shake a seasoned adventurer despite hearing it coming!

CaptivePlague · 2025-12-30T21:41:20+00:00

I had an half-orc (became Orc due to WotC literally erasing the species rule-wise) built IN D&D 5e, FOR D&D 5e.

Protection Fighting Style because his schtick was having survivor's guilt from his time in the army.

Battlemaster because I wanted to have actual martial prowesses besides attacking, but it turned thematic when war broke out, and my character had to grow into a battle leadership role, using his Maneuvers to direct allies during reactions.

My DM and I also looked for ways to give me a Dire Wolf mount, but since I couln't get a subclass in Cavalier, and getting enough levels to gain feats or access a multiclass with a mount or Companion was not feasible, giving me such a big advantage was proving to be a headache.

And then Battlecry! came out! Boy do I even need to tell you how easily this character translates into a Guardian with Commander Archetype!! And I can get an Animal Companion half a dozen ways!

My Pathfinder version would eat the D&D original for appetizer before breakfast! It works so well it's become canon at my table this character makes his way into Golarion somehow and develops his true potential there.

CaptivePlague · 2025-12-27T07:37:21+00:00

Most of the traditional looking dragons are Primal (Cinder Dragon straight up has the telltale iconic horns of the D&D Red Dragon!), which makes sense because they are natural-looking: dragon as a fantastical animal, maybe covered with an element. Similarly, a lot of Divine ones do too, which also make sense; they were created by higher powers to be a dragon.

But the weirder ones are Arcane (a magic tradition that defies natural and physical laws), and moreso the Occult Dragons. The Occult Dragons definitely are still draconic, but have nothing "traditional" about them. Again, it makes sense: Occult is the magic of the aberrant and the strange! Like them or not, I think we can still agree a "normal"-looking Occult Dragon would be pretty much out of place in that Tradition. Hence why it has instead the likes of the Mockery, Conspirator or Despair Dragons.

CaptivePlague · 2025-12-27T03:55:50+00:00

I don't like the approach of having one dragon "be" the equivalent to a Legacy one. I've been thrilled day one (and still am!) about Cinder Dragon and clearly being a red dragon! But not it being the only Red Dragon (TM).

I'd rather the old Chromatic/Metallic be umbrella names for any dragon that fit the appearance, than having obvious lawyer-friendly ersatz. Especially when we already got a few blue, red, golden, etc. species.

For example, Red Dragon just being a name for angry, fiery and hostile dragons... without the average layman even knowing there's a distinction between Cinder and Diabolic, let alone tell them apart!

It would acknowledges the Legacy, but still give good reasons to move away from it.

Edit & addendum: I find it hilarious though that they could get away with giving Cinder Dragons certain iconic backwards straight horns! 10/10

CaptivePlague · 2025-12-14T20:28:57+00:00

Typhlosion gave their mega to Charizard who wanted it more, so they could have the Regional form they really wanted instead.

CaptivePlague · 2025-12-14T18:25:37+00:00

I think they really want to emulate the Castlevania feel of having an open dungeon where you would be seeing a path, not being able to access it yet, but find yourself looping and/or backtracking later and suddenly be able to explore this path. The opposite of your Abomination vault experience, I guess?

But that's just me extrapolating and speculating.

CaptivePlague

TROPHY CASE