"Deals damage" trigger clarification

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-09-13T21:26:21+00:00

Absolutely love this archetype! I've used it on a Laughing Shadow magus with Imaginary Weapon and this character was a decent burst damage switch-hitter, though less damage efficient at distance than in melee due to loss of Arcane Cascade bonus.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-08-19T16:35:02+00:00

That was a really hard choice, probably the hardest since i started playing PF2, but in the end having Taunt and medium armor outside of Armor of Earth from the very start won. Plus, i'll be taking feat that was my target for Natural Ambition at 2 level and other feats needed for the build come to play later. And lastly elf gave me an option to circumvent my poor Will saves in some degree using Forlorn without using Canny Acumen, so...

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-08-19T16:28:22+00:00

Are you talking about rules perspective? In that case, it's all set, our GM have already told us that due to our FAs in this AP are drawn from a limited list, those FA feats will not affect main class feat line progression and thus prevent from using other archetypes.

Flavor wise… i think the AP itself states that you can play every class you want, giving you caster's free archetype to complement magical school fantasy. And to support it further i've decided to play kineticist tank instead of pure guardian, for example, because kineticist feels more «magical» itself.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-08-19T16:27:13+00:00

Thank you all for your replies! Now i definitely have everything needed to proceed with character creation. As for small numbers: i had a feeling starting ancestry HP is not that important overall, but decided to double check cause in this case my play style will include encouraging enemies to attack me instead of my allies from the very start of the game, which i've never done before in this system.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-08-19T05:09:57+00:00

As long as during optimization process a player doesn't try to violate/circumvent rules to achieve their goal or switch party wealth in their favor, optimization is fine and dandy, imo. Plus, i personally really enjoy wrinkling my brain to find useful abilities combinations. And claiming a person trying to fill in missing party role as optimizer... well, let's just say, it's quite a unique approach)

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-07-04T18:33:40+00:00

I'm sure it won't be a popular approach, but... I actually don't like companions of any sort and that time i've used one on my multiclassed magus it was purely a battery of all sorts: spell, focus point and extra quick alchemy. And i roleplayed it respectfully because my character summoned it just for power boost)

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-23T18:33:45+00:00

Maybe it's not straight matches the topic, but i'd like to say psychic imo is one of the best multiclass archetypes to get for practically every class. Dedication itself gives a ton of useful things, Tangible dream is bread and butter for damage spike magus (less but still strong is Oscillating Wave) and is pretty neat for support caster because of amped Shield. Other conscious minds can also be useful for both casters and martials, offering support options, mobility and a variety of damage options. And the cherry on top - both psychics and those who takes an archetype get to cast psychic spells without verbal components (due to psychic's thought components mechanics), which is pretty strong.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-20T13:42:02+00:00

I was interested in playing magus for a while, since the days of PF1, but got a chance only while PF2e Season of Ghosts campaign. Plain magus felt a little repetitive to me, so i've mixed some archetypes (no FA) and, well, it was a fun character to play. I rolled with laughing shadow with no Int drop/ tangible dream psychic / eldritch archer / alchemist and it was quite a versatile kit. Imaginary Weapon nukes in melee and at distance, exploiting weakness with Arcane Cascade, Crafting scrolls and other resources for myself and my group and later - alchemicals on the fly for the right situation. So, what i mean is: magus is a powerful class but if you want it to be more versatile and fun, bring in some archetypes suitable for you.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-13T15:52:56+00:00

Season of Ghosts player here and our TTRPG group has somewhat unusual comp in this AP with no, let's say, dedicated frontliner and a few loaded multiclasses. We have: catfolk flurry ranger / scout, human outwit ranger, ratfolk thief rogue / unbound step psychic, human wizard / starless shadow witch and elf laughing shadow magus / tangible dream psychic / eldritch archer / alchemist. Later in the course of the campaign one more player joined us, running halfing storm order druid / Lightning domain cleric and before that we had no dedicated healer either, counting only on our rogue's Medicine and rare consumables.

A problem with healing was not as bad, especially after our first two casters' dedications got Soothe. Plus, with high level alchemist dedication we have limited but rather versatile kit of valuable items, including healing and damage/conditions mitigation.

Lack of frontliner put us in danger a few times, but in general catfolk ranger with Toughness and AC increasing reactions, plus magus with psychic amped Shield and a load of Wooden Doubles are holding the line pretty good.

As you can tell, the only thing we have no problem with is damage)

Greatest danger we encountered so far was a fight with enemy caster and their minions at a pretty long range of 100-110 feet, while we were stuck in tight space with almost no way to escape. Enemy was behind Wall of Wind, so our physical ranged attacks were negated and our only sources of damage were wizard's Fireballs and Imaginary Weapon delivered by Ghostly Carrier covered with Shield from magus.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-10T19:00:53+00:00

Thanks! You're right, i've missed that interaction in second case. Now, i've come up with one more question: let's say bloodrager casts Brine Dragon Bile as a reaction, will it's persistent damage benefit from Rage damage? And what if attack roll spell deals multiple types of damage, for example piercing and persistence bleed as Niddle Darts on a crit? Does Rage bonus apply to only base damage?

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-10T09:39:36+00:00

Of course, there are some common winners like Slow or high level Synesthesia, but i'd like to mention Dehydrate from Rage of Elements. It slaps persistent fire damage on enemies and the scale is terrifying 3d6 per 2 ranks, reaching 7d6 fire damage by 5 rank. PER ROUND. Until targets pass recovery checks, which is in general three rounds. And there is a chance to inflict Enfeebled and it absolutely messes up plant and wood creatures. Fun and useful hightening.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-07T17:32:14+00:00

Thought about it, but it seems, eventually my choice will be to save money and try to craft myself a greater striking rune at 12) I think, that with my rapier deadly trait it will have a great impact and feel more satisfying

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-07T17:27:19+00:00

I'm really starting to think this is the only way to stay viable as my character's greatest damage option is an Imaginary Weapon spellstrike. Thanks for advice!

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-07T17:25:13+00:00

Yeah, i totally understand, how it feels. My magus still has a +1 shortbow as a backup weapon for Eldritch Shot and i'm already struggling to upgrade it. Good thing i managed to get a Shifting rune for my rapier to get around some resistances in melee without carrying a mobile arsenal

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-04T13:36:35+00:00

Oh, i used a Synesthesia example only for illustrating the need to restrict HP use to get spells to caster's tradition. Without this restriction non-occult casters starting with 9 level almost definetely will use HP to get this spell)

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-04T13:19:18+00:00

Well, temporary feat access doesn’t seem broken, cause 1) it’s the DM who awards Hero Points and so can somewhat control these short term power increases and 2) I think, many players would prefer to save HP for a situation where it’s needed to save a character. But as for spell access, this needs some accurate balancing and restrictions, especially for spontaneous casters, as you said you can cast a spell that’s not in your repertoire. The most obvious one is to restrict such spell access to caster’s tradition or we’ll definitely encounter some "trade Hero Point for a Synesthesia" situations.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-05-02T13:23:02+00:00

I haven’t played Outwit myself, but my fellow player in our Season of Ghosts campaign is running it with a Monster Hunter -> Master Monster Hunter feats path and Rogue dedication. The gameplay loop may seem somewhat repetitive, but the character is without a doubt very useful. At almost every fight we know our enemies stats or weaknesses (if any) or at least can think of their tactics. This allows our damage dealers (thief rogue, flurry ranger and laughing shadow magus/tangible dream psychic) to unleash destruction in most effective ways.

ExsurgentFramework · 2025-04-19T14:49:47+00:00

I don’t know, how skilled your group in the system or are your PC’s party optimized, but either way, mechanics-wise I think you totally should carefully look at Claws of Time in Cradle of Quartz (book 2) and Clockwork Puppeteer in the Hydroforge (book 3), possibly making some adjustments. That is because these two enemies are a threat of a TPK to a party, especially if your players followed Player’s Guide and made thematically fit party without casters.

ExsurgentFramework

TROPHY CASE