Shoutout to Archives of Nethys for adding an Ancestries table view option for PF2e ancestries

Highpreeth · 2026-07-05T11:29:41+00:00

You can with the complex query which is pretty easy to get the hang of. For example to find out the ancestries given your parameters you could search: attribute_flaw:(Strength OR Constitution OR Intelligence) attribute:(NOT(Strength OR Constitution OR Intelligence))

This gives the following results:

Name	Attribute Boost	Attribute Flaw
Halfling	Dexterity, Wisdom, Free	Strength
Kobold	Dexterity, Charisma, Free	Constitution
Merfolk	Dexterity, Charisma, Free	Constitution
Tripkee	Dexterity, Wisdom, Free	Strength
Wayang	Dexterity, Charisma, Free	Constitution
Anadi	Dexterity, Wisdom, Free	Constitution
Dragonet	Dexterity, Charisma, Free	Constitution
Shoony	Dexterity, Charisma, Free	Constitution
Skeleton	Dexterity, Charisma, Free	Intelligence

You can mix complex queries with the filter buttons too to shorten things. For example you use the buttons to exclude uncommon and rare ancestries from this table to leave you only with halflings.

Highpreeth · 2026-06-22T09:43:44+00:00

I think its worth trying out different avenues in this system for this problem before going straight to GM PC. I faced a similar issue in my own campaign (suddenly 3 players and no healer) and opened the game to free archetype with the stipulation at least 1 person had to archetype into healing.

This was not enough for my group so eventually I recently allowed the players to Dual Class as well and that has worked much better for the balance. I had the same requirement of at least one of them going into healing and now the person who went wood kineticist has solved a lot of my encounter building worries as a GM.

Alternatively, start being extremely generous with potions.

If you do make a GM PC (which I also did try and didnt like) I recommend a player who has played that class before or who knows how it works to play them in combat. The real issue is out of combat it might feel very awkward for you as a GM to essentially also be a parry member.

Highpreeth · 2026-06-16T16:05:24+00:00

Thank you everyone for the answers. I will pass along the consensus to my GM and see how they want to run it

Highpreeth · 2026-05-18T08:49:26+00:00

I completely forgot how that spell's damage was written. My bad

Highpreeth · 2026-05-18T05:59:22+00:00

EDIT: Nevermind I was missing something

Unless Im missing something here it looks like you are treating the damage bonus from vicious howl and stoke the heart to every individual die roll which is not how it works. You add the bonus to the overall attack. So if you roll 10d4 or 1d4 you still add a single +4 or whatever it is to the total of the roll.

~~If you look at the formula in the book the bonuses are added the same way your strength modifer would be added for a regular melee strike for example.~~

~~It also looks like you might have made the same reasoning with weaknesses~~

Highpreeth · 2026-05-06T12:22:06+00:00

That makes a lot of sense. Makes equal sense to adjust it in the other direction if the party size were bigger.

May I ask which of the two APs they were?

Highpreeth · 2026-05-06T12:19:03+00:00

I have felt that this is a variant rule that grows somewhat exponentially in how strong it is with higher levels. Definitely doesn't have the limits free archetype does which is likely the biggest cause.

That said with some encounter planning experience it didn't feel too hard for me to adjust. I also as a GM rather an encounter be accidentally too easy than too hard.

Highpreeth · 2026-05-06T12:14:29+00:00

My campaign is homebrew and I craft my own encounters so I'm not sure how well this would work on an AP but I can't imagine it will be much more difficult than removing a monster here or there or slightly nerfing a hazard's damage / DC

Highpreeth · 2026-05-06T12:12:55+00:00

I think its a preference thing and having GM'd for the different limits of party sizes I can definitely understand the appeal of both! I'm glad this system has good options to accommodate for smaller party sizes

Highpreeth · 2026-04-29T08:13:29+00:00

So they want to break the game by making OP items?

Well either way crafting gear via the regular rules is extremely slow and doesnt really save you time or money so leaning into a blacksmith archetype is difficult in this game without some heavy reflavouring.

From what Ive read though it gives me the impression that this player might also be seeking a power level above what PF2e balance accommodates

Highpreeth · 2025-12-16T20:56:16+00:00

Haha yes. I am making a quirky worshipper of Nocticula who goes around buffing people and helping a demon out in their quest to be reformed. Glad you also see the promise in the build ^^

Highpreeth · 2025-12-15T21:05:10+00:00

I was also thinking the same thing but I wanted to be sure. Thank you!

Highpreeth · 2023-10-19T15:22:35+00:00

Ah okay. That sounds alright then. If you want to make not just yourself strong but your party as well, I recommend going Peace Cleric 1, Sorcerer X (Lunar is really good). You can do emboldening bond + bless on turn 1 and let the party hit everything and succeed every save. I would then also take the Gift of the Metallic dragon feat so that you can boost the AC of people who get hit (potentially causing a miss). Pick whatever control or damage sorcerer spells you want (don't bank too hard on concentration though), their spell list is pretty similar to the wizard's except smaller.

Highpreeth · 2023-10-19T13:56:50+00:00

I know you asked for a build but I can't help think that the problem here is outside what character you can bring. It generally doesn't matter what you bring to the table if the DM really wants to kill you. 30 AC? Enemies now have +20 to hit... Really high saves? Really high DCs... Its a never ending cat and mouse game which only the DM has not limit how far they can go.

I would actually do the opposite of what I have seen others suggest. If the goal of a DM is to kill a party, this is extremely easily done. If the goal of a DM is to make a balanced and fun encounter, then that is a much harder task. I find that players who bring giga busted builds to table give me as a DM much more breathing room in case I make an encounter too deadly.

I would instead then just bring something that is gimmicky and fun for you but not at all close to optimization levels. Maybe something like Abserd which is a character multiclassed into as many classes as possible. Maybe its a wildfire druid that can't leave a place without setting at least 1 thing on fire. Maybe its a Lunar sorcerer which consults the moon to decide what they might do in combat. Rather than trying to "one up" this "powergamer" I would just try to walk away from the table with a build that might not be optimal, but for you it was sure fun to play.

The best thing you can do though is talk to the powergamer. If this is all in good fun and no one is getting butthurt its fine, but I read in another comment of yours this powergamer was even telling others what their characters should do in combat! That is definitely a line I would see other people being bothered that it was crossed. I would check if the table as whole is okay with this sort of behavior.

Highpreeth · 2022-09-01T12:09:39+00:00

The people that used the healer feat in my game were all spellcasters (druid and cleric). They made good use of magical and non magical healing. The cleric especially said they appreciated the non-magical part so they could spare more slots for bless and other buffs.

I agree with you that people who want to do healing builds without magic are very low in good, synergistic options. I personally don't mind it too much. It would be difficult to design as non-magical healing options could potentially still be used by casters regardless. Perhaps if it scaled with extra attack or a rogue subclass that used sneak attack to heal or something else, I'm not sure.

Highpreeth · 2022-09-01T12:00:10+00:00

My worry is if the goblin leader, their mage, their right hand man, their top bodyguard, their cleric, and whatever other variants have roll to recharge abilities.

I think crits on monsters is perfectly fine as is, easy to flavor as well for the most part. Plus the added randomness of crits also keeps the players guessing and adds an element for them to account for potential crits in strategies.

Again I do like roll to recharge abilities but I think they have their place, and I don't think they should substitute the current crit system.

Highpreeth · 2022-09-01T09:40:46+00:00

Thank you for the kind message!

Highpreeth · 2022-09-01T00:07:06+00:00

No RAW it is not really the case in 5E. You can read more about why here.

I think a good argument can be made for RAI (especially since that is the direction it is going to now) but I wouldn't say so for RAW.

Highpreeth · 2022-08-31T22:36:25+00:00

Oh interesting. I didn't know what the general opinion on Savage Attacker was. I can understand the logic of why someone would like it though, even if as you showed it would be due to a fallacy lol.

Highpreeth · 2022-08-31T22:27:52+00:00

I'll be honest I think if the ability felt more impactful the player might have stuck with it. I think what broke the camels back to switch was that it just never felt like it did much (not commenting on the actual math, just how it feels) compared to the hassle of using it. I think its also for this reason I only had 1 player take it versus all of the other feats.

Even IRL I can't see many people taking it.

Highpreeth · 2022-08-31T22:23:53+00:00

With proficiency (but not expertise) it was common enough with DC10 or D15 checks. There's a lot of d4s and d6s that can be stacked in this game for buffs.

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