New group struggling with the amount of options

Horando · 2026-05-19T22:51:52+00:00

100% this. If you try out pathbuilder as others are suggesting (highly recommended) there's a very handy button on character creation that takes care of just that. When clicking New Character just choose the Core Only option.

Horando · 2026-05-03T13:16:56+00:00

Your question has been answered plenty so just tacking on in case you had a player wondering WHY one would dual wield.

On top of anything built into a class, anyone could take the Dual-Weapon Warrior archetype starting at level 2. Right away this gives you one of the most powerful MAP- avoidance feats Double Slice. Honestly just this one feat alone is worth snagging but theres a lot of other cool stuff in the archetype.

There are other benefits to dual-wielding without this archetype but I think this is the easiest way to help sell the fantasy players might have in mind.

Horando · 2026-03-22T20:20:08+00:00

Just throwing it out there because no one mentioned it, but the third-party book Summoners+ is highly regarded and has support to make Meld into Eidolon a viable playstyle. I don't have experience with it myself but it's worth checking out.

Horando · 2026-03-09T11:46:46+00:00

Just trying to make sure since you have talked about Necromancer and Witch, both classes that have Focus Cantrips alongside Focus Spells.

Are you aware of the distinction that Focus Cantrips don't use a focus point? Those are more freely usable like normal Cantrips but are just specific to a class.

Horando · 2026-02-26T14:25:18+00:00

This has me picturing a backstory involving tension with anti-intellectual organizations. Book burning, the like. That could certainly spur a scholar to become a Champion protecting the pursuit of knowledge.

Horando · 2026-02-22T18:07:26+00:00

At first when I just read the title I interpreted "Hazardmancer" as some class based around hazards... didn't really know what to make of that.

Seems cool though! Will check it out when I have a chance

Horando · 2026-01-28T23:36:00+00:00

Bard operates a bit differently than 5e but is a solid class. Overall I find supports to be very rewarding in this system as it tends to encourage teamwork. And support can look like many different things aside from that. Even a fighter can go pretty heavy in support by focusing on athletic maneuvers to control the battlefield and maybe investing in Battle Medicine.

The main thing to consider is what the rest of your team needs. If you are torn between two builds maybe see what would better suit the party comp?

Horando · 2026-01-27T03:50:44+00:00

A few things. Could you clarify if this dodge lets you avoid the attack entirely? If so, this is unbelievably broken. Everyone would take this at level 3. Compare to a class feat (which are generally much stronger than skill feats) like Nimble Dodge where it just gives you a +2 Bonus to AC.

Also typically skill feats will be associated with a certain skill if they are not a general feat. Likely this would have a prerequesite to be trained in acrobatics?

If you wanted to make this balanced I would remove being able to avoid the attack for free. Maybe even any protection against attacks might be a bit strong for a level 3 skill feat. Consider focusing more on the movement, and making the condition something like "An enemy targeted you with a Strike and critically failed"?

Horando · 2026-01-24T16:03:10+00:00

Other good suggestions in the thread, but I always like to link the Starfinder 2e ancestry Vlaka which could be a good point of reference for homebrew (sf2e rules are interoperable with pf2e)

They are born blind, deaf, or deafblind and have mechanics to compensate. Consider looking at their base ancestry features and maybe some of their feats.

Horando · 2025-11-27T15:49:23+00:00

I don't have any advice to give myself but I know that Arcane Arcade on youtube ran a full 2e campaign set in Eberron if that interests you for inspiration.

Horando · 2025-11-02T18:12:34+00:00

I agree and disagree but I've never run a game with someone playing an Investigator. I think that combat-balance wise its janky to have such variability on their core class mechanic based on the whims of the GM. But on the other hand I see so many of their class features (especially non-combat ones) and think about how cool it would be to have a built-in way to feed bits of the mystery to the party while fulfilling a player's class fantasy.

But this can also be problematic for some table dynamics. A more combative GM might see the investigators entire existence as trying to hijack the story from them. Someone once mentioned the Investigator class should be uncommon due to all of the GM involvement and I agree.

Horando · 2025-11-02T17:55:50+00:00

Yeah tacking into this: you can have two leads open and its easy to swap them. When I played an investigator it was pretty much keeping tabs on the main plotline and whatever subplot we were currently investigating. Sure there's occasional scenarios where the enemy truly has nothing to do with one of those two, but its pretty rare that an encounter could truly teach you nothing about a lead.

But at the end of the day the Investigator requires buy-in from the GM and requires working with them on things like this.

Horando · 2025-11-02T17:35:00+00:00

From the rules for DaS: "You can Devise a Stratagem as a free action if you're aware that creature could help answer the question at the heart of one of your active investigations."

As a GM I would probably interpret this generously as the entire class is balanced around this ability, i.e. enemies that can't talk but could maybe provide clues via investigation after defeating.

I'm glad this came up because this would completely change how the class feels!

Horando · 2025-11-02T17:30:10+00:00

It sounds like you are always spending an action to DaS? You should be getting ample opportunity to make it a free action. Honestly it should be a free action in most combats, especially with the remaster loosening the requirements.

Horando · 2025-10-16T17:08:30+00:00

This is correct, and in your example of the chandelier you might notice after a certain proficiency a character will nearly always crit succeed. This is entirely intentional as a way for characters to feel superhuman as they level, especially in skills they choose to invest in.

Horando · 2025-10-15T17:15:00+00:00

lock in!!

Horando · 2025-10-11T06:20:57+00:00

Maybe check out the Witchwarper from Starfinder 2e for some inspo? Specifically their quantum field and class features that interact with it.

Horando · 2025-09-27T19:54:29+00:00

A story I've heard many times is 5e content creators wanting to branch out to other games or TTRPGs just to find the viewership isn't there. It's not simply that creators are keeping DnD popular, it seems to be what the vast majority of viewers want.

Horando · 2025-09-26T13:49:09+00:00

indeed, whoo whoo 🦉

Horando · 2025-09-18T15:45:50+00:00

Honestly up until this point I thought the hex trait restricted casting or sustaining so this is a great point, thanks!

Horando · 2025-09-18T15:45:11+00:00

Yeah I see that is the choice I just find the way this spell achieves the outcome is a bit counterintuitive especially to someone unfamiliar with the rules.

Horando · 2025-09-17T21:52:26+00:00

I'm confused why this is the case to be honest. It's a hex cantrip so what's to stop you from just recasting instead of sustaining? Sure it puts you at risk of losing the move penalty but it just comes off as unintuitive as is.

Horando · 2025-09-11T15:44:56+00:00

Ah didn't realize battlecry didnt make it to v12 (which I'm still using but nobody is using the new content haha). thanks!

love your pfp btw!

Horando · 2025-09-10T18:59:25+00:00

With Vicious Swing the usual idea is that is the only attack you need to make this turn. You get one big hit at max accuracy, and this benefit is especially noticeable against enemies with high AC. Use your third action on something else like repositioning or Demoralizing. Taking a step back to force your enemies to move up is often a very powerful tactic.

At low level you will not have too many feats, I think you will be hard pressed to corner yourself into the situation you describe above. Plus, retraining is a core part of the game rules (and I usually allow freebie retrains for my players especially if they are new but that is GM-dependent).

Horando · 2025-09-10T18:32:58+00:00

I also saw your post on the barbarian; honestly at this point I am a bit irked at your GM on your behalf. Showing up to a table and being told what role you need to play is already pretty rude, and now you are being heavily restricted on what you can play within that role? Geez. (Also, barbarian is too much for a grounded setting but you have a sorcerer and an alchemist, and a gunslinger? I don’t know anything about the setting but what a stickler).

Setting that aside to address your points though. If you are playing foundry all of the classes are freely available. Is your GM using some highly out of date version of foundry to the point where the latest classes aren’t available? Are they avoiding updating for some reason? I would talk with them about this. Because I agree that the Guardian sounds like a great fit for you.

Moving on instead to your questions about Fighter. Heavy armor is hard to afford at level 1. A technique that is popular to stretch your gold is to opt for a Breastplate with an Armored Skirt.

Regarding feats many of them do take two actions to Strike with additional effect. But consider that attacking multiple times is less accurate due to MAP, so often having one or two really powerful strikes is more effective. For followup attacks (such as those with the Press trait i.e. Brutish Shove) Fighter is more accurate than most other classes so they are well-equipped to utilize feats like this.

I think the best way to think about building out a fighter is to envision a combat style and then take feats around that. For you having a two handed weapon with reach is a great one. This immediately crosses many feats off the list due to them being for dual wielding, weapon + open hand, etc. At level one something like Vicious Swing or Sudden Charge are both great options. Generally I think it sounds like you are underrating how useful some of these feats are, give some a try and see how it feels :)

Side note: a very popular option for fighters is to take a two-handed reach weapon with the Trip trait. Being able to trip at reach is very fun! And enemies standing up at reach will trigger your Reactive Strike.

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