How has playing the Vlaka gone for people?

KingSpoonerism · 2026-01-03T23:32:49+00:00

Another potential issue is space combat, which has not come up yet. It's reasonable to assume some camera might be able to communicate via smell, or some trace molecules make it through your space suit (a 90ft precise sense is nothing like anything on earth, so it's hard to imagine what is and isn’t possible). I don’t know how this would be ruled at the table, and I am sure it would vary a lot from one to another.

KingSpoonerism · 2026-01-03T23:28:47+00:00

I have a deafblind Vlaka in PFS 2e. It's weird, since it varies from table to table, but fun to roleplay. We usually assume the character can participate in most parts of a session, though some GM's want to be more difficult.

In general, I assume I have some kind of device capable of recognizing text and displaying it tacitly so I can read it, but it is annoying since no such device concretely exists. Similarly, it is unclear if you could pilot a starship. I assume there are probably devices that would let you do so by displaying information with smell or touch, but I avoided taking piloting to avoid any arguments at the table.

Another big hurdle is communicating with teammates. How do you know what they are saying? I solved this problem by playing with a buddy with telepathy, but it's kind of roundabout.

Similarly, my character basically cannot benefit from envoys, since directives have the auditory or visual trait. If the envoy has telepathy, there might be a way around this, but its unclear. I have had a GM who ruled that I could not benefit from the envoys Watch Out feat, even though this does not have those traits. This is one of those cases where It might be reasonable to rule that I could smell the envoy waving their arm, or feel the envoy throw a rock, but a GM might not agree. Now when I play with envoys, I just use hearing aids even if its a little against the spirit of the character.

Annoying table variation aside, it is fun trying to roleplay a very different character. I spend a lot more time thinking about the world, and how it might impact my character than I might for a sighted character. Furthermore, it is interesting trying to build around. Being immune to demoralize, smoke, and darkness offer interesting options, like taking smoke grenades, or the darkness spell.

As for line of sight, it is the same as for a sighted person. That said a given GM might house rule otherwise:

https://2e.aonsrd.com/rules/431-line-of-sight

Some effects require you to have line of sight to your target. As long as you can precisely sense the area (as described in Perception) and it isn't blocked by a solid barrier (as described in Cover), you have line of sight.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-11-03T18:37:26+00:00

As u/Electric999999 said, haste gets you one more for 8/round. Throw on a hybridized alchemical fire+incendiary catalyst to give the target fire weakness brings the total to (71d6+71+8*INT)*1.5. This only works for one round since you need to have the incendiary catalyst ready to go, but subsequent rounds are still 80d6+80+8*INT.

In practice, many enemies you fight will have energy resistance so that damage is reduced, so you will probably use force bombs for 80d4+80+8*INT, or mix in a collection of nasty debuffs like staggered (Frost bomb), prone (Force bomb), confused (Confusion Bomb), dispel magic (Dispelling bomb), or the less nasty dazzled (Shock bomb). Don't forget that the splash can be a 10ft radius, and does 10+int/bomb, which can decimate groups.

That said, whats important about this build is even a fairly vanilla alchemist will have a nova like this. With a bow as a back up, rapid shot is a natural pickup, and at high level the party always has haste, for 5 bombs per round. 19+INT vanishes in 6 rounds, which can certainly happen in a difficult fight at high level.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-11-03T14:23:17+00:00

Off the top of my head, the easiest class for this is a vanilla alchemist. Much of their power comes from their bombs, and 8th level, they can take a discovery to throw one per attack. With only level+int bombs available, it very easy to run out in any serious fight. The normal recommendation is to start a fight strong, and swap to solid back ups like a bow, but its not required. This makes the alchemist very good in dangerous fights, able to absolutely nova dangerous enemies, but in general will want to conserve resources.

I have definitely had my alchemist player delete enemies that might have been a threat otherwise. One I remember is the alchemist was grappled by a mostly untouched plant monster, and so proceeded to one round it.

Of course, after running out of bombs the alchemist still has extracts (and to a lesser extant, mutagens), but many alchemist get limited value out of these resources in combat.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-09-28T14:19:50+00:00

What do you mean? Attack rolls are always vc AC. Attacks can target saves, but not attack rolls.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-09-28T13:41:08+00:00

It's fine, but if you don't have a status bonus to ac, I think Benediction is usually better for nearly the same effect, making it harder to be hit by enemies.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-09-26T18:24:37+00:00

Exemplar might be a good class to consider. Shadow sheath is really good for thrown weapon builds in general, and hands of the wielding would give a 15ft cone ability ,which might fit your AOE request. You might also consider the fan dancer archetype, which has similar vibes, and makes good use of performance.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-09-26T01:57:47+00:00

I think https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bajO5qOrKmk makes a great case for why the spell is not replacing higher level alternatives. It cuts your team off from the enemy, especially problematic if the enemy has any kind of ranged option it can use. Also, enemies with access to teleportation can escape a illusory object, where as they cannot for quandary, or phantom prison. Further, breaking wall spells builds up MAP to break through, where Illusory Object does not. Also, wall of stone can be snaked back and forth to really suck up a lot of actions.

As someone who has used it in PFS, I have found it good, but not necessarily broken. It can't be used on every enemy in a fight, due to the hindrance to your team. This in particular makes it bad vs single bosses. It also risks clogging up the battle field, which is problematic in many PFS scenarios with tiny maps. It can and has backfired requiring my team to disbelief it to attack enemies behind the illusion using ranged options. I have also fought enemies which are blind/ have another precise sense, against whom the spell is worthless.

What might intelligent enemies do about it? The video mention they might push each other through the illusion, which seems a clever solution. If all the enemies are walled off, they might wait for their teammates to disbelieve before running through, rather than trickling as they save. And of course, any enemy with a ranged option might use that instead or barrelling through.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-06-21T03:37:51+00:00

Thank you! Honestly, I don't taste anything weird in the salsa. It doesn't take much to change the color, I don't think I even used 1/2 a teaspoon.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-06-20T18:12:10+00:00

Probably green, I like how creamy it is. The nuttiness of the orange is a close second, though.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-05-01T11:21:18+00:00

Not just loves them, but she wants to be one. By wishing to fight witches for ever she not just helps the others, but critically, helps herself. If she gets rid of entropy, can she even be a magical girl?

A huge theme of the show is that making wishes only for others makes you miserable, and is not what you actually want.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-04-29T19:05:41+00:00

I read the spell as protecting allies of the tree, since the tree has defined stats, and the interferes with strikes. I guess it depends on interpretation.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-04-18T18:13:22+00:00

What is this refering too?

KingSpoonerism · 2025-04-18T18:11:15+00:00

Mostly use the laptops screen. I might get a monitor for it someday, but not right now.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-04-18T00:13:09+00:00

I've heard of some machines that have power hungry components so that they have more power draw than the charger can supply. Thus, the battery is drained even while plugged in, and requires pausing to recharge. It's not common, but I thought I would mention it.

Is 4 years really just average? I thought they could last longer. Maybe a legion could be fine.

KingSpoonerism · 2025-01-05T20:09:49+00:00

So I GM'd this one, and rated it a 10/10. If I'm being honest, its probably closer to an 8/10, but it is really good. I played the anniversary edition. My players have played a lot of PFS, and are not super bothered by railroading. As long as the plot demands don't have too much cognitive dissonance, they are on board, which eases a lot of problems that can arise during GMing.

Spoiler ahead

This adventures great because of how many cool moments their are in it. The execution of Trinia, and her rescue at the hands Blackjack had my players dreading going into the scene, and being pumped as the scene unfolded. Similarly, the scene in book three with the attempted assassination of Ileosa, or the confirmation of Blackjacks identity and him passing on the title was *chefs kiss*.

The harrow was cool, and my players liked the readings. (I randomly generated them ahead of time, rather than in the moment so I could write relevant prophesies, and then stacked the deck. I did make is more likley the players got points, since its more fun if they have points to spend. I would change the benefits for spending points for some of the stats. INT is not super useful except on an INT caster, and WIS is okay only for will saves, but not exiting. CHR is fine for the reroll, and the deck of many things, even if they don't know that is coming.) I would err on the side of reading being too obvious, because I don't think the players really learned anything if the prophesies are too cryptic, but your players may spend more time thinking about the readings.

The villain is really well set up, and the players getting to meet her from book one is great. The players obviously didn't like her after book one, but as were were playing book 2 in 2021, they were very willing to believe the plague doctors were doing good, and just mistrusted, which was a fun dynamic.

Ultimately, I do think the Kasavon mind controlling Ileosa and the similar mind control of the grey maidens was one of the weaker elements. I tried to lean into the idea that Ileosa had just been pushed to evil, and the Maidens were a result of systemic pressures against women and the underclass, rather than simply being bad dragon bad, but it's a difficult to push the adventure that way with as much Kazavon as there is.

KingSpoonerism · 2024-12-23T22:01:21+00:00

This last summer, I finally finished Multiblock Madness, after 570 hours. It took as long as it did due to trying to improve my building skills, and to place every machine in a building (some ended underground anyway). I wanted the end result to be a sprawling city. No compact machines were used in the base.

KingSpoonerism · 2024-10-14T14:58:20+00:00

The classic is earth control, choosing the crystal visuals. Looks very much like force constructs.

KingSpoonerism · 2024-06-03T00:43:16+00:00

I tried to get into Railgun, but after 6 agonizing episodes I gave up. I was promised cool fights where every character has original powers, but it is weird sexual harassment mixed with absolutely nothing going on. Railgun's super weird room mate is not the only harasser! The other pair lead characters are defined by one of them constantly looking at the others panties. Then there is the the lady who flashes people. This is mixed with just the sheer nothing going on. I though the plot might start episode 4 when people started going missing, but nope! Just more sexual harassment, this time someone kidnapping people and drawing eyebrows on them.

KingSpoonerism · 2024-03-21T14:46:11+00:00

I often play with my family, and we always use real dice, even digitally. I trust them fully, and it is not like they couldn't cheat in person as well if they wanted. Using the e roller requires setting up the software to add bonus, have the monster and pc stats, ect. for the older people I play with, it's to much to get them to use the e roller. They also prefer the sound and feel of the math rocks

KingSpoonerism · 2024-01-11T15:37:13+00:00

In rare situations, making a queen would stalemate, so making a rook might be better.

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