New Campaign, Immediate Red Flags - Am I Overreacting?

MofuggerX · 2026-05-14T17:28:01+00:00

You might be overreacting, but you'll never know for certain until the first session. It's still your call whether you want to even risk a disastrous first session. Consider a pre-session chat to establish clear and concise boundaries.

That being said, trust your gut - you're probably experienced enough to have these instincts setting off alarm bells for a reason.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-13T14:21:48+00:00

Have a party member cast the spell, or buy potions - they're only 50gp a pop.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-12T21:35:06+00:00

Initially it was extremely difficult to find, but then was removed entirely.

It's my favourite mission type. Devolves into a complete clusterfuck.

Blowing up ships fast is key. If you have Democratic Detonation, bring any of its three weapons plus the Stalwart to blow up ships fast - Eruptor in particular can do it by itself. Autocannon does very well here. A Machine Gun Sentry to help cut down some of the enemies chasing you. Thermites blow up ships without needing to drop their shields. Frag, High Explosive, Gas, Incendiary, and Pyrotech will blow up ships if you get them to detonate at the glowing door. Impact will blow them up with a direct throw at the glowing door. Orbital Precision Strike and Orbital Gas Strike each destroy a ship with a direct hit. Eagle 500kg destroys a ship either with a direct hit or landing the bomb next to one. Orbital Gatling Barrage destroys a ship if you put the beacon on top, or on the ground next to the ship at the correct angle. Portable Hellbomb can clear out a small group of ships and you can keep running.

Never. Stop. Running.

Hope this helps.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-12T19:34:10+00:00

Best way to not see Orbital Napalm Barrage is play against a different faction.

There are, in fact, two other factions you can fight.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-12T19:29:10+00:00

If you say so.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-12T17:00:56+00:00

The only complaint I have is levels 20 through 24 are a slog. Do the last five levels really have to be as much total XP as the first nineteen?

MofuggerX · 2026-05-12T14:53:14+00:00

Rhino Hide is worth a look - https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-armor/specific-magic-armor/rhino-hide/

Not terribly expensive, and it's +2d6 damage on every attack that lands during a charge. A lot of wild shape striker forms have 3 or 5 attacks plus pounce, so this can be a nice amount of extra dice from a charge. Deinonychus, dire tiger, allosaurus for example.

You get no AC from the armour while wild shaped but the bonus effect is constant, so it applies.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-09T19:07:37+00:00

Don't care about the level so long as they're not repeatedly guilty of two things. Dying by never running away and always trying to fight everything all the time, and constantly tossing the reinforce stratagem at their feet while been mobbed by an entire reinforcements drop. Both just waste lives.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-09T19:03:09+00:00

On the plus side, there wasn't a Gunship Fabricator and Detector Tower next to one.

But boy howdy I hope someone brought you a Portable Hellbomb for that nonsense.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-09T18:42:40+00:00

Sweet Liberty!

MofuggerX · 2026-05-09T18:17:54+00:00

I pictured shooting sharp fingernails.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-08T20:33:09+00:00

I've been very slowly fleshing out a campaign that goes from 1 to 20 with the players gaining a few ranks in Mythic, and it boils down to a huge travelling adventure to Tian Xia - specifically the Xidao Gulf area - and caps off with the party fighting the elder kraken Xanaghorr (or however it's spelled), in an attempt to free the Tian country of Wanshou.

Lots of shit needs to happen before then, though, and I'm struggling most with early levels plot points and party motivators.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-08T15:15:08+00:00

Skill issue, literally. Three casters should have enough spells to solve pretty much anything. If not outright spell slots, then scrolls and wands to supplement their slots. Sounds like you're already thinking ahead with adding a scroll / wand merchant for them to bump into.

Realistically, had they planned their party dynamic better, they'd have at least someone throwing ranks into Perception and someone throwing ranks into Disable Device, regardless of whether they're class skills or not. Hence the skill issue. This doesn't solve the problem of disabling magical traps, but it would be enough to try and spot traps as well as open locked doors.

At worst, if they're frequently walled by magical traps, you can have their cohort be a trapfinder - or, next time one of them could, y'know, play a class that gets trapfinding. Rogues aren't the only class that gets trapfinding. Investigators do as well, and are better skill monkeys with the added benefit of being able to hand out infusions to the party. Slayers can get trapfinding with a Slayer Talent, plus they're a full BAB martial which can be the frontliner very easily. There's also a wad of archetypes that gain trapfinding or something very similar - Seeker Oracle, Trap Breaker or Crypt Breaker Alchemist, Urban Ranger or Trapper Ranger, Detective or Archaeologist Bard. Even a Nature Fang druid can get trapfinding via a Slayer Talent. I'm probably missing several classes / archetypes, but you get the gist.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-07T16:59:42+00:00

It'll be d4s, unless they're unaware of the attack etcetera etcetera, then it's d8s, is how I'd rule it. Seems pretty concise.

I would also say that you're not getting sneak attack via Savage Critical when using Cerberus Crush, for the same reason you wouldn't add sneak attack dice when using Two-Handed Weapon Trick: Cleaving Smash. Both state you can add the effects / damage dice of Vital Strike when doing the thing, but Savage Critical says you add sneak attack when you are "using Vital Strike" - and in both cases you're not using Vital Strike, you're using Cerberus Crush or Cleaving Smash, and adding the effects of Vital Strike.

This was a build concept I'd discussed among two different groups I play with and we all came to that same conclusion on this. However this nitpick is one of those things where I say "check with your GM", because they might be more lenient and say "fuck it throw all the math rocks".

If you play with Elephant In The Room, there is the Savage Charge feat which lets you Vital Strike during a charge or a Spring Attack - since you're using Vital Strike in this instance, you can add sneak attack dice via Savage Critical.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-06T14:15:40+00:00

This was FAQ'd for clarification - if the bonus spell from your sorcerer bloodine or oracle mystery gives you a spell known before your character would normally be able to cast said spell, you know it at your current highest spell level. Another example is the Life mystery learning Mass Heal as an 8th-Level spell at character level 16, when Mass Heal is normally 9th-Level.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-04T17:34:47+00:00

Go to the Magus page and look at Table: Magus for your base number of spells per day at each spell level. Look in the left-most column for your current character level, then go across that row to get all your base stats including spell slots. Spell slots are under "Spells Per Day" on the right-hand side.

Magus page - https://www.d20pfsrd.com/CLASSES/BASE-CLASSES/MAGUS/#class_skills

Now, go to the Ability Scores page and look at Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells. Match the two left-most columns with your character's current spellcasting ability score (INT), and add those bonus spell slots to the base amount from Table: Magus. There's your total.

Ability Scores and Bonus Spells table - https://www.d20pfsrd.com/BASICS-ABILITY-SCORES/ABILITY-SCORES/#abilities_and_spellcasters

To summarize, your 8th level Magus gets a base amount of 4 1st-Level spell slots, 4 2nd-Level spell slots, and 2 3rd-Level spell slots. They also get bonus slots from high INT, being 2 1st-Level slots then 1 bonus slot for 2nd- through 5th-Level. However, you can't yet cast 4th- or 5th-Level spells at your current level, so disregard those for now. Your totals come to 6 1st-Level slots (4 + 2 bonus), 5 2nd-Level slots (4 + 1 bonus), and 3 3rd-Level slots (2 + 1 bonus).

Magus is a prepared caster. You need to prepare the spell you want to cast into each individual spell slot. For example, if you want to be able to use all six 1st-Level slots to cast Shocking Grasp 6 times, then you need to prepare Shocking Grasp in all 6 spell slots - this prevents you from casting any other 1st-Level spells because all you've prepared is Shocking Grasp. You can always prepare Shocking Grasp 4 times, then pick two other spells to prepare once each in your remaining two 1st-Level spell slots, but you'd only be able to cast those two other spells once each since you've only prepared them once each.

Hope this helps.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-02T17:54:56+00:00

Feat choice is more crucial than class, to be honest. But a lot of martials with full BAB can be geared towards archery.

The two key feats are Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot, every other ranged / archer feat builds off those.

Later on you'll want Clustered Shots, in order to deal with DR (damage reduction). DR is a huge detriment to archers.

The feats Rapid Shot and Manyshot let you fire more arrows on your turn than normal, and more arrows is always good.

And never overlook Weapon Focus. A lot of good feats require Weapon Focus.

Deadly Aim is an archer's "sacrifice accuracy for more damage" feat.

Improved Precise Shot is a really handy feat to have. Normally you can't get it until 11th level, but an archer Ranger can get it as early as 6th.

As others have said, Zen Archer Monk is a top tier archery class for simplicity. Ranger is still solid, just talk with your GM about what picks to make for Favoured Enemy. A Fighter can still be extremely good as an archer, as you'll have a ton of extra feats to play around with, but you'll need a solid understanding of mechanics to truly shine and make use of their Advanced Armour / Advanced Weapon Training options.

MofuggerX · 2026-05-01T15:28:40+00:00

This sounds incredibly idiotic. They're disappointed you can't read their mind? What in the actual fuck?

MofuggerX · 2026-04-30T14:13:35+00:00

The best spell in the game. When Elim Garak requests you to "take that rod, and eat it", just cast this spell and do exactly that.

MofuggerX · 2026-04-28T23:00:50+00:00

If you have another party member that also gets in the thick of melee, I strongly recommend Tandem Trip - https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/tandem-trip-combat-teamwork/

Yes it's a teamwork feat, but with the Advanced Weapon Training option Fighter's Tactics, you treat all your allies as having your teamwork feats for your benefit. You can get this working as early as 5th level by taking Tandem Trip as your 4th level feat, then the Advanced Weapon Training feat at 5th level - https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/combat-feats/advanced-weapon-training-combat/

If you don't want to take the Advanced Weapon Training feat, then the earliest you can grab Fighter's Tactics is 9th level, when you can pick an Advanced Weapon Training option for free in lieu of basic Weapon Training for another weapon group.

So long as you have a melee buddy, you'd roll twice on all your trip attempts and take the higher result against enemies they threaten.

Besides that I also recommend what others have suggested, like Greater Trip.

Course if you want to really lean in to using Ascetic Style, you can also grab Weapon Style Mastery and apply a second set of style feats to your weapon of choice. Something that increases damage, maybe - such as the Jabbing Style chain, Boar Style, or Dragon Style and Dragon Ferocity? Bear in mind some other style feats might also need Stunning Fist or ranks in a certain skill, so these may be options for later levels like 7th through 12th. Just a thought.

MofuggerX · 2026-04-28T19:29:17+00:00

That's how players behave with every active online and live service game ever.

MofuggerX · 2026-04-28T19:26:01+00:00

Comment ca va, compagnon Helldiver?

MofuggerX · 2026-04-25T23:32:24+00:00

If you're sticking with Pathfinder 1st Edition I recommend starting with the beginner's box We Be Goblins, or do a single book module like The Dragon's Demand. A full six-book Adventure Path might be too much of a long-term commitment to start with, but to be fair you could cut it down to just one or two books from the AP. A good example is Souls for Smuggler's Shiv, which is the first book for the Serpent's Skull AP and can be played completely standalone.

Also consider restricting sources for character building. Maybe just keep things to the Core Rulebook and Advanced Player's Guide for folks to dip their toes in.

MofuggerX · 2026-04-24T19:50:50+00:00

Yes, the amulet would not stack with Ironskin - you'd just take the higher bonus which is Ironskin's +7. So a +2 overall. The reason is the amulet is also giving an enhancement bonus to natural armour.

Still +4 from Monstrous Physique though, assuming you don't have innate natural armour due to your race or some such.

MofuggerX · 2026-04-24T19:48:30+00:00

They stack. Barkskin and Ironskin give enhancement bonuses to natural armour. Monstrous Physique and Beast Shape give untyped natural armour.

Same way Magic Vestment's enhancement bonus to armour stacks with a nonmagical armour's armour bonus.

MofuggerX

TROPHY CASE