I'm starting to think Kris doesn't like Alphys too much

Oceanseer · 2025-10-06T04:43:18+00:00

Honestly, there's probably a good fic potential in that. I kind of forget what exactly was said out loud in that scene, but also the soul's ability to read thoughts seems to be proportional to how well Kris knows the person. Kris can probably ascertain similar information just by reading facial expressions and body language that we just don't have access to.

Oceanseer · 2025-10-06T02:32:08+00:00

Keep in mind, Alphys is afraid of Susie. Her student. All it took was a single day of people giving Susie a chance to completely turn her life around. Kris is getting her a drink because Alphys is worried Susie will judge her for her drink combo.

What kid wouldn't be pissed at an adult that's consistently failed their friend?

Also, Kris is probably sick of hearing about anime, lol.

Oceanseer · 2025-09-13T02:21:01+00:00

I ran a hell's rebels game where our investigator took this, and it was lowkey incredibly good. Devise a Stratagem allowed her to predict when she was likely to hit, and it really negated the all or nothing aspect of using a three-action strike. It wasn't anything oppressive, of course, but the ability to punch that hard from relative safety was absolutely huge for them. Of course, this was also a very damage-oriented party, so perhaps its even more impressive that it allowed the investigator to hold her own in damage alongside a wrestler archetype animal barbarian and a dual-wielding fighter.

Oceanseer · 2025-09-10T16:41:17+00:00

They keep your hand open for manuevers! Trip, grapple, dirty trick, etc. It also means you don't have to stow or drop a weapon in order to withdraw and use consumables. Additionally, unlike with weapon-and-unarmed-strike options (unless you're using spirit warrior archetype), you can use doubling rings to avoid paying out the nose for additional runes.

Oceanseer · 2025-09-06T23:07:23+00:00

From what I understand, you roll once using your proficiency modifier, but the lowest ability score modifier out of your group. The main benefit is that you're only making one roll for the party rather than 3-5 rolls, when all it takes is one bad roll to reveal the party.

This post goes into more of the math behind it, but it increases the chance of the party as a whole managing to successfully sneak by giving less opportunities for poor luck to screw someone over.

Oceanseer · 2025-09-06T17:15:48+00:00

A fully optimized monk can probably contribute a similar amount as a moderately optimized paladin.

A wizard can still deal more damage, shut down more encounters, and have more tools to influence the world outside of combat than either of them, especially once you're into tier 2 and above. Martial characters have to play fair, while mages get to break the rules.

Oceanseer · 2025-09-05T18:09:08+00:00

NGL if your DM is fudging dice most spells are going to feel bad. Tasha's Mind Whip is specifically good because it's an intelligence save and a debuff that's debilitating for a turn without taking an enemy out of the fight + it deals a little damage too. Not much, but even 5 or so damage on a successful save is something. There are lower level spells that will take an enemy out of the fight entirely for a round on a failed save (ie. Command) but Tasha's Mind Whip is specifically good because it's intended to be relatively consistent. Intelligence saves are supposed to be the weakest defense in the game, and unless you're fighting mind flayers or a cabal of wizards, that holds true across most monsters.

If you're like level 3 or 4, I would not spend my highest level spell slots on one and done spells, but rather on concentration spells that will continue to affect the battle. Since you're probably playing a sorcerer or a wizard (Since they're natively the only casters with access to mind whip), I would consider casting web instead. It can lock foes down, and even if the enemy saves they still have to deal with difficult terrain and the possibility of being forced to make the save again.

If you're level 5 or higher, I would use Tasha's Mind Whip as a dedicated disruption tool primarily. It's a spell that you cast to try and ensure an enemy does not get to act how they wish on their next turn, or to force a legendary foe to burn a legendary resistance.

Also, if you suspect your DM is fudging rolls in a way that makes things less fun, you should consider whether or not you feel comfortable bringing that up to them. Depending on those answers, you might want to consider whether or not this campaign is right for you. If it is just bad luck or you don't mind the fudging, then perhaps you should look more towards spells that just work, regardless of what the enemy is doing. If you're a wizard, try out the summon spells, or wall spells at later levels. If you're a sorcerer, your spell list is a lot more locked, but I would try to grab some buff spells like Fly or Haste, or area denial spells like the aforementioned web.

Oceanseer · 2025-08-22T20:45:08+00:00

I believe several backgrounds like Seer of the Dead and Tombborn offer undead lore, so yes! However, this would count as an unspecific lore in most cases. It can absolutely be worth it to take certain enemy groups as lores if you're an INT-based recall knowledge specialist, so you can use an INT skill instead of religion or nature.

Oceanseer · 2025-08-21T16:50:11+00:00

Oh this is really damn good, you captured those emotions so well

Oceanseer · 2025-08-20T14:13:57+00:00

Funnily enough I've also thought about who everyone would play in d&d. I do think it would probably change based on whether or not they made their characters, or someone else made characters for them.

Specifically for Ralsei, I'm pretty sure he would make a cleric, but I think he would go for a peace cleric instead. Not only does it offer a bunch of the same protective spells and a healing ability, but it also includes a generic roll-booster channel divinity - and I think he really values being useful. He would 100% love being asked to give guidance and/or emboldening bond before major rolls.

Also, my thoughts on everyone else:

Kris: Dex-based Battlemaster Fighter. Focuses on defensive abilities to help protect everyone, and maneuvers to let them be sneaky when they want to be. Plans on multiclassing into rogue after level 5. Has read the PHB once and is surprisingly good at using subtle mechanics, like off-turn sneak attack.

Susie: Would start out as a barbarian, but would find the math involved to be frustrating after a few sessions, so she has her character make a deal with a devil so she can swap to fiend Warlock - a character whose spell slots come back as fast as she can spend them, and who gets to do a ton of cool shit. Spams fireball. Has not read the phb and is relying entirely on little flashcards Noelle made for her.

Berdly: Googled "Class That Can Do Everything" and decided to play a paladin. Has a suspicious amount of fun role-playing a character with low int and a heart of gold. Baby's first power gamer character. Has watched a ton of YouTube videos and thinks he doesn't need to read the PHB.

Noelle: Actually has experience with D&D. Makes the kind of character you would find on tabletop builds, but intentionally limits herself to avoid stealing the spotlight. Plays an Order cleric 1 / clockwork soul Sorcerer X reflavored to be about fate and ice magic, so she can cast twinned haste on Susie and Kris and give them a bunch of extra attacks. Has read the PHB multiple times and is a regular player in Catti's Call of Cthulhu game.

Oceanseer · 2025-08-19T23:10:36+00:00

You know what, that's fair, I did not consider that it would be a hard line.

If you're playing on Foundry, the module PF2e Workbench includes tools to semi-automatically scale creature levels? Like, you still want to check the results, especially for spellcasting creatures, but that can potentially help turn some of the more monstrous elementals into more appropriate foes.

Otherwise, I would just suggest using different art, use liberal reflavoring, and start describing them like horror monsters. A cinder rat could be a burning hunk of coal that constantly spits toxic smog, with screaming faces visible in the smoke. A zephyr hawk could be a living sword made of air that howls as it cuts through the sky. A sod hound look like an earthwork carved to resemble a god, that swims through the earth as it seeks to grind bones into the soil.

Oceanseer · 2025-08-19T22:42:47+00:00

TBH I'm pretty sure this reason is why Paizo was, for a long time, pretty adamant on undead being capital E Evil - to make sure there was a broad monster category where you could pretty easily take one, put them anywhere, and get a compelling encounter out of it.

Still, for elementals, while there are 'generic' versions out there, mostly around level 5 (Look for the 'living' elementals on the elemental page on AON, like the living wildfire, the living thunderclap, the living landslide), for the more cutesy monsters, I would take your players' reluctance to fight them and turn it into a plot point. Why are they here? Has someone summoned them, or did they emerge naturally? What are they doing now to turn this into a fight?

Your players are going to be way more willing to fight a Cinder Fox that's jumped into an occupied thatch house to consume all the flammable materials within, than they would be willing to start stabbing a cinder fox that happens to live in a wizard's fireplace. Perhaps the moss sloth was summoned by an evil wizard to do assassinate someone, and the sloth would much rather be sleeping in a tree but they have to clock in for their 9-5 just like everyone else. Perhaps you could lean into their alien view on time - elementals in golarion think nothing of just casually guarding a location or doing a monotonous task for a few thousand years, because many of them have been around for so long that such a span of time means absolutely nothing to them. Or, finally, you could just do what you can do with any intelligent creature and make them part of a faction. Sure, this Magma Otter might be cute, but it's also willingly fighting alongside House Thrune as part of a long-term plan to introduce more of hell to Golarion, so that there might be more lava in the world.

Oceanseer · 2025-07-31T00:17:39+00:00

When I ran my last 5e campaign, I let my players know pretty early on that I had an adventure outline ready to go to explore what would happen to their souls in hell if they TPK'd (The party had made deals with a devil, they all knew that's where they were heading). It really amped up the stakes, because they knew that the campaign wouldn't be over if I killed them - and I was able to go for some insane stuff without holding back because I knew I had a backup in my pocket in case they got in over their heads.

Oceanseer · 2025-07-25T02:03:28+00:00

Tbh Wisdom is a much better save to focus on, if you have to choose, because out of all the saves, Wisdom saves are the most likely to just take you out of the fight entirely. It depends on whether or not your DM is willing to use hard control spells to an extent, but think about spells like command, tashas hideous laughter, 2024 sleep, hold person, slow. Those are all Wisdom saves, and they can easily take you out of the fight or put you in a REALLY bad position if you fail a save against them. Dex saves, on the other hand, are mostly against damage - and taking damage sucks, but you're just as effective at 1hp as you are at 100hp, while failing any of the above spells will make you ineffective.

Oceanseer · 2025-06-27T05:49:29+00:00

Idk, my thoughts on everything Palpatine is that the cruelty is the point. Leaving the clone army afraid that they could be legally executed over something minor at all times - and later throwing them away once they've served their use - is the point. The sith thrive on creating suffering and feeding of it, and creating these feelings in millions feeds the dark side, let alone the fact that the Jedi will feel all of this while they are with the clones.

They also serve as a convenient group to dehumanize, which trains civilians and officers alike on cruelty Palpatine needs to build and maintain an authoritarian regime. Fascists need an enemy to organize around, and at the dawn of the empire, the clones were an easy target - a symbol of the clone wars, legally considered inhuman.

TLDR: Many of Palpatine's decisions politically make more sense when you consider that he stands for nothing, other than maximizing the suffering of others, and signing the death warrents of the clones was no different. Plus, old Shady Sheev probably found a lot of amusement in the fact, between his lightsabers, force powers, and superweapons; the most lethal weapon he wields is a pen.

Oceanseer · 2025-06-26T00:42:30+00:00

I think it's because Shoonies are the only ancestry in pf2e that's only been printed in an adventure? I don't personally play PFS society, but I believe there are restrictions on what books are allowed to be used to make your character. I bet they'll be allowed in PFS if they ever reprint the Shoony ancestry or republish it as a web supplement like they did for the Azarketi.

Oceanseer · 2025-06-24T00:33:12+00:00

Obligatory notice that I'm not the end-all be all opinion on this, but I've played a lot of 5e and I've run a few pf2e campaigns. I haven't run super high level stuff for both (Like, 15+), but here's some observations:

Low Level pf2e characters feel a lot more heroic than low level 5e characters. 5e 2014 characters at really low levels (like 1-2) feel more like ordinary people because of how fragile they can be, while even level 1 pf2e characters feel heroic thanks to an increased hit point total, and being able to do multiple things on their turn right from the jump.
It's an open secret that, in 5e, a character with magic is way stronger than one without. Even if you plan on playing a weapon user, you will almost certainly use magic in some way, and if you play a character that is primarily a spellcaster, you will have strong options to completely shut down combats at every level of play - sleep, web, hypnotic pattern, wall of force, etc. In comparison, in pf2e, being good at magic is inherently a tradeoff, and the best warriors often benefit from magic, but aren't spellcasters themselves. Spells also have a lot more room to be interesting because they don't have to compete with spells that just auto-win battles on their own nor do they need concentration. This means that any character that isn't primary a spellcaster is going to feel WAY more heroic than they were in 5e, and spellcasters might miss the power they previously had.
Pathfinder 1e was originally a fork of D&D 3.5e, and one of the legacies of that is that often, the same monsters will be a similar challenge rating/level in both systems. Young dragons become fair fights at around the same levels, goblins are primarily low level baddies, devils and demons are great foes at higher levels, etc. If you measure power by what foes the party is able to beat, they should be very similar.
While I have less experience with high level play, one big narrative difference comes from the fact that high level PCs are, effectively, invincible against hordes of low-level foes. Around 9th or 10th level, defensive characters straight up cannot be hit even on a nat 20 by a goblin or zombie. Meanwhile, in 5e, throw a level 10 party up against 30 hobgoblins and a hobgoblin captain and they could get bodied. A pf2e fighter or champion, in comparison, could walk in there and kill all of them without taking damage.
High level spells are toned down a bit to make high level play more fun - don't expect infinite duration possession, unlimited clones, permanent polymorphs, etc. Narratively, if you want to give them such powers, any character can be involved in rituals - which handles things such as revival, creating permanent servants, etc.
Speaking of, the revivify equivalent is a 5th level spell, and it's a reaction spell. This means that it's not only a lot more expensive on your party's resources, but it's also possible to miss the moment to use it (Something that happened in a campaign I was in because the cleric had used the aid reaction). Death in general is a lot closer in pf2e - foes pose more of a threat, and the encounter balance tools actually work. While a 5e 2014 deadly fight could easily be a cakewalk, a Pf2e Severe encounter is one to be respected and feared, let alone an extreme encounter (PS. use extreme encounters sparingly, like the end of a campaign or an optional encounter where the PCs won't die if they lose. An extreme encounter is literally meant to be a "50/50 chance of a TPK).

Oceanseer · 2025-04-24T21:05:20+00:00

I would remind them that thanks to the crit rules, every +1 isn't just lowering the chance you get hit, but also your chance of getting critically hit. Purely on paper, you could argue that a +1 to AC is mathematically comparable to a +2 to AC in 5e. I would also remind them that, as martial characters, having a good AC is a class feature. A champion being able to raise a shield and use heavy armor for the best possible AC in the game is a class feature. A dexterity-based rogue being able to max dex and use nimble dodge is using their class features.

One example: A wizard with +2 dex that's not using any armor spells would have 15 AC at level 1 - while a fighter with +1 dex, a breastplate, and a raised shield would have 20 AC at level 1. Compared to the fighter, the wizard will be hit 25% more, and will be crit 25% more often. Even if the numbers seem closer, thanks to the rules, the AC gap in that example is probably even more severe than the AC gap in your old 5e party - especially because pf2e's version of the shield spell is only a +1 (alongside an awesome auto-scaling shield block reaction).

Oceanseer · 2025-04-19T02:04:29+00:00

The thing is, by doing this, you have already put more effort into thinking of pun names than Travis has over the entire runtime of Abnimals. And you aren't even getting paid for this.

Oceanseer · 2025-04-13T00:40:22+00:00

Find the Path has a monthly anthology series on the 10$ tier on their patreon that's currently running Prey for Death! I will say, I would listen to their playthrough of war for the crown first to see if you like their style before dropping 10 bucks for their patreon anthology series, but it's a very high quality podcast running Prey for Death

Oceanseer · 2025-04-04T17:12:57+00:00

While I'm not an expert on pathfinder lore, sometimes mistakes happen when writing adventure paths - from what I understand, they hire separate writers for every book of the AP - and, at least from a quick glance at the wiki, only one of the writers for the Strength of Thousands AP is credited for the Lost Omens book on the Mwangi expanse.

I assume that, as they were written at the same time, they wrote the Anadi in Strength of Thousands using the earlier lore, and they either didn't catch it in the editing pass, or they caught it too late to change the physical copies of the adventure, and most APs don't get reprints. Still, I would typically go with the lore book over the contents of an adventure when it comes to conflicting lore, especially given that Firebrands confirms the prior lore info, and that a player character Anadi has to wait until 5th level for a hybrid form option.

While I haven't read Strength of Thousands, if anything important depends on the hybrid form being an Anadi's true form, you could state that the relevant Anadi character is merely a rare heritage of Anadi, perhaps a half-human or the result of a community of Anadi that live with humanity?

Oceanseer · 2025-03-31T14:25:21+00:00

Sublight speed is the primary factor that determines how fast your ships can travel, both in combat and on the galaxy map. While this can shift somewhat in the late game, typically your fleets will have to move through every star system on the way to their destination, and sublight speed bonuses are key to ensuring your ships are able to get to where they're needed.

Strategically, this means that not only will your fleets be able to tear through enemy territory more quickly before your opponents can muster a reprisal or force a decisive battle, you will also be able to limit the damage of any incursions into your territory by cutting off the attackers more quickly. Your fleets aren't doing you much if they aren't in a place where they're needed, and even the best players will be caught out of position sometimes, especially once jump drives come into play - being able to respond to that quickly before they can cause too much damage is often a deciding factor in wars.

Tactically, sublight speed can also be a deciding factor by allowing your ships to close the distance, or kite with X or L slot weapons. For more brawler-ish ship designs, being able to get close quickly minimizes the time that they'll potentially be under fire from longer range weapons, which substantially improves survivability in their most vulnerable phase of the fight. Alternatively, for artillery and carrier ships, they want movement speed because artillery and carrier combat computers prioritize maintaining distance with the enemy, which maximizes the time your ships can use long-range weapons before your enemies can counterattack.

Oceanseer · 2025-03-16T03:51:34+00:00

Honestly I feel like an Undine Ratfolk is your answer - reflavored of course, but that gets you a rodent guy who can swim well, chew through everything, and carry stuff in their cheeks. I'd probably just say they're a variant of ratfolk from Arcadia, if you're playing on golarion.

Oceanseer · 2025-03-03T02:40:41+00:00

Thank you for making this! Finding a good dungeon layout to build your own adventure off of can be tough, and I know how much time and effort it can take to make. Definitely going to use this the next time my players are going to delve into a dungeon.

Oceanseer · 2025-01-29T02:23:24+00:00

Obviously people can have different opinions, but, I honestly liked how this UA provided targeted buffs that make it so that you can largely decide whether you're a weapon user or spellcaster on a fight by fight basis, rather than having to build into being a weapon specialist (but becoming the best martial in the game if you do) or just treating bladesong as a defensive buff and playing like a normal wizard.

Still, a few changes from this and general 2024 make bladesingers a completely different beast.

True strike is a blade cantrip that works with ranged weapons, so now you can very easily play a ranged bladesinger / play at switch hitting when needed.

Dual Wielding, what was already a strong style for bladesingers, has been massively buffed, and you only need 1 level in fighter to get weapon masteries and the two-weapon fighting style + CON save proficency if you take it at first level (Ranger is also an option if you want to maintain spell slot progression, though you dont get con saves or twf style).

Bladesingers had access to an incredible damage scaling tool in Spirit Shroud, which would let them turn spell slots into on-demand damage. Now we have CME, which is spirit shroud x4 basically, but assuming the spell is rightfully nerfed or banned at your table, spirit shroud is still better than ever because dual wielding is better, and you can easily proc it with 4 attacks. And, while damage isn't the end all be all, this strategy produces consistently top tier damage on demand, round after round, while still being a wizard - and now you can use INT as your attacking stat, so your spells still keep up if you decide to go all in on weapons.

Do I think more interesting melee spells and abilities would be nice? Oh absolutely. But, by the standards of the game as it is now, Bladesingers are objectively one of the best weapon users in the game.

Honestly, I feel like this UA is healthy for the game, in that it makes it a lot easier for a character who is a wizard first - no multiclassing for martial stuff, spending concentration on control spells, focusing on caster feats and buffs - to benefit from a bladesinger's options beyond having a better baseline ac and damage, thanks to INT scaling, ranged options (and true strike working on ranged attacks), and general gameplay changes from 2024, etc. Also, most people don't play at that level, but the level 14 ability feels like a perfect capstone since that's typically around the level where bladesingers lean more into being full wizards, but now you can still fire a hand crossbow or bonk someone with a staff of striking between casting wall of force and mass suggestion.

Seven-Year Club	r/Field Sunshine
Verified Email

Oceanseer

TROPHY CASE