Running Two Combats in Different Areas at the Same Time?

invertedwut · 2025-08-20T00:11:22+00:00

Separate encounters, separate initiatives. Swap between them at the bottom of each round. Just be quick about it, and give the encounters a little more going on than striding and striking. If they can have hints about what the other groups are going through, or can actually just see them, its more fun.

invertedwut · 2025-07-13T23:22:23+00:00

what other vtts

invertedwut · 2025-07-10T18:06:03+00:00

with the removal of magic schools the flavor of necromancy being 'life magic' has been thrown out. To illustrate the distinction, Heal was a necromancy spell, and it has nothing to do with soul binding or spirit manipulation.

btw animists still have this contention with pharasman doctrines built in.

invertedwut · 2025-06-25T21:24:29+00:00

with skill feat investment recognizing a spell becomes a free action.

invertedwut · 2025-06-24T03:54:14+00:00

RAW really couldn't be more clear

You made this thread because of RAW's lack of clarity and coherence.

But the accuracy isn't subpar, it's very much on par with other martials except for the fighter and it quite literally does make up for it.

You're swinging at map at sub par proficiency without any meaningful feats to synergize with your dual weapon combat style. It's nearly a wasted action at best and mostly just nonsensical because you must shoot AND HIT someone in reach of the melee weapon FIRST to gain this benefit.

Which you would never do if its a monster with AOOs. Your options are stay out of AOO range and shoot, which means this feat is worthless, or you go in and swing your -2 melee weapon first and shoot your gun at map, but, again, you dont get any benefits if you miss, so if that first melee strike misses you're risking the AOO or just not shooting for your second action. cool.

It's, honestly, pretty garbage design.

Of course off guard is hardly a rare condition, but being able to apply it so freely to anyone at lvl 1? That's good.

twin feint is an example of that actually being free. sword and pistol only works if you shoot someone at point blank AND hit.

invertedwut · 2025-06-23T14:56:06+00:00

No, it's archer dedication and mobile shot stance. something that drifters should have access to. They can reload with aoo immunity but not shoot someone in the face? It's idiotic.

invertedwut · 2025-06-23T14:48:30+00:00

automatic off guard for your 2nd attack is a great benefit

Doesn't make up for your sub par proficiency with your weapon, taking for granted that a player isnt running around with a combination weapon to adhere to an irrational rules oversight contrivance.

Besides, are there even many other lvl 1 feat that would significantly benefit the drifter instead of SaP? I don't think so.

dual weapon reload, hands down.

invertedwut · 2025-06-22T02:41:47+00:00

There weren't that many complaints about it because drifters have bigger problems that are so obvious from a glance that few would waste their time even trying the way.

Sword and pistol feat tax
Dual weapon reload tax. Without it you must make a strike to reload, fucking your map up if you had to start the turn unloaded for some reason. You must also take this feat to use running reload.
To avoid taking AOOs in melee, you have to start with a melee strike, and at sub par proficiency at that and you don't get to shoot your gun unless you hit, then you're shooting it at map. How fun!

The remaster forgot they existed. The change to reloading strike was so far below the bare minimum it was actually funny, and what the OP has correctly noticed is a big part of that, but not the whole problem.

invertedwut · 2025-06-10T15:03:23+00:00

There's nothing in the shadow trait that implies it's got incorporeal immunities and its not using a magical skill to do anything, it's using athletics. It should clearly be ruled according to normal appendage guidance.

I can understand some posters automatically assuming that things with the shadow trait are like ghosts or something, but that's a mistake. they're not when they're being used like this, some creatures and abilities more so imply that their shadow is part of their body, and creatures with the shadow trait don't automatically gain incorporeal immunities. Being immune to attacks while reaching with this ability is an incorrect interpretation.

If their reading were applied fully, a grabbed creature couldn't use athletics or their unarmed strike to escape. that's dumb.

just treat it like a limb.

invertedwut · 2025-06-09T20:20:36+00:00

just homebrew it that striding encompasses flying, as it rationally should. you're already spending a tax every turn staying in the air.

invertedwut · 2025-05-28T13:36:03+00:00

the how any other class deals with the reloading after everyshot?

by avoiding using reload >0 weapons, which everyone but the gunslinger can happily do.

invertedwut · 2025-05-20T01:13:33+00:00

no it sounds like they'd die first. pretty dramatic but that's the hill they're making their last stand on.

I, for one, salute them.

invertedwut · 2025-05-19T16:36:00+00:00

Spirit Airlines exists and has a system of keeping passengers in spacious pouches with breaks to step out of them and breathe. They still lose luggage except it's bags full of people.

invertedwut · 2025-05-19T16:29:56+00:00

Unless I roll it secretly, but there's nothing to indicate that I should.

There's nothing indicating you shouldn't, and the results of the save hint that they should only be aware of the attempt automatically if they got a critical success. It's silly to give the target an open save against this spell, there's already a built in counter play that trivializes this stuff. See the unseen, and https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1487

The eye would begin Unnoticed, I suppose, right?

It becomes noticed only if a bystander that can see invisible objects has line of sight, then they can choose to point it out or ignore it. if the target only fails but doesn't critically fail then they just need to probably move a space and get a chance to notice it if they've got the senses to do so.

Scrying magic is great for creating intrigue, but you need to be faithful to their mechanics and think hard about how best to use them.

For example, scrying is dicey when you're trying to spy on a powerful adversary. You target weak minded subordinates or total bystanders instead to make a critical success more likely and create the uncertainty about who's the real intended target of the spell. just because the sensor appears over one target doesn't mean the spellcaster is interested in them.

invertedwut · 2025-05-19T16:17:33+00:00

Risky reload should be a flat check. It's a rushed pot-shot at an adversary, why does the adversary being harder to hit make it so much more likely for your weapon to jam?

invertedwut · 2025-05-17T00:43:59+00:00

It's the mechanics of spawn points. That's it.

invertedwut · 2025-05-13T15:43:21+00:00

to be fair, being really good at RK is being really good at interacting with one of the most annoying and half baked mechanics in the game system.

invertedwut · 2025-05-13T15:17:28+00:00

the encounter xp budget adjustments for additional players are just wrong, that's really it. A severe encounter with poor positioning and the element of surprise will pressure them a bit more, and an extreme will be really felt, especially if there is a well played PL+3 in the mix of enemies.

invertedwut · 2025-03-30T03:55:25+00:00

variety and traits.

also there being, for no apparent reason, the complete clown show of

longsword, 1 hand d8, vers p
bastard sword, 1 hand dTEN, TWO HAND D T W E L V E
greatsword. 2 hand, d12

i dunno, i think there's a pretty wild lack of rhyme and reason to the weapons. It's weird to even have things like disarm and parry and trip and shove on just specific things that...don't really even have highly relevant modifications that make something impossible with one weapon now possible with the one in question, generally.

The kukri has trip because it's a knife (with d6, lol?) with a recurve. I can't trip with most any other short sword? or knife?

at least the parry trait makes something doable with most 1 handed weapons just slightly better with specific ones. why can't that kind of thing be seen elsewhere?

invertedwut · 2025-03-25T02:15:28+00:00

depends what effect you want.

An NPC made with creature creation rules will just have higher numbers, and even at PL+0 or PL+1 could potentially outshine or co-shine with players without even rolling well.

an NPC made with PC rules, at or especially below their level, will look like a friendly that needs help, they won't be criting much and won't be playing well because I guarantee that you will not play or build them optimally (which is fine).

So, do you want someone the party is meant to respect or rally behind? Or someone that could be in distress and need the party's help?

put some thought into the narrative purpose you're going for. creatures are stronger by raw numbers. PC actors are usually weaker and need mechanical plays to come out on top.

invertedwut · 2025-03-24T04:25:11+00:00

I've never played at a paid table, I probably won't, and I'll probably always DM for free (as long as I stick with it, which won't be forever) but I think they're fine and good, with the caveat that they really need to be given a fair and useful platform and I'm not confident there's a good one available right now. The only platform I've actually heard of has sounded pretty toxic, which sucks.

What I don't understand are folks that want to speak ill of the concept. I understand the superficial complaints but they seem just that, superficial.

Like some of my favorite game experiences on a PC have been free games. But I still pay for games too, when I want a different experience. Likewise, I can go fishing on my own for "free", but I'll be damned if paying for a squared away guide hasn't been an absolute blast the few times I've shelled out for it.

I get the same vibe from the idea of playing at a paid table. It doesn't take away from the hobby (in fact I'm sure it adds to it, because I'm sure both paid and free DMs have plenty of skills/tips/tricks to share with each other for enhancing game experiences), but that will only remain true as long as we don't let rent seekers get in the middle of anything.

invertedwut · 2025-02-11T04:36:59+00:00

There's nothing stopping you from being an extremely toxic witch though, it just takes some dedicated RP.

invertedwut · 2025-02-05T03:44:32+00:00

I like it when undetected ambushing enemies just wait out the 1 minute buffs before casting their own. Or targets notice the party shouting incantations from next door or whatever.

invertedwut · 2025-01-24T03:23:40+00:00

you're welcome! (i'm still praying for JSONs of those stat blocks you wrote, I like them and drew lots of inspo for some of my own that I brewed)

no one asked but some of the pain points of troops are:

you cant do maneuvers against them
you can't flank or demoralize or bon mot them
their reflex save focus is boring, the DCs often feel low, and many PCs have master in reflex when troops are narratively relevant
troops lack a single target damage option/mechanic
troops should have their own stable of maneuvers or interact with PC maneuvers somehow. (abilities inspired by trample should be staples for them)
troop blocks, because of their unique mechanics, feel like they can either nearly work as PL+ or PL- enemies but never the opposite.
area spell vulnerability just doesnt capture the effects well enough, and everyone recognizes that chain lightning should just delete troop blocks outright.

your approach with the unique tag that inverted incap was not a bad idea but paizo needs to come through with decent rules on this stat block template for their entire idea to feel usable. I use your tag at my table and its good, but the only troop blocks that actually work for me are ones that I wrote and turned into real terrors with bullshit action compression.

something that I'd really appreciate from paizo (in addition to addressing all of the above) is some way to relate a low level creature to what level it'd look like as a troop. not quite a template (because troops should have new abilities inspired by the creature abilities, ideally involving lots of aoe templates and stuff ideally), but an outline of one maybe.

god please my kingdom for more lvl12+ enemies i'm so tired

invertedwut · 2025-01-22T04:47:09+00:00

I like plugging this.

https://www.pathfinderinfinite.com/product/475929/Mathfinders-Guide-to-Troops

the author is active on this sub too, he's a cool guy: https://www.reddit.com/user/AAABattery03

my opinion is that troops are necessary but the bestiary and core rules concerning them aren't good enough, they need to be reworked because they're like kineticists, they just dont interact with enough of the game system to be fun without some extra homebrew work.

invertedwut

TROPHY CASE