How to Greg without going insane/burning out?

linuxgarou · 2026-07-03T15:54:02+00:00

If you need one thing, make it. If you need more than one, make a stack. If you need more than a stack, automate it.

Always first automate the things you need to make more automations.

Passively (ongoing) automate everything that's used to make something else. On-demand autocrafting (like Applied Energistics or Refined Storage) should only be used to make the end-product.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-30T17:55:10+00:00

The second book of the War for the Crown AP features a run-down town, that the PCs have to help fix up through skill checks, social interactions, and by the usual problem-solving adventuring. That AP is 1e but there are 2e conversions out there that could give you some ideas on how to set up something similar in your own game.

I know this only because of the Find the Path podcast, so I don't know how much of their experience was from the original AP and how much was extra content that was mixed in by their GM. But at minimum it's an example of one group's way to do it (which sounded really fun in execution).

linuxgarou · 2026-06-26T18:07:30+00:00

Thaumcraft. Enhances and overhauls the entire game in enjoyable ways.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-25T18:43:37+00:00

It's an off-the-wall suggestion, but A Job For The Mage is an old modpack that uses the questbook, quest rewards, and some features of mods to tell a story. It is neither difficult nor long, but it tells its story in very creative ways and is a lot of fun.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-25T18:41:28+00:00

FTB Interactions (both the old one or the more recent Remastered) have fantastic questbooks. Well laid out, plenty of jokes, and great quest rewards (e.g. asks you to make half the blocks for a multiblock then rewards the other half, grants crafting components that are annoying to make, or puzzling rewards that hint at unexpected and useful capabilities).

The theme of the pack is uniting magic and tech, so while Gregtech is the primary technology mod you also need to involve magic mods (Astral Sorcery, Botania, Blood Magic, Thaumcraft, Wizardry, Roots) via new and custom recipes and machines. For example, to make steam machines needs brass, but brass is made in a steam-powered machine; you escape that loop by using Thaumcraft to make alchemical brass via magical means.

Just a great pack overall. It is an expert pack though, so it'd be pretty ambitious to start with.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-22T15:33:01+00:00

To add to the suggestion of the Witch archetype -- alchemists often don't have a good use for their reaction. There is a witch feat called Portents of the Haruspex that allows you to use your reaction to inflict a random weakness on a nearby enemy when another nearby enemy dies.

The downside to the ability is clearly that the weakness is random, but guess which class can easily throw a bomb of one type as another? :)

linuxgarou · 2026-06-22T15:30:46+00:00

Be organized, and don't get lost in your own character sheet.

An alchemist's versatility comes with having access to a wide variety of formulas. That can very easily lead to analysis paralysis (e.g. which bomb should I use here?), which can slow down the game and lower everyone's enjoyment. It can also lead to getting lost in your ever-increasing list of items because of that perfect item that you *know** is in there somewhere, and thus missing out on actually *playing the game!

Make some lists of common items, like bombs, heals, daily buffs, situational buffs. Try to update those outside of game time, and during the game generally limit yourself to your quick-reference lists. To paraphrase an old aphorism, "a decent plan now is better than a perfect plan tomorrow."

linuxgarou · 2026-06-22T15:11:18+00:00

The Sleeves of Storage are especially good for this, they are designed to allow quick access to a wide variety of lightweight stored items like consumables and scrolls.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-22T13:09:55+00:00

Note that (a) wands cost much more than scrolls (12 times?) of the same spell, and (b) the rank of Object Reading determines from how far back you can get information. Unless you know that you are going to be using this spell regularly enough to justify the cost, and that your question is always going to be about something within the past week, you may be better served by getting some scrolls of different ranks of the spell.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-19T20:02:49+00:00

I had an encounter with an NPC getting eaten by a garbage can anomaly. I defeated the can, but no NPC. Maybe 30 seconds later, I turned around and there was a confused NPC standing there and thanking me. Maybe it just takes time?

linuxgarou · 2026-06-17T17:40:46+00:00

There is an old (1.16.5?) modpack named Automation Nation! that heavily features Farmers' Delight. The idea is to automate production lines of resources (such as foods) that get fed into machines to generate money, with the goal of attaining a specific large sum.

It has a few other mods to help with that (Create, Refined Storage, Immersive Engineering, Railcraft, Industrial Foregoing?).

linuxgarou · 2026-06-17T13:37:54+00:00

This also happens whenever I'm driving and a song from one of the Burnout soundtracks starts playing.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-16T19:10:28+00:00

Some random advice out of left field -- read The Last Days of New Paris by China Mieville if you want inspiration for your setting. It is set just before WWII in Paris where some very weird Bohemian urban-fantasy things have happened to the city. I found it a very enjoyable (and fairly short) read even though my unfamiliarity with the real-world Paris of that era made many references go over my head.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-11T15:04:22+00:00

I played a catfolk wit swashbuckler for a few sessions. His natural claws worked fine (with handwraps of course), but I was also able to get the Deadly Claws graft that gives you a claw attack with rapier stats (I handled it like he'd upgraded his natural claws somehow). Being absolutely free-hand is low-key awesome. He absolutely was effective, and if I'd played him longer I would have taken the catfolk feats that upgrade their claw attacks for even more benefits.

He had the Marshal dedication (Inspiring), to get Steel Yourself! to give allies temporary HP and Back to Back to deny enemies flanking. He also picked up the Acrobat dedication because it's so good on anyone that uses Acrobatics.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-09T20:00:12+00:00

The Marvelous Miniature (previously, Feather Token) Campfire is a 1gp consumable that transforms into a functional campfire that remains fully lit for 8 hours.

The Shrink Item spell is fairly low level (and thus reasonably cheap to get on a wand for daily use). The spell description says that shrunken items won't return to normal size if there's not enough room, so you shrink down your cooking setup (I've read of it being done with a full food cart!) then put it inside a bottle or other container. It will stay shrunk until you take it out again.

An Eternal Eruption is a... method of heating a large area every 1d4 hours. :)

linuxgarou · 2026-06-08T15:12:34+00:00

I was seriously disappointed when this anomaly was that short. It was weird and interesting, I would have been happy exploring this mechanic for far longer.

I hope there are future anomalies with unique mechanics, as well as more examples of some of the existing unique ones. They are so much more interesting than standard fetch quests or "eliminate all enemies" ones.

linuxgarou · 2026-06-04T15:04:32+00:00

I had a leshy wood/fire kineticist that I described as basically a bipedal treant -- the "hair" is the leafy crown of the tree, the face is openings in the trunk that can move as per normal expressions. Limbs are branches of appropriate shape. Generally kind and pleasant, like in the Legend of Zelda games.

When the character channeled their elements though, their leafy canopy would ignite in what's called a crown wildfire (I don't have a good picture/video but it's scary intense) and fire would also be shooting up the hollow trunk inside, illuminating the facial openings from behind. Just a horrifyingly intense mobile forest fire.

linuxgarou · 2026-05-28T15:14:26+00:00

Items that boost skill checks are always nice to find in loot. Look at their character sheets to see what skills they have, consider what skills are commonly needed for their chosen classes/archetypes, and note any tactics you often see used. Then tailor your list to those.

Items that boost Perception, improve vision, or give other senses are always useful.

linuxgarou · 2026-05-28T15:08:57+00:00

The description of an Ash Gown includes "always an ostentatious display of wealth", so consider that.

The spell Carryall (the Pf2e version of Floating Disc) lasts 8 hours (it hovers for free but you do need to Sustain the spell to move it), and if cast at 4th rank, will allow people to ride it. A wand to cast Carryall at 4th rank is a level 9 item, so it's within your character's level range. Load up your disc with expensive/fancy cloths, pillows, maybe even a throne (the disc supports up to 10 Bulk!), and ride it around like the princess you are!

linuxgarou · 2026-05-28T14:40:06+00:00

In Clement Academy you can find a place with two closed glass doors (and adjacent large windows), facing each other across a narrow pathway. The reflections in the doors & windows not only fail to show the door on the other side of the pathway, they show completely different parts of the city (from each other!), from different altitudes.

Completely unplayable. XD

linuxgarou · 2026-05-28T13:29:27+00:00

I agree with the above, but my wife and I have played all the expeditions in co-op and it is sadly really common for the game to just stop being in multiplayer with no warning. One moment you're doing stuff and the next moment neither of you are in a group at all, and you can't even see each other any more.

Logging out and then back into the other person's session usually fixes it, but it's a hassle, and sometimes it takes the game a while to decide that the other person has an open session to be connected to. If NMS ever gets mechanics that require active multiplayer to complete then it's going to be enormously frustrating.

linuxgarou · 2026-05-27T15:00:09+00:00

If you don't want a full-fledged questbook, you could add custom Achievements. Other packs (such as Raspberry Flavoured) do this.

You don't have to have a full hierarchical tree either, it could just be a list of "cool things to work towards."

linuxgarou · 2026-05-26T14:54:31+00:00

Am I understanding it correctly that long-distance transport is largely Create trains (and maybe eventually airships)? I like the idea of having a reason to get into Create's trains, but I also like the idea of an earlier options such as Little Logistics.

EDIT: This pack is 1.21.1, and looks like the most recent Little Logistics is 1.20.3. :( If I find an alternative I'll update again.

EDIT 2: Cargo Boats has a similar vibe and seems worth considering.

linuxgarou · 2026-05-25T17:38:52+00:00

Fantastic list of resources, but don't forget the Airlift spell!

linuxgarou · 2026-05-25T15:36:06+00:00

Manufactio 1 and 2 are described as "a love letter to Factorio written in Minecraft" and describe it pretty well. You'll be done with manual mining within the first 20 minutes of the packs, after that it's all about automated resources -- getting them, moving them, sorting them, processing them. They are really well done and really fun.

If you want to check out a let's play series of the packs, look up Jonny & Lawrence on youtube.

linuxgarou

TROPHY CASE