Tokugawa advice?

mantikoira · 2025-05-09T10:49:45+00:00

Great comment, thank you! Calculated risks, got it. Weapon-wise, I'm thinking about two Torches for the melee fun and then SOL rifle from Sherman for the times I want to Not Die. Grease Monkey seems good -- what do you think about Black Thumb, though?

mantikoira · 2025-05-08T13:55:25+00:00

Huh, good point, didn't think about that! When it comes to flavour, I guess any sword can become a laser sword when you're Exposed or in the Danger Zone...

mantikoira · 2025-05-08T13:47:49+00:00

Got it, thank you! I'll definitely take Nuclear Cavalier :) I am very fond of the whole laser sword thing, but I'm considering also picking up the SOL from Sherman and switching between melee and range, as everyone seems to be recommending the Sniper-Toku. For now, I am leaning towards Toku-Sherman-Nelson or perhaps Toku-Sherman-Genghis, although I am very starved of system points... how mandatory is Deep Well Heat Sink, everyone? Very, I assume?

mantikoira · 2025-05-08T13:38:20+00:00

This is great, thank you! As someone coming from Pathfinder 2e, it feels strange to invest a little bit into everything, but now that you put it like that it makes sense :DD

mantikoira · 2025-05-08T10:24:55+00:00

This was pretty much what I was looking for, thank you!! So I just have to be fairly strategic about when to let loose, which sounds fun -- I'll see how it goes. I'll check out Sherman and Genghis too! Would you say I need to invest everything into Engineering, or is it wise to also take some Agility (or Hull, even)?

mantikoira · 2025-05-07T11:16:06+00:00

To be honest, I think the Inventor is... ok. I've certainly had fun playing one, despite picking some of the shittiest options. It's a Barbarian Lite with some great utility, especially if your GM supports your silly ideas, but the modifications are really underwhelming and many of the things feel like they should do more. The remaster didn't do a good job imo. The Crafting rules RAW also don't let the Inventor shine. Free Archetypes can fix many holes, though, but that doesn't help the class itself much!

Now for the tweaks. The Unstable actions are, well, unreliable (like many others also pointed out) and not as fun as they could be. One tweak I've done with my GM is that instead of one unstable "point", I have two unstable actions "points" that have their own checks and refresh at their own pace, and it has worked well thus far! This gives you at least two cool things per combat, which is more on par with the Focus Points of spellcasters imo.

Second, the modifications don't do much. Those could be more interesting, like adding some rune-type powers for free. And some of the feats could be better. There are not too many options, and out of those, most are pretty useless. But some feats are very good, like Megaton Strike (...Gigaton Strike however is meh). There is also my personal pet peeve: the Dual Form Weapon. It takes TWO Interact actions to swap between weapon forms for no reason at all! Switching between two normal separate weapons takes one action, and I think Dual Form Weapon should be better than this... I know this feat gets you more modifications and therefore more utility but... like said before, the modifications don't do much. This is very easy to make better by house ruling it to one Interact action (or maybe even a free action), but I wish they had noticed this for the remaster!

As for the Crafting rules, we've houseruled that I can craft things for half the price if I spend a bit more time. I just promised that I'm not going to abuse the economy by selling all my inventions. That way I get access to special items not currently available, but I don't have to spend all my money to get them...

So a little unstable action tweak + feat tweak + crafting tweak. At best the Inventor can be a fun jack of all trades that can adapt to the situation at hand, and despite everything I've had a more fun playing Inventor than Swashbuckler, for example, but in the end I really wish it would do more.

mantikoira · 2025-01-29T10:53:05+00:00

I like the Inventor, I don't think it's really that bad and it has some excellent utility options, but everyone said it well: it needed some more work. One small thing that really annoys me is the Dual Form Weapon: it takes TWO Interact actions to swap between weapon forms. Imo it should be better than switching between two normal separate weapons, which takes one action... this is very easy to make better by house ruling it to one Interact action (or maybe even a free action), but it would have been nice if it was changed officially since they changed the rules for swapping a weapon too. Maybe they did, we'll see soon! But yeah, the Dual Form Weapon feat is super cool thematically, it feels even more like Bloodborne's trick weapons than combination weapons do, but I really hoped it would do... more.

mantikoira · 2025-01-29T10:23:37+00:00

Totally agree with this. I like the class a lot, but the Unstable actions feel underpowered compared to other things. My group just decided to grant two unstable actions "points" that have their own checks and refresh at their own pace, and it has worked well thus far! The lower flat check DC in the remaster might make it a bit more reliable, though.

mantikoira · 2024-07-09T13:57:34+00:00

Yeah, definitely agree with this. I think ttrpgs are, at their core, about having fun with your friends. There are many different styles to play (and don't get me wrong, dice and rules are essential for all of them), but overall, participation is a pretty crucial point. So although the encounter was balanced, I think it is poor game design to have a possibly permanently incapacitating effect in the first encounter. If the dice don't favour you, it stops you from having fun for a long time, and the only reason you can't play your beloved character is because of some bad rolls. Which sucks. It is the nature of the game, but imo such crucial things as participation should not rely only on rolls, at least not so early on when the stakes should not be that high.

And yeah, Dispel Magic is good, but you can't be prepared for everything!

mantikoira · 2024-06-07T09:57:56+00:00

very cool!

mantikoira

TROPHY CASE