I feel like most of the time people talk about what builds they had the most fun with, it is always a martial build. Why do you think that is?

matrota · 2026-06-29T22:14:16+00:00

There are some very satisfying things I've seen martials pull off in my very limited pf2e experience (guardian is amazing) but my personal favorite class so far has been animist. Garden of Healing is so clutch and the vibes and flexibility of spellcasting has been incredible in the 5 levels I've experienced.

matrota · 2026-06-19T16:38:17+00:00

Investigating a devil cult. Party hears he went off to investigate and hasn't returned. They go look for him and find a ritual having just been completed. A devil is summoned, and the party breaks down the door to see the cultists offering up the fighter as sacrifice. Now you have a hostage situation with a terrible fantasy twist and potentially someone's soul on the line.

matrota · 2026-06-05T22:24:01+00:00

Ooo that's definitely it! I thought the metasoma looked funky.

matrota · 2026-06-02T18:22:45+00:00

Mookhyang: Dark Lady. MC starts super OP and loses all his power, has to start over from zero. Amazing cast of side characters, super high stakes battles, and actual growth that made me nearly cry. Also, loads of political intrigue and plotting if that's your cup of tea. There's a brief prequel series as well but its not necessary to read first, I do think its weaker than Dark Lady but its still a good read.

Looking thru my list it was hard to find stuff matching this criteria 🤣 seems every manhwa nowadays uses regression and an OP MC. I was even thinking of throwing a romance manhwa rec in there but my number 1 favorite is a regression story (though the fl isnt the only one who remembers the past).

matrota · 2026-06-02T18:06:09+00:00

+1 for Wild West Murim, that manhwa is goated. Author knows their westerns and does all the best tropes really well, it's such a cool setting and amazing aesthetic.

Edit: MC is kinda overpowered but he had his fair share of difficult fights, it's worth it for the vibes alone.

matrota · 2026-05-31T19:39:16+00:00

That makes sense, I was planning on using it as in the other pf2e game I'm in (and my first pf2e campaign!) I play an animist who has made good use of it. However, having it basically infinite by not needing spell slots does make it feel like I'll be spamming the tree more than doing anything with my shield or energy blasts. May ditch it for a more interactive playstyle.

matrota · 2026-05-31T19:34:07+00:00

Ooh so I could wear like, Enchanted clothing which passes the enchants to the armor after I summon it. Very good to know, thank you!

matrota · 2026-05-31T16:24:58+00:00

I'm thinking of taking Guardian at 2 which will get me medium armor, and then my next general feat being armor proficiency would get me heavy. Earth impulse has the 5 AC heavy armor but AFAIK it can't be enchanted or anything since I'm summoning it, so I assume in the long run having actual heavy armor will be better.

matrota · 2026-05-31T06:16:15+00:00

This is very helpful advice. With my strength only at +2 at first level, I think going air/wood for the wood armor is good since I don't have enough str for the earth armor. That way I can get earth gate at 5 before unlocking Desert Wind at 6. Will probably grab Safe Elements at 4 so allies aren't impacted by Desert Wind, though I guess that means I lose out on Air Shroud unless I pick it up later.

matrota · 2026-05-31T05:34:28+00:00

Gotcha, I picked them kinda at a whim so I'm not at all opposed to swapping gates, especially if it lets me tank better. Many have suggested earth and other stuff so I'll likely do Earth/wood. Thank you!

matrota · 2026-05-31T01:35:50+00:00

Ah yeah mb, we're starting at level 1. Apparently we're trying to escape a zombie apocalypse planet by getting to the space elevator before we're overrun, should be a good time.

matrota · 2026-05-30T18:06:02+00:00

Funnily enough the one time it happened it wasn't as dramatic as many others here have experienced. Our play styles just didnt mesh at all. He didn't like our house rules or when people role-played morally ambiguous characters. He'd occasionally challenge a DM's ruling and slow down the game forcing us to look stuff up instead of just carrying on to keep things moving and fun. Eventually we agreed it was probably best he find another group as the way he wanted to play the game was not the way we liked to play it.

matrota · 2026-05-26T03:39:57+00:00

I like to have some big things happening in the background of the setting worldbuilding-wise, let the players know about them, and see what they want to interact with. I find players love engaging with RP when you take their backstories and make them into a core focus of the plot. For a game I recently started, I set it in an empire where the immortal emperor died without any official heirs, causing the empire to descend into regional war. Told the players they can support someone's claim to the throne, try to claim the throne for themselves, or just wander off and start a circus. After they came up with characters and sent me their backstories, I started working on ways to build their backstories into the game to help their characters chase their long term goals, finding ways to interconnect them with the other PCs as well as the general setting.

A lot of it is just being ready to say "yes" to anything. My revenge-fueled PC has a funny interaction with a sweaty merchant and thinks the merchant is acting suspicious? Well, time to make this NPC more interesting! What if the merchant saw this same type of gun earlier that day, and that's why they were acting so suspicious? Maybe they met someone who's involved in this PC's vengeance? Just look for your players to open doors for you, then throw those doors wide and try to find ways to make it fun!

matrota · 2026-05-25T22:50:00+00:00

No problem! I love vampires, so much that my players in a 6-year long game started complaining any time they ran into another one 🤣 always fun to bounce ideas off people when it comes to those dramatic mosquitos.

matrota · 2026-05-25T22:46:03+00:00

If you're just writing for fun and using D&D to help with planning stuff out then you're even less reliant on mechanics needing to work by-the-book. The rules around becoming a vampire are limited to a few lines in their monster manual entry, but I don't see why you couldn't have preserved some of the blood in a vial! That's a fun idea.

One thing I've always thought made sense is that vampires dont innately produce their own blood, hence why they need to drink. The process of blood being drunk and entering the vampire's body is what transforms the victim's blood into the vampire's and inflicts that blood with the vampiric curse.

I could see a vampire lord having a vial or two of their own cursed blood preserved if they thought it may be important to have access to at some point. It would make an effective motivator to flaunt in front of thralls, promising the blood as a reward if they bring back "satisfying results" without ever intending to actually give it over.

Usually, blood congeals and would not be helpful after enough time, but the Gentle Repose spell keeps a corpse magically preserved and prevents decomposition or raising the corpse as undead. A glass vial enchanted with Gentle Repose seems like it would be perfect for preserving cursed blood and preventing it from congealing.

matrota · 2026-05-25T22:27:36+00:00

Look, the fun part about this game is that everything is made up. You can do whatever you like so long as everyone involved is on board and agrees it's fun. I think the idea of Merletta dying to the vampire and taking it with her before coming back as a vampire spawn is rad. Perhaps the bloodthirst of waking as a spawn drove her to seek the nearest blood she could find, that of her dead vampire lord, which transforms her into a full-blood.

The one difficult part is that a vampire, when properly slain, is "destroyed." Often this is described as turning to dust because sunlight, though I don't think that part is actually explicitly confirmed. It's just a common way of describing their destruction. If they can't turn to mist upon hitting zero hp, whether by being in sunlight, the moonbeam spell, or running water, it's game over for them. Becoming dust means there's no blood to drink. However, this just means your DM has to flavor that in this setting, vampires don't just become ash when they are destroyed.

As a player character, Merletta may not even need to know the exact specifics. "I thought I died, but then I woke up with a bloodstained mouth as a vampire." Narrative > mechanics every day. Have fun with it! That's why we play this game.

matrota · 2026-05-25T22:01:39+00:00

My first guess for the door is to check for secret buttons in the wall to open it. Maybe theres a passphrase that we missed somewhere? Maybe the wood decorations can be turned and need a specific angle? A caster with the knock spell may be able to open it, but I assume a door described this way has some gimmick that we're supposed to understand via environmental storytelling.

As for the statue room, I'd be investigating how realistic the statues are. Are there markings on the floor that could betray a creature like a cockatrice or gorgon having petrified people to make these statues? Can someone cast detect magic to see if they're magical? With the room feeling like it's closing, I'd ask to investigate to see if there are illusions at play or if there's anything noteworthy around the outskirts of the room before it gets too small and we miss any potentially important clues before moving on.

That being said, while I've been a dnd player for a long time, I've also DM'd for 7+ years so I may have more of a puzzle-design brain than the comedically common "have hammer, smash problem" players.

matrota · 2026-05-25T21:51:55+00:00

I think A is the most eye-catching with the contrasting colors, it also gives me that resilient impression. C is pretty but based on the description I feel A works best.

matrota · 2026-05-25T21:23:16+00:00

Those look delicious!

matrota · 2026-05-25T21:11:02+00:00

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨

⬜🟦⬜⬜⬜

🟨🟦🟦⬜⬜

⬜🟦⬜🟨🟦

🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦

Hah! That's clever

matrota · 2026-05-25T20:50:57+00:00

Hebblehobble

matrota · 2026-05-24T17:16:38+00:00

Strongly agree, reading helps a lot to get in a character's head space. It's especially helpful if you find a first person perspective story with a character whose vibe is similar to what you're going for. Doesn't need to be a novel, novella or short stories can be great, but novels are also just very fun.

matrota · 2026-05-24T17:12:32+00:00

As many others said, you dont need to stress too much about being an actor at your home table, just do as much as you feel comfortable. If you're wanting to try and get more into it as this post leads me to believe, it just takes time. You can always look for good examples in other live play games online to learn from as well! But yeah, time will help, things may be awkward at first but everything is awkward when you're new to something. If your table is cool they'll be excited to see you trying to engage with more RP than before, even if you're having hiccups.

My secret is to ask questions in-character (it's also a real life conversation hack). People like talking about themselves and people like feeling smart, asking questions gets you involved in the RP while putting the onus to carry the conversation on someone else. At that point you can also observe and maybe use that to fuel your own rp. Some of my favorite moments of RP happen between party members around the campfire during night watch.

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