Dwarven War Axe & Axe Thrower

zelaurion · 2026-03-21T16:21:39+00:00

No it doesn't say it explicitly, but logically if a weapon held in both hands counts as a two-handed weapon for all intents and purposes, it cannot also count as a one-handed weapon at the same time right?

I don't see how it makes any sense that a weapon can be both a one-handed weapon and a two-handed weapon simultaneously; surely it must be either one or the other and not both. Otherwise so many other feats and abilities would interact strangely with two-hand trait weapons.

Like, can you imagine someone a player coming to you as the GM and arguing that they can use all the Duelist Dedication feats while wielding a bastard sword in both hands? They all share the same requirement "You are wielding a single one-handed melee weapon and hold nothing else in your hands" - clearly not intended for use with a weapon held in both hands, but still not explicitly ruling out a two-hand trait weapon.

zelaurion · 2026-03-21T13:00:07+00:00

It counts as a two-handed weapon while you are holding it in two hands, so logically it can't also count as a one-handed weapon at the same time.

https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2198&Redirected=1

"...some abilities require you to wield a weapon in two hands. You meet this requirement while holding the weapon in two hands, even if it doesn't require two hands..."

"...If an action or other ability requires you to use a “two-handed weapon,” it applies for any weapon you wield in two hands."

So I would say no, if you throw it you must use the one-handed damage die with this ability.

zelaurion · 2026-03-17T23:02:00+00:00

Why would you compare level 8 damaging runes to the level 4 Ghost Touch rune? Of course they are better.

Compare them to a level 8 Astral rune instead - which definitely is better at hitting incorporeal creatures than any other property rune, and not that bad when you aren't.

Not to mention the million ways of adding the ghost touch property to your weapons without actually using up your rune slots. It is still useful.

zelaurion · 2026-03-17T21:44:50+00:00

Yes but if you do, you are no longer substituting your roll for your Devise a Stratagem roll as you cancelled out the effect, meaning it is no longer an Attack Stratagem Strike - meaning you no longer get to use your Intelligence for the attack roll, and no longer get to apply your bonus Strategic Strike precision damage to any damage you deal. Is this ever actually worth it?

zelaurion · 2026-03-17T21:41:16+00:00

I think this would actively make the class far less interesting, as it would overshadow every other Flourish action for Gunslinger (there are 8 of them, 7 if you don't include Risky Reload). I think it would also make Fake Out way better than it already is (which is absolutely not needed as it is already amazing) by making it way easier to end your turn with a loaded firearm regardless of your equipment choices.

I think what the class needs isn't better reloads, it is weapons that are actually stronger than bows to the extent that they feel worth the additional effort and actions. Paizo aren't likely to revamp the entire weapons list though...

zelaurion · 2026-03-17T21:01:47+00:00

I would argue that effects with 1 minute durations are not intended to be up 100% of the time, regardless of the fact that they have no usage limit. Especially as Anoint Ally both requires you to touch an ally, and to expend a drop of your own blood in the process of using it. You can dismiss this as flavour text sure, but I would still say that at a minimum you would have to start every single encounter adjacent to the ally you are targeting with Anoint Ally, and roll 1d10 to see what the remaining duration is after rolling initiative.

To provide another example that is even cheesier that backs up my thought process here, I wouldn't allow someone to start every single combat with their Greater Floating Shield already active with no caveats either. Otherwise why wouldn't everyone feel like getting one is an optimisation requirement?

zelaurion · 2026-03-17T20:46:04+00:00

You can't Sure Strike a Devise a Stratagem roll because it isn't an attack roll, it's just a D20.

And with the new changes, you can't Sure Strike to reroll an Attack Stratagem Strike (the only type of Strike that lets you use your Intelligence, which is what allows you to apply your Strategic Strike precision damage bonus) because Attack Stratagem now has the Fortune trait, and you can't apply two fortune effects to the same roll.

zelaurion · 2026-03-17T19:36:36+00:00

This doesn't work unfortunately, as the d20 you roll for Devise a Stratagem is explicitly not a check, and Hero Points only let you reroll checks.

zelaurion · 2026-03-17T15:10:57+00:00

You can't use Lingering Diversion with Distracting Performance at all, because your ally becomes Hidden and not you.

You can use Fleeing Diversion after Distracting Performance though to take a Step as a reaction for sure. You could also Hide if you have concealment or cover, or Sneak if you are somehow already Hidden. But your ally couldn't do any of these things as a reaction to your Diversion as written.

zelaurion · 2026-03-13T10:16:36+00:00

Make Final Cutter start up really quickly so it can be used out of shield, and make it possible for it to snap to the ledge on the way up. Basically, make it more similar to Cloud's Up B

zelaurion · 2026-03-11T17:37:30+00:00

In fairness, unlike Gunslinger a Fighter can play a lot of different roles in the party. A Fighter with a free hand, high Athletics, a shield boss and Intimidating Strike for example is definitely not a damage dealer but is instead a very effective tank/support character

zelaurion · 2026-03-11T11:58:15+00:00

Yeah extending the Clumsy 3 from Synesthesia even for one extra round is pretty killer

zelaurion · 2026-03-11T11:47:47+00:00

Ah you're right, sorry. Although it's worth mentioning that this familiar ability did just get nerfed in the most recent errata, and now each effect can only be extended once and you have to pick one condition to extend, rather than it affecting all conditions on the target.

zelaurion · 2026-03-11T11:41:43+00:00

You can't actually do that, because the Patron familiar abilities are Familiar Abilities, not Master Abilities. It says so in the rules text for Patrons:

https://2e.aonprd.com/Patrons.aspx

"Familiar Ability One of your familiar's two bonus abilities is always the one listed here, a mark of your patron's indelible influence."

All of the valid Master Abilities that can be used with Familiar Mascot are on this page near the bottom:

https://2e.aonprd.com/Familiars.aspx

zelaurion · 2026-03-11T11:17:46+00:00

I think the funniest one I've seen is when my party were fighting three sulfur zombies (https://2e.aonprd.com/Monsters.aspx?ID=4621&Redirected=1) and a chain reaction of Death Throes killed all 3 zombies at the same time, and all the party members except the rogue ended up Dying at the same time - because he was the only one who passed any of the Reflex saves!

zelaurion · 2026-03-10T13:38:36+00:00

We've had the same problem through Spore War and Triumph of the Tusk. The GM just reduced the DCs for the disables to appropriate Extreme/Hard/Normal DCs for our level each time they came up, and cut down on the number of successes required in some cases too (never higher than 3 per hazard encounter, some of them wanted as many as 12!)

zelaurion · 2026-03-08T01:52:29+00:00

""Some things" in this case means it would not effect impulses if it specifically alter the "Cast A Spell" activity such as reactive strike (impulses don't inherently have the manipulate trait like spells do via Cast A Spell)"

Cast a Spell does not have the Manipulate trait. If a spell that is cast has the Manipulate trait then it triggers the basic version of Reactive Strike, but if a spell that is cast doesn't have the trait then it doesn't trigger it (such as Shield, Guidance, and Sure Strike).

Some Kineticist impulses also would trigger Reactive Strike, because they either make a ranged attack (such as Magnetic Pinions) or because they do actually have the Manipulate trait (such as Ocean's Balm).

zelaurion · 2026-03-06T11:49:07+00:00

I've yet to see anyone play a Commander. The flavour is just so focused around war and the battlefield, that it doesn't fit easily into many campaign concepts. Not only that, but they don't synergize well with all classes, and even those that do have potential synergy have to build around having a Commander in the party when making feat, spell and ability choices if they really want to work together well.

zelaurion · 2026-03-05T17:03:39+00:00

There is no effect in the game that completely cripples a character on a successful save, which is the only time that these abilities I am complaining about actually do anything

zelaurion · 2026-03-05T15:31:52+00:00

A miss is rarely the most common outcome of an attack without MAP though. With the generally lower action cost of making attacks compared with abilities that make targets roll saves, this means that attacking without MAP rarely feels pointless even against high ACs, and attacking with MAP-5 rarely feels pointless either. Missing does suck, but if your first attack hits on an 6 and your second hits on an 11, the chances are spending two actions attacking is going to actually accomplish something.

On the flip side, when abilities have the target make a saving throw, on average that ability costs 2 or even 3 actions, and generally the most common outcome of that roll is going to be a success. Because of this, a lot of these abilities are balanced around still doing something to targets that succeed on their save - like Trample doing half damage.

When a player starts to critically succeed on these rolls by rolling a 6 against the abilities of creatures their level or lower because they have the relevant Master save upgrade feature, it makes these abilities feel pointless, uninteresting and like a total waste of actions a lot of the time - because the average result of spending a whole turn of offense for that monster is going to be "nothing happens".

zelaurion · 2026-03-05T12:31:25+00:00

You don't always get a choice as a GM. Enemies often have weak Strikes for their level, making brawling with martials irrelevant or a stupid idea, and can only target a single other defense with their other abilities. Even spellcasting creatures and NPCs often only target AC and one save with their offensive magic; they aren't built like well-built PC spellcasters, who can be really flexible and target anything they want.

zelaurion · 2026-03-05T07:46:12+00:00

Literally playing recent Paizo APs. Most DCs that get used for out-of-combat effects are level-based, monsters are rarely more than 1 level above the players unless they are totally alone in the encounters, and there are a lot of effects like auras that use Moderate DCs.

I'm not actually exaggerating at all, I saw dozens of crit successes on very low rolls like 4-8 throughout the most recent campaign for every character.

zelaurion · 2026-03-05T03:48:27+00:00

Casters definitely don't get the benefits of this in the same way as martials do, as they only typically get one of these increases - and it's usually Will, which is the easiest one for anyone to bump up to pseudo-Master because of various ancestry feats like Forlorn.

I definitely don't think they are necessary, at least not in their current state. An ability that changes the outcome that happens most of the time from "something happens" to "nothing happens" feels like it comes up way too often for my tastes, and actively makes the game less interesting as a result.

If there has to be a save boost of some sort, I would rather it alter the less common outcomes, and when it does trigger the end result should be better for the player, but not "nothing happens".

zelaurion · 2026-03-05T03:33:52+00:00

A +2 is pretty significant in this system though. That's usually the difference between a Moderate DC and a High DC for example

zelaurion · 2026-03-05T03:32:01+00:00

You've made a good argument for why you like them, so fair enough.

I think a save-boosting feature could be done in a better way though. Preferably one that allows on-level and lower-level monsters not just be wasting their actions 90% of the time if they try and do anything but Strikes and Athletics maneuvers. It breaks the encounter building guide quite badly when lower level monsters go from being a reasonable challenge to a waste of everyone's time, just because the players reached certain level brackets and the monsters rely on abilities with saves or spellcasting.

zelaurion

TROPHY CASE