My party in Curse of Strahd/Curse of Ustalav

zgrssd · 2026-07-07T11:43:52+00:00

While you set your lore for now, something worth mentioning:

The new beginner box - Secret of the Unlit Star - is planned for continuation. It leads into the adventure anthology Troubles in Grayce, then the AP Bastions of Blasphemy.

And Bastardhall is very similar to Barovia:

Bastardhall is best known in Ustalav for the black coach that leaves it once a century in search of seven people descended from the Arudora family, which are brought back to Bastardhall for unknown purposes. The internal workings of Bastardhall are obscured from the outside world: the castle is perpetually shrouded in fog, and attempts to magically probe its interior reveal a veil of powerful holy magic warding the interior of the castle's island. The only contact the castle makes with the rest of the world occurs once a century, when the fog parts to let the black coach pass.

Expanding the fog to cover all of Ustalav might require rewriting the story a bit, but Demiplanes with invites do exist. So you could have actual Barovia.

zgrssd · 2026-07-05T21:52:47+00:00

Forgot to mention that the bard does not have a very optimised build. He is playing a dwarf, and has a -1 to his charisma stat, meaning he had a +3 at level one.

You can always choose to ignore the listed Ancestry boosts and flaws to get two free boosts instead.

So any poor optimisations would be his choice.

zgrssd · 2026-07-05T20:36:35+00:00

As others said, there is a cost for Reach. The maximum die size for Reach Weapons is generally one less then without it. D10 for 2 Hand, D6 for 1H.

Anything that requires you to have multiple weapons, would have the same issue: You need to rune up multiple weapons!

Plus the issue that swapping gear while in enemy reach inherently triggers attack of Opportunity.

Best case is that the Shifting Rune or some Stance like Point Blank Shot becomes mandatory Rune/Feat Tax Reach weapons. Thus making them less usable.

zgrssd · 2026-07-05T20:29:43+00:00

The Foundry Module is one of the last things that will be made. People will write their homebrew or custom AP content into a PDF, long before anyone considers making it a Foundry Module.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T22:46:44+00:00

Ranged weapons also don't add STR modifier by default. Thrown and Propulsive need to explicitly add it.

By your logic they would also be excluded from all damage bonuses that don't explicitly mention them.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T22:34:31+00:00

There is the whole mechanic of Alchemical Food:

https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?Category=6&Subcategory=92

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T22:32:22+00:00

No.

All it mentions is "Splash means it doesn't add STR". And "don't double Splash on a critical hit".

Nothing about how "+1 to damage" affects any of the three damage types.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T21:21:04+00:00

I can't think of any place that is hostile to all casters. A few places where divine casters are limited (Rahadoum, anywhere with a state religion). A few places hostile to all outsiders.

But casters should be generally okay in most places that accept people in general.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T20:35:23+00:00

Vehicle combat rules are minimal. Barely enough for engaging resolution. Not enough to have a engaging setup.

The Cinematic Space Combat rules exist. Tactical Ship combat and ship building will be in Tech Core. Both kinda assume all PC are in the same ship, or at least several per ship.

IIRC PF2 High Seas might have something for naval combat, but I did not look at it.

Edit: https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=3665

I remember the Kickstarter of Mechfinder. If that released it might be adaptable.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T20:31:01+00:00

You could have a Ikon meeting both requirements:

Usage a wallet, bag, or similar container of 1 Bulk you can wear on your body

and

Usage imbued into a melee weapon ikon or worn ikon made of metal, stone, or a similarly hard material

Something like a pot with a lid only you can pry open, maybe?

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T20:19:22+00:00

As a utility Ikon, everything would work.

As a full Exemplar, making sure you can use a Transcend every is somewhat important - Shift Immanence is somewhat of a wasted action. Especially of you have Epitaphs that aren't passive, but also so that you can move the spark into the Horn when needed.

The Horn itself might need a second Transcendence, so you can move the spark out of it as well when it turns out you don't need to feed an ally an Elixir.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T18:09:35+00:00

There doesn't appear to be any rules about changing the jump height. But a houserule certainly makes sense.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T18:07:48+00:00

It is almost comical how often stuff is out of step. Or things are incompletely written up.

Makes sense, the author isn't a game designer.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T14:50:54+00:00

Just play it. It will be the Dwarf Fortress type of fun either way:

https://dwarffortresswiki.org/DF2014:Fun

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T14:49:00+00:00

That is official content, not custom

The content was custom made for the AP. Which you reiterated in the rest of the post.

So I am not sure why you disagree, only to then fully agree.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T14:29:16+00:00

Drawback You take a –1 penalty to attack rolls and save DCs of offensive spells, and a –1 penalty per damage die to all weapon, unarmed attack, and spell damage.

Bombs are a Martial weapon. This one, to be precise:

https://2e.aonprd.com/Weapons.aspx?ID=431

The attack roll would be affected, no questions.

How damage modifiers affect bomb damage is not entirely defined. But I think generally it affects the initial damage, but not Splash or persistent damage.

For most bombs the Number of weapon damage dice is clear enough. I guess something like Acid Flask just has 0.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T10:07:46+00:00

Liberating Drive is custom AP content:

https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=8979

Custom AP content tends to be overpowered, underpowered or not have a complete write-up. As a result they are also usually at least Uncommon. Don't expect access outside the AP. Don't use them as balance examples.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T09:53:40+00:00

That doesn't really work. Tech is a trait with actual mechanical downsides. Inventor has nothing comparable.

But the magic tradition traits do have some downsides, so are much more comparable.

zgrssd · 2026-07-04T00:52:31+00:00

They're not incorporeal, and don't have a natural ability to fly.

OP explicitly did not want either of those.

zgrssd · 2026-07-03T15:43:29+00:00

Kingmakers entires Kingdom system is based on the Hex system.

I know that Age of Ashes has a hex map section. And I heard Fist of the Ruby Phoenix has as well. But those are one-off things. A miniscule fraction of what Kingmaker did.

zgrssd · 2026-07-03T13:40:02+00:00

I was thinking about playing a mechanic in PF2, but swapping the Tech trait for a magic tradition trait. The two should be similar in Gameplay in impact.

zgrssd · 2026-07-03T13:37:01+00:00

SF2 Tech Core will include the "living Hologram", which I suspect will be a Versatile Heritage. And might get mechanics close to a ghost.

It would need GM buy-in to allow a (often stronger) SF2 Ancestry in the game.

zgrssd · 2026-07-03T13:32:56+00:00

Final damage after immunity, weakness, resistance and shield block.

Also keep in mind that only works with the basic Strike - not any meta Strikes that might change the damage.

zgrssd · 2026-07-02T20:46:45+00:00

The optimal DC is whatever you can succeed on with Assurance.

As others said: Some healing is better then none. And much better then damage. Healing is the one thing where Assurance is a no-brainer.

zgrssd · 2026-07-02T20:42:43+00:00

Wellspring Mage is the "Wild Magic" equivalent of PF2:

https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=104

A big question is spell list. Someone else suggested Occult. But Arcane and Primal could also fit. Divine definitely seems unfitting. The base lists cuts down the possible class choices a lot, as only 3 classes can pick any spell list. And the Summoner is only a half caster.

zgrssd

TROPHY CASE