Questions tagged [pathfinder-2e]
Pathfinder Second Edition is the successor to the Pathfinder RPG on which it is based, and was released on August 1, 2019. Use this tag for questions specific to Pathfinder Second Edition.
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What are the major changes between Pathfinder first and second editions?
The Second Edition of Pathfinder came out today. As a long-time player of Pathfinder, what changes should I expect to see when I play the second edition? What are the major points that have changed?
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As a DM, how can I address players' frustration with in-game decision-making?
After last night's session, my players and I had a long after-action discussion in which they expressed frustration at how their own in-game decision making has led them to circumstances that they ...
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How can I build a mechanically interesting, winnable exhibition match against a vastly overpowered opponent?
For Plot Reasons™, the PCs challenge, or are challenged by, a vastly higher-level opponent to an exhibition match(1) of some sort. Maybe an elder gold dragon wants to test the PCs' mettle before ...
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Does Pathfinder 2e fix the “linear fighters, quadratic wizards” problem?
This question about the playtest got the answer "we just do not know it yet".
More than a year after the publication, what it the final answer?
(if making a comparison to DnD 5e helps, use ...
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Is there enough disparity between the classes to put them into tiers?
I'm interested in the balance of this new edition's classes. Are casters still noticeably more effective in almost all situations than non casters?
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Is Armor Class a difficulty class (DC)?
Frightened talks only about DCs:
[...] You take a status penalty equal to this value to all your checks and DCs [...]
Compare it to Clumsy:
[...] You take a status penalty equal to the condition ...
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What is the impact of moving a fallen PC in the initiative order?
If you receive more damage than your current hitpoints, you are Knocked Out. Among other things, "You immediately move your initiative position to directly before the turn in which you were ...
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What are the major differences in style and system between D&D 5e and Pathfinder 2e?
I know this is abit of a "wide net" question. I am currently switching over to 5e from years of activity (after 4e was released) from 3.5e..
The mechanics of 5e seem secondary while the role-...
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How does Pathfinder 2e compare with D&D 4e?
I am one of those rare players that strongly prefers 4th edition D&D to all other editions. I love the lack of ambiguity in combat rules, I love playing on a grid, I love the balance between ...
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How can I end a stance?
Mike the 1st level Monk is in Monastic Archer Stance, so he can only make Strikes with a bow. It is his only stance.
A Skeletal Champion comes to an adjacent position, and Mike knows that they have ...
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Is a Critical Failure a Failure?
Are Critical Failures a subset of Failures, or a separate thing?
One person I play with says that Halfling Luck does not trigger on Critical Failures, as it just says:
Trigger You fail a skill check ...
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Running a non-English game
I'm DMing a game in Cantonese for some people from Hong Kong. For those who don't know, Cantonese is a spoken language similar to Mandarin Chinese, used by Hongkongers, and is dissimilar to English. I ...
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Is there anything preventing a wizard from using a staff of healing?
The Staff of Healing has a lot of spells I wouldn't expect to see a wizard cast - Regenerate, Heal, etc, but I don't see anything in the rules on staves that precludes a wizard from using it.
Is any ...
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Can you sustain a spell multiple times per turn?
For example, if I sustain the Flaming Sphere spell, I can use it to damage an opponent. Can I sustain it 3 times per turn, to deal damage 3 times?
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What is the point of Feinting from a distance?
This question states that being able to Feint from 30 feet with Grovel is
an "unambiguous and clear advantage".
I do not see it. Yes, you can make the target flat-footed from afar, but only ...
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Do Skeletons need to breathe?
Cloudkill says only breathing creatures are hurt:
You deal 6d8 poison damage to each breathing creature that starts its turn in the spell's area.
Do characters with the Skeleton ancestry need to ...
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Does Assurance literally forgo a roll and thus prevent effects that require a roll?
Here's what Assurance has to say:
Even in the worst circumstances, you can perform basic tasks. Choose a
skill you’re trained in. You can forgo rolling a skill check for that
skill to instead receive ...
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Are there any spells that can damage several enemies but not allies?
After the first round of combat, the party and the enemy usually get intermixed, not a great time for a Fireball. There are several control spells that target individual enemies like Fear (heightened),...
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Can I combine Assurance and Risky Surgery to consistently get Critical Successes for Treat Wounds?
I am currently playing a Rogue who is the party's 'healer'.
I put that in quotes because he's taken a background of Back Alley Doctor, meaning he has the Risky Surgery feat which says:
Your surgery ...
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What is an "instance of damage"?
A comment to my answer here proposes that each part of damage with different types is a separate instance. It matters a lot for weaknesses and resistances:
If a Brimorak deals 13 slashing, 4 evil and ...
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What damage type does the Disintegrate spell deal?
The description of the Disintegrate spell reads:
You fire a green ray at your target. Make a spell attack. You deal 12d10 damage, and the target must attempt a basic Fortitude save.
What type of ...
user23801
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What is the lowest-level character that can unfailingly beat the Beginner Box starting encounter?
This is the PF2e version of my similar question on D&D 5e's Starter Set.
For a lot of players, the Pathfinder Beginner Box was their first 2e adventure. The first encounter from the included ...
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How do I respond to a player's criticism that the breadth of feats available in Pathfinder 2e is by its nature restrictive?
Not sure how better to phrase the title. Let me explain.
I recently migrated a 5e campaign across to PF2e. One player has been resistant to this move. As an example, he asked how a character might ...
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What is it about damage spells in pathfinder 2e that's considered 'weak'?
I've read repeatedly that casters in PF2e are mostly relegated to support roles, i.e. buffing allies, rather than dealing damage. I know that this was an effort on Paizo's part to deal with the linear ...
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Pronunciation of proper names in PF2e's Mwangi Expanse
When running the "Strength of Thousands" adventure path, or just using content from the Mwangi Expanse generally, I've found myself stumped by the pronunciation of many proper names and ...
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How do I address a player's complaint that Vancian spell preparation is too restrictive to make Wizards worth playing?
I'm a DM for a fifth edition D&D campaign. After discovering Pathfinder 2e earlier this year, I've been eager to give it a try with my regular group of players. I like the action economy and ...
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How am I supposed to know what abilities familiars have naturally?
This seems to be a weird issue. The method of creating Familiars in Pathfinder 2e seems freeform at first but then when you get to the specifics of it, it seems that you must know the exact stats of ...
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Can the Sudden Charge and Shielded Stride feats be used together?
Can the Sudden Charge and Shielded Stride feats be used together?
The description of the Sudden Charge feat says:
Two actions
With a quick sprint, you dash up to your foe and swing. Stride twice. If ...
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Do you need an empty hand to cast spells?
The Weapon Storm spell has a somatic component1 (CRB p384):
[...] This damage has the same type as the weapon and uses the same die size. Determine the die size as if you were attacking with the ...
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Can I keep playing a character who annoys other PCs?
Context
This question is about an online community campaign. We are around 20 players who play in a persistent universe where anyone can run a game as a GM. The system is Pathfinder 2e and players can ...
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Does Cast a Spell make you a spellcaster?
If I want to use a Spellheart to cast Electric Arc as a Monk, I need the Cast a Spell ability. Based on the comments on this answer, people seem to think Focus Spells gives you Cast a Spell for Focus ...
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Why would a Monk use a Knuckle Duster?
A Knuckle Duster seems to be strictly worse1 than Powerful Fist, still it is a Monk weapon.
Why would a Monk use it?
I am insterested only in mechanical answers, as you can explain any mechanically ...
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Which damage types are the most and least resisted?
Inspired by this question: what are the most and least resisted damage types for Pathfinder 2e? What about weaknesses? (This question precedes the release of Bestiary 3, but it seems to me that ...
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Is Electric Arc much stronger than other cantrips?
Electric Arc seems to be much stronger in combat than other cantrips. Damage and DPR for it and some select comparisons:1
Cantrip
Damage
DPR
Range
Electric Arc
3d4 + 4 (11.5)
( 0.05 × 2 + 0.45 + 0....
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What does Detect Magic actually detect?
In Pathfinder 2, the cantrip Detect Magic states that:
You send out a pulse that registers the presence of magic. You receive no information beyond the presence or absence of magic. You can choose to ...
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Must a Witch leave their Familiar behind when using Dimension Door?
Dimension Door says:
Opening a door that bypasses normal space, you instantly transport yourself and any items you're wearing and holding from your current space to a clear space within range you can ...
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What's the most common language shared by those who don't speak Common?
Finding the most common language is easy1, the number is written at the top of the Monsters section.
Finding the second most common2 is also not hard, you just click through the list of languages, and ...
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How do I demoralize more often?
So I recently picked up the PF-2e core book, and I noticed that Intimidate as a skill has a lot more built-in support than it had in PF-1e, having both rogue and fighter feats dedicated to it in the ...
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Does the Light spell cast by a 5th level caster overcome the Darkness spell?
The Darkness spell says:
This also suppresses magical light of your darkness spell's level or lower.
Assuming it isn't heightened, this means Darkness is a 2nd level spell.
The rules for Cantrips ...
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Is it possible to exchange ability scores (i.e. reducing one ability score and increasing another) during character creation?
Looking into some builds online I perceived that some people have two or three ability scores at 8, even if this cannot be explained by the Ancestry Flaw.
Is there any way to exchange Ability Scores (...
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If a player casts a spell of unlimited duration and retrains out of it, does the spell remain active?
I have a Bard with a couple months of downtime. He wants to cast a second level Lock on the party's locked bag and then train into a different spell. My instincts say that a character probably needs ...
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Can bombs gain weapon runes?
Bombs are classified as martial thrown weapons. Neither the fundamental nor property runes state that the weapon cannot be consumable.
Is there anything stopping me from getting Thrower's Bandolier, ...
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How many actions can a summoned zombie use?
Many zombies - such as the Zombie Shambler - are permanently slowed 1, which reduces the number of actions they can use by 1 each round. Summoning such a zombie with a spell (such as Animate Dead) ...
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Since the Refocus activity requires spending a Focus Point before I Refocus again, can I only fully replenish my focus pool by resting?
I'm a bit unsure about how the Refocus activity works. If I have a pool of 3 focus points and spend 2, according to the Refocus rules I can regenerate 1, but need to use up at least 1 again before I ...
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Making Mountain Stance interact with the Knockdown monster ability not frustrating
Mountain Stance gives, among other things:
you gain a +4 item bonus to AC and a +2 circumstance bonus to any
defenses against being Shoved or Tripped.
Some creatures, like a wolf, have the knockdown ...
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Do I keep successes towards opening a complex lock even if I fail a Pick a Lock check?
If I'm facing a complex lock that requires multiple successes to unlock, and I fail one of the checks, do I get to keep my previous successes? In other words, if I fail to achieve my second success, ...
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Are ability modifier benefits to things like HP and trained skills retroactive?
In Pathfinder 2e, a character's Constitution bonus affects HP total. A character's Intelligence bonus grants training in additional skills and languages.
Are these benefits retroactive?
Examples:
If ...
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What's the procedure for monsters/NPCs using stealth?
I've been GMing PF2e for a few months, but I still struggle with understanding stealth, especially when it comes to enemies.
An example from an upcoming dungeon I'm planning:
There's a room with an ...
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Can my familiar reload my crossbow for me?
I've seen at least one online character optimization guide suggesting that low-level alchemists should acquire a familiar for action efficiency with crossbows - specifically that you could have the ...
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Does Dangerous Sorcery apply to cantrips?
Dangerous Sorcery says I get bonus damage "When you Cast a Spell from your spell slots". While cantrips don't expend slots when you cast them, do you still get a bonus from Dangerous Sorcery when ...
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