GM Core pg. 244 shows that "If an attack with a splash weapon fails, succeeds, or critically succeeds, all creatures within 5 feet of the target (including the target) take the listed splash damage. On a critical failure, the bomb misses entirely, dealing no damage." But Player Core pg. 292 have another statement "A bomb deals any listed splash damage to the target on a failure, success, or critical success, and to all other creatures within 5 feet of the target on a success or critical success." It seems that the sentence in Player Core "and to all other creatures within 5 feet of the target on a success or critical success" suggests a failure on the target DO NOT provide splash damage the surrounding enemy. They should be describing the same trait SPLASH. Why is this part of splash's statement so weird? It should be revised to be unified and become more obivous, right?

Player Core 1's wording matches the old Core Rulebooks's rules and are the ones currently up on AoN, so I'm inclined to think the GM Core's are a typo

Well then... Now, I have to make a room rule for it LOL. Paizo, please make it correct.

Are haunts or complex hazards subject to MAP if their routine allows them to make multiple attacks per round?

Yep, unless the hazard specifies otherwise like the [Spinning Blade Pillar](https://2e.aonprd.com/Hazards.aspx?ID=23) does.

How does one make the magical staff of a TT magus into a weapon in pathbuilder? Is it much easier when I finally put it in foundry?

There's a staff weapon in the weapon list. If you then click the Options button there will be an option to increase the die size and add the relevant traits. For the two-handed version you can just use a Bo Staff as a stand-in.

Thanks for the advice! I wish pathbuilder has an easier option for a TT magus.

Where does one add orc tusks on pathbuilder? I see an option for lizardfolk class, so it'd be weird if they just weren't on there, but the closest I'm seeing is generic special unarmed. That has nonlethal though, which tusks don't seem to have, as that would be a pretty big nonbo with bloody blows.

You can create a custom weapon.

I'm running an adventure called The Goddess and the Fox, and it uses hexploration and what have you... I don't get the point of reconnoiter, dont when they go on a hex it uncovers it for them, so why wouldn't they just travel to it? and yes I am fairly new to dm-ing

I haven't used the [hexploration rules](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=3103&Redirected=1) myself, but my understanding is that Reconnoiter is used to explore the Hex you're currently in to find points of interest and set it up for mapping. Its not for exploring adjacent hex's without entering them (which wouldn't really make sense, how could you explore a forest w/o entering it?)

I'm looking to get into pathfinder after moving away from DnD. I have played (and greatly enjoyed) the computer version of WotR and Kingmaker. I'd like to DM some WotR with my friendgroup, who have agreed to try it. What books will I need to make this happen? I don't have any PF books at all currently, so a list would be greatly appreciated.

The difficulty you are going to run into is that Wrath of the Righteous was written for Pathfinder 1st edition and Pathfinder 1e and 2e are \*very\* different and WotR uses some optional add-on systems on top of being for 1e. This is a Pathfinder 2e subreddit so we probably aren't the ones to advise you. You may have better luck over at r/Pathfinder_RPG, which is dedicated to the 1e products.

Hmmm, I see. Thank you anyway :)

I saw the new subreddit banner, and I know people mentioned there was art of Kyra and Merisiel's wedding somewhere. What book was that from?

They are married in one of the tie-in comic books but I don't know if we actually saw the ceremony there. There \*was\* [some art](https://preview.redd.it/ip4kr9wnn1751.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=dcd415dcc5a78b5085f737b72d8b3b294fd57007) of them performing the Heartbond Ritual (which is basically the Golarion Marriage Ceremony) in the Advanced Players Guide. We will see if it gets reprinted (or updated) in the Player Core 2

Why did pf2e take away magic use from rangers and champions? This is something that existed with those classes (inasmuch as champion is paladin rather than cavalier) since AD&D1e and it's an interesting removal (yes, I know champions get devotion spells, but it's not the same as a spell list).

Why was it done mechanically? Back in D&D 1-5 and PF1e Paladins/Champions and Rangers were primarily martial characters with some utility "tool kit" spells. As D&D evolved they became "half casters", with much more limited spell slots and selections but still with options. Pathfinder 2e doesn't really have a concept of "Half Casters". They just don't work with PF2e's mechanics like adding your level to proficiency bonuses or heightening spells. Characters either get spell slots all the way to 9th (10th) rank or you don't. Paizo ended up either upgrading every class that casts to full caster (like Bard) or they dropped slots out all together for game balance and system cohesion. Their is some weirdness around Magus and Summoner's limited spell slots, but they still have high rank slots that match what a wizard or cleric has access too at that level. Utility stuff was largely moved over into Focus Spells. As you point out Champions get devotion spells but Rangers also get Focus spells if they care to spend their feats that way. Why was it done from a "legacy of the system" perspective? Paizo made the intentional choice to move Pathfinder 2e away from its D&D roots without abandoning the "feel" of a level based D20 fantasy system. They decided that if they had to choose between keeping legacy things alive or delivering solid gameplay they were going to go with the solid gameplay. Rangers having 3rd level spells when everyone else had 7th level spells just wasn't a system worth keeping in their opinion, and I gotta say having played PF2e for a few years now I think they were right.

That makes a lot of sense.  I'm still figuring out all of the mechanical depth of pf2e. I never really liked how d&d did the spells for those classes. In 1e getting 1st level druid and wizard spells at 8th was weird. The change to hybrid in 3.5 was unsatisfactory as you mentioned,  and 5e their spells are integrated,  sort of. 

It was part of the move to focus spells. Rangers can take [Warden feats](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=4862) for the [Warden spell list](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?Trait=136), Champions have [Devotion spells](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?Trait=24).

I've only gotten through the players handbook,  so hadn't noticed the warden spells yet.  Thanks 

Rangers and Champions both get focus spells, if they want them. The reason why they don’t get more traditional spell casting is because they’re primarily martial classes, and powerful martial classes at that. To maintain balance, they had their spell casting stripped. With 2e, the devs wanted to focus on the core fantasy of a class. For the Champion, that’s being the big knight in shining armor spreading the good word. He should be able to do some magic, but his (or her) main thing is being that charming knight! And for Ranger, the main fantasy is being Aragon, is being a guy who runs through the woods, reads tracks and does cool stuff with weapons (and maybe an animal companion). Magic doesn’t really feature into that core fantasy either, outside of specific magic “tricks”, which are covered by the focus spells.

That's a really great explanation.  Thank you. As a Tolkien fiend i push back a little at Aragorn nor using magic,  but since it's super subtle and 90% will miss it,  I get it. They're right. Magic doesn't really fit into either fantasy heavily.  Thinking about my favorite champions from literature and film,  it's only the Jedi who have prominent magic and even that's pretty limited. 

I'm playing a giant instinct barbarian in a Kingmaker campaign. For those who own it, is there anything in Howl of the Wild that would affect my character? I thought I read somewhere that starting a rage doesn't cost an action, but I could have read the post wrong.

Howl of the wild added a few feats for Barbarians but didn't fundamentally change them. The thing about actions was a rumor that got started with a livestream about the upcoming Player Core 2. (I'm not saying its \*wrong\*, just that it came from a designer mentioning a change to Rage actions in passing while talking about something else so we have NO details if true) PCore 2 is going to publish the Remastered Barbarian & there are all kinds of rumors about what that will mean. If player core 1 is any guide they are probably going to get a few tweaks and *some* of their Feats may be buffed a bit but Premaster and PCore 2 Barbarians are likely to be 90% the same. We won't know for sure until August when PCore 2 drops.

> Howl of the wild added a few feats for Barbarians but didn't fundamentally change them. Worth pointing out that all the feats are for animal barbs, so for a Giant barb there's no new options other than new archetypes (Or new ancestries if starting a new character).

I think you're talking about the changes they announced for Player Core 2, which includes being able to rage as a free action when combat starts. You can talk to your DM about that. I think Howl of the Wild should be on Archives of Nethys by now, so you can check if any new feats apply to you (I know Animal Instinct got a list of new unarmed attack options).

Howl of the wild is not yet on Archives of Nethys. The last update added Monster Core and Tian Xia world guide along with some AP content. I'm sure Howl *will* show up there at some point, but the Remaster is still kicking their butts.

Thank you, your right

That’s coming in player core 2. Recently the devs revealed that you get to rage for free when roling initiative as barbarian in the remaster, but the player core 2 isn’t out yet. Should release in late July. That said, HotW has some barbarian stuff, but it’s only for feral barbarians, giant instinct didn’t get new stuff.

Thanks for clearing that up

Generally speaking, how long should one expect a moderate-difficulty encounter to last, assuming there aren't any special quirks to it that would significantly accelerate or decelerate it? In terms of both number of rounds and real world time, it feels like combat encounters are taking much longer than they should. Part of this I know I can attribute to my whole group being new to the system (we're all D&D refugees), but even taking that into account, we still end up taking anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to finish what are ostensibly simple combat situations. I don't know if this is normal or if I'm expecting too much from my players here. For reference, the party is currently four 4th-level adventurers: fighter, cleric, wizard, and bard. A recent encounter with a hydra (party at full resources, no additional enemies) took about an hour to complete. Should this be expected, or are we just slow as hell?

Question about unleash psyche and spells that can take multiple turns to cast like horizon thunder sphere: if you spend the 3 actions on the first turn, can you unleash psyche on the second before actually launching the spell for the extra damage?

[Horizon Thunder Sphere](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=927) > Two Rounds If you spend 3 actions Casting the Spell, you can avoid finishing the spell and spend another 3 actions on your next turn to empower the spell even further. [Unleash Psyche](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=1222) > Requirements You're in an encounter, you Cast a Spell on your previous turn, and you aren't stupefied. [Casting Spells](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2233) >Some spells take minutes or hours to cast. You can’t use other actions or reactions while casting such a spell, though at the GM’s discretion, you might be able to speak a few sentences. [Cast A Spell](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=72) > Casting a Spell is a special activity that takes a variable number of actions depending on the spell, as listed in each spell's stat block. As soon as the spellcasting actions are complete, the spell effect occurs. If Horizon Thunder Sphere counts as a long duration spell, you can't use other actions or reactions while casting. (Edit: It doesn't. See Phtevus below.) The requirements for Unleash Psyche include 'you Cast a Spell on your previous turn'. If you take that to mean *completing* the spell, the requirements are not met in the middle of Horizon Thunder Sphere.

>If Horizon Thunder Sphere counts as a long duration spell, you can't use other actions or reactions while casting. I almost thought this was the answer, but there's an important part of "Long Casting Times" that you left out: >As with other activities that take a long time, these spells have the exploration trait, and you can’t cast them in an encounter. Since Horizon Thunder Sphere is clearly meant to be cast in an encounter, I don't think this rule can apply EDIT: I should complete my thoughts before submitting a comment I think your last point is the important one. Does "Cast a Spell" mean completing a spell, or simply spending the actions on it? If it means completing a spell, does that also mean you can't Unleash Psyche if your spell on the prior turn was disrupted?

The rules on activities have this to say: > You have to spend all the actions of an activity at once to gain its effects. So that suggests a couple of things to me. First, if you haven't spent *all* the actions, then you don't get the effects—in this case, the "effect" would be "you can now unleash your psyche." So you wouldn't be able to Unleash until you'd spent all of the actions that HTS requires. Second, you have to spend all the actions *at once.* The section goes on to say "If an activity gets interrupted or disrupted in an encounter (page 415), you lose all the actions you committed to it," and I'd argue that pausing mid-spellcasting to Unleash your Psyche would count as interrupting the activity, so you'd end up losing the spell. That said, I do like to reward creativity, and you *are* taking a heavy action penalty by casting the two-round version of HTS during combat, so I'd be inclined to let you do it anyway! (Disclaimer: I am a GM but not your GM, nor am I licensed to practice gamemastery in your state. This comment should not be construed as gaming advice.)

>The section goes on to say "If an activity gets interrupted or disrupted in an encounter (page 415), you lose all the actions you committed to it," and I'd argue that pausing mid-spellcasting to Unleash your Psyche would count as interrupting the activity, so you'd end up losing the spell. By that same token, can the spellcaster use a reaction between the first and second turn of casting a 2-turn HTS?

My instinct would be no, but I can't source that.

I don't know that it can be sourced, was mostly looking for your opinion on it. I think your answer is the most "correct", but I would still rule the same way you did in your first comment, erring on the side of player fun

Well that's an interesting question, and I don't know what the RAW answer is here. Unless there is a RAW answer to this that I'm not aware of, the question that has to be answered is: Does the requirement that "you Cast a Spell on your previous turn" mean that you Successfully finished Casting a Spell (and by extension, if your Cast a Spell gets disrupted, can you still Unleash on your next turn?)? Or only that you spent actions on the Cast a Spell action/activity last turn? I'm inclined to go with the latter, which would mean that if you spent 3 actions on Inner Radiance Torrent, then decided to wait until next turn, you could Unleash Psyche before finishing the spell. But I'm honestly not sure the intended rules interaction here, I'm just ruling in favor of player fun.

I'm a level-10 Animal Instinct Barbarian that has shark jaws (1d10 dmg) unarmed attacks when I'm ranging. Thanks to the Wild Mimic archetype I also have the Tiger Stance (1d8 dmg) and Tiger Slash (+2 extra damage dice), and I have +1 Striking Handwraps of Mighty Blows. So, several questions: 1) If I rage AND get into a tiger stance, can I opt to have the 1d10 unarmed damage instead of Tiger Stance's 1d8? 2) Just for my own clarification, assuming the answer to question 1 is no, assuming I'm in a tiger stance, and am wearing the handwraps of mighty blows, am I dealing 4d8 + Strength mod unarmed damage? And, assuming the answer to question 1 is yes, is it 4d10 + STR damage?

1. Tiger Claw unarmed attack and Barbarian Shark Jaw unarmed attack are two separate unarmed attacks, and since Tiger Stance is not one of the stances that locks you to a specific unarmed attack, both are available to you while raging and in the stance. 2. +1 Striking Handwraps of Mighty Blows add one extra damage die, so normal attacks do 2d10 for Shark Jaws and 2d8 for Tiger Claw, if you use Tiger Slash you do 4d8 since Tiger Slash requires specifically that you do a Tiger Claw attack as a part of it.

Amazing, I am in awe. Thanks so much!

You probably implied this but just in case, I'm pretty sure you can add +2 weapon specialisation and +1 rage damage to your Tiger Claw strikes too

Ah, yes, I'm aware of those! I just wasn't sure about the d10 or d8, and also the 4d8, because, wow, that looks like a lot to me for a non-crit. Thanks so much for your help!

For what it's worth: Tiger Slash is two actions, which means if you spent two actions to attack twice (and hit twice) you'd still be dealing 4d8. So it's not too good to be true (just really really good). It also looks like Tiger Slash requires both hands free, but I'd check with your GM on that.

It's cool, I am not carrying anything in my hands! 

Quick question I ran into today during a session. Does Clumsy 's debuff apply to Kinectist ranged elemental blast? The blast is Con to hit but clumsy say it's a minus to ranged attack rolls

To add onto what u/Jenos said, the status that would affect a Kineticist's attacks (and save DCs) would be [Drained](https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=68). Drained is already a tough condition to deal with, it's almost crippling for a Kineticist

Ah, in that case I need to make an apology to my Kinectist, I essentially stole a hit from him

It happens. As long as you're running the game in good faith, learn from your mistakes (we all make plenty of them), and your players are having fun, you're doing a good job

Clumsy states: > You take a status penalty equal to the condition value **to Dexterity-based checks and DCs, including** AC, Reflex saves, ranged attack rolls, and skill checks using Acrobatics, Stealth, and Thievery. Since Elemental Blast is not a dexterity based check, it isn't affected. The mention of attack rolls in clumsy is just an example of a Dexterity Based Check.

I have some doubts about splash weapon. If I strike directly at the enemy which will be a critical failure, I can't hurt it with splash... But if I aim at the floor, I can hurt the enemy with splash, right? Is that exactly how it works or I have missed anything? 

The rules don't mention 'aiming at the floor', you basically always Strike creatures directly outside of GM fiat. It's admittedly wonky that it's easier to damage a boss with splash damage if there's a mook next to them than if they're alone.

Yeah, I do mean it. So, it is allowed to  strike a creature that is much more weaker and next to the boss, just to make sure the splash damage works for the boss. Is that right?

Yes, absolutely, if it's a creature.

THX. And... Here I got one more question... GM Core pg. 244 shows that "If an attack with a splash weapon fails, succeeds, or critically succeeds, all creatures within 5 feet of the target (including the target) take the listed splash damage. On a critical failure, the bomb misses entirely, dealing no damage." But Player Core pg. 292 have another statement "A bomb deals any listed splash damage to the target on a failure, success, or critical success, and to all other creatures within 5 feet of the target on a success or critical success." Both of them are telling me about splash (Bombs VS Alchemical Bombs? I dont know), but they have different rules to follow. Does that mean there are two kinds of splash trait? What is the difference of these situations? Even more confusing for me... Anyway, thanks for your patience!

[удалено]

I hope so... However, I mean, it seems that the sentence in Player Core "and to all other creatures within 5 feet of the target on a success or critical success" suggests a failure on the target DO NOT provide splash damage the surrounding enemy. Why is this part of statement so weird? It should be revised to become more obivous, right?

So im having trouble understanding the mechanics of Whirling Throw, namely that it doesnt specific the enemy Escapes automatically, or that it ends any of the conditions grapple gives. So if i grab someone then Whirling Throw; are they still grabbed until the end of my turn as long as i dont move and they dont escape? Is my menacing Wrestler persona causing them to be unable to move if i stop and flex in my square, from 20 feet away?

The enemy ceases to be grappled as soon as they leave your reach.

Is there somewhere that rule is actually stated? Because it doesnt say that under grapple, grabbed, escape or whirling throw.

Grapple is an attack so it requires your target to be within your reach. When any effect makes your grappled target leave your reach it breaks the grapple since you no longer fulfill the condition of using a grapple.

So the specific ruling is under Attack. Tysm for the help. Sorry for being pedantic, just feels like for a system that has a habit of being so specific, I couldn't find the specific ruling.

No worries. Sadly nested rules have been a problem with pf2e for a while. Remastered made it better but you managed to find some of the remaining ones.

Yeah. Its been my problem learning it the last two days. Had a similar problem yesterday when through cricumnavigating the high seas of AoN lead me from concentration to sustain, which led me to assume if concentration was needed, you needed to spend actions to sustain. Its probably only so bad because im learning through AoN and not books, but im not shilling out $100+ for anything in my life.

Also if anyone else thinks in this way, the specific rule is not under the Attack trait, it is under Attacking as a rule.

This is one of those RAI, not RAW situations, where evaluating Conditions as isolated things leads to illogical results. I personally do not believe the Attack Requirements no longer being met ends a Condition imposed by the Attack. I don't think anyone's arguing that dropping a sword causes [Twin Distraction](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=4939)'s Stupefied 1 to end before the duration terminates. [Attacking](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2272) >If you're using a melee weapon or unarmed attack, your target must be within your reach. [Grapple](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2376) >Requirements You have at least one free hand and your target is no more than one size larger than you. > Your target is [condition] until the end of your next turn unless you move or your target Escapes. [Conditions](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=774) >Whenever you’re affected by a condition, its effects last until the condition’s stated duration ends, the condition is removed, or terms dictated in the condition itself cause it to end. [Grabbed](https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=77) >You're _held in place_ by another creature, giving you the off-guard and immobilized conditions. If you're no longer held, you're no longer grabbed. Attempting to argue the opposite position that Whirling Throw does not end the Grabbed condition puts you in the bizarre situation of dealing with the [Immobilized](https://2e.aonprd.com/Conditions.aspx?ID=81) condition that you're imposing: > If you're immobilized by something holding you in place and an external force would move you out of your space, the force must succeed at a check against either the DC of the effect holding you in place or the relevant defense (usually Fortitude DC) of the monster holding you in place. Making a check against your own Fortitude DC to let go of the creature you're holding is some true Galaxy Brain stuff.

Just a dude struggling to get up because he is so thrown off by being absolutely Chad thrown. Yeah this was kind of what i was assuming from the start. Any reasonable GM is making the ruling that ypu are no longer held, but realistically with the amount of "specificity over random interpretation" pf2e uses (which i adore personally for a crunchy system to leave little space to interrupt their meaning) it feels like it should have included a clause that says they Escape as part of the action, or you end the grapple, whichever language seems more clear to players. I suspect the reasoning is that Paizo perhaps wanted to allow GM interpretation for forced movement during a grapple, and this felt like taking away that option? Who knows.

What is the skill used to identify a staff? The explanation in the source books is that you use the skill appropriate to the magic being checked against, but staffs carry spells from multiple schools. For example, a Mentalist's Staff has mindlink which is both arcane and occult, and phantom pain which is occult only. So, can somebody with an Arcane skill still attempt to identify it? For that matter, what about a simple +1 sword? Runes don't have a tradition connected to them, so does that mean any skill can be used or is it something that even a non-magic user could identify?

Any magic skill (Arcana, Occultism, Religion or Nature) can identify magic items, including staves. There are feats that allow you to use Crafting to identify them, as well.

Not necessarily. If a magic item has only the Primal trait and not the Magic trait for example, you'd only be allowed to identify it with Nature. If an item has the Magic trait, then all 4 can be used.

Granted, but I suspect such items are few and far between. In the vast majority of cases, you can use any magic skill to identify items.

Look at the traits. Mentalist has the magical trait, means it doesn't have a specific tradition tied to it. Same for a magicak sword. A non-magic user could try to identify it with any of the magic skills.

I'm running Seven Dooms in a couple weeks for a party of 6. How would you guys recommend I account for the extra 2 players? Just beef things up to Elite, or add more enemies until it feels like a far fight? Something else?

If there are fewer adversaries than PCs, adding more adversaries is best. Especially if there is some way for them to attack from the side or behind, instead of getting all bunched up in each others' way. You can also add hazards (traps) to beef up encounters. Avoid making adversaries more than a level above the PCs through any adjustments you apply. Level +2 or +3 adversaries can be frustrating, and level +4 adversaries should be reserved for very, very rare solo encounters.

As mentioned on the other post, that's a nice guideline for me to follow. Thanks for that!

Depends on the encounter. If it's a lot of lower level monsters, I'd add elite on a couple of them. Adding more monsters can make the encounter drag. For encounters with equal or higher level monsters, I'd add extra monsters (probably lower than the party level), since throwing elite on higher level monsters can make things more difficult than intended.

Thanks, that's a helpful guideline to have. Less enemies than PCs? Add mooks. More enemies than PCs? Buff mooks. Thanks a lot.

I've been doing quite a few encounter conversions for a 6-person party. A couple of quick tricks I've picked up: * For a solo of level BL, add one minion or complex hazard at level BL - 2, or two at BL - 4, or add a 2nd copy of the solo and make both Weak * For two same level creatures, simply add a third creature of that level * For three same level creatures, add one Elite creature of that level (or a related creature at +1 level), or add two Weak creatures of that level (or two related creatures at -1 level)

Oh awesome, thank you! BL is what level the players are at, I assume?

No, that's the "boss level" for the solo creature. So if the boss is at PL (party level) +2, you'd add a creature/hazard at PL, but if they were at PL +3, you'd add a PL +1 to keep the same proportional threat. edit: these are derived from the [encounter guidelines](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2715)

Ah, cheers. Big help, thank you!

I swore I saw somewhere that you can throw items to your allies in the remaster, was wondering the range and if there was a check involved 

Its in the baseline [interact](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151) with item rules. > You can also attempt to throw an item to someone. You typically need to succeed at a DC 15 ranged attack with a 10-foot range increment to do so.

would that be an improvised weapon attack? trying to figure out what you add to this ranged attack?

Unclear. literally the only text is what I quoted. I would rule it as an improvised ranged attack personally

No, that's a feat. Baseline you can only pass an item.

Nope, the [interact rules](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2151) in the remaster were updated to include throwing. > You can also attempt to throw an item to someone. You typically need to succeed at a DC 15 ranged attack with a 10-foot range increment to do so.

Oh, true. Though important to note it's an attack, so MAP applies.

I know that GM Core has some pre-made magic staves, but I didn't see any rhyme or reason to the costs associated with them. If I wanted to make a custom staff for one of my PCs, how would I determine its level and gold value? Are there any suggested rules/restrictions surrounding how should or shouldn't be done when creating a custom staff?

There are [indeed rules](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1499) for custom staves. That includes price and how to put spells on it by level

perfect. TY.

For the Kineticist’s Clear As Air trait, when does the cool down start? I’ve seen people saying that this would be able to give permanent Invisibility, but can’t find a ruling that would prove OR disprove this. Is it just completely up to the GMs interpretation?

Sustaining a previous use of it isn't technically using it again, and you can sustain things by default for 10 minutes. So you'd use it, sustain it for 10 minutes, then use it again and you'd be invisible rather than just concealed. Since it was 10 minutes since you first used it. (But also I feel like it'd be reasonable to say the cooldown starts after its effects end)

I think the RAI here is that you'd be concealed.

I disagree. There's not a lot of precedence for abilities that both require/allow you to use them over a duration, and also have a cooldown on their effect, but the most prominent example is [Treat Wounds](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2399). Treat Wounds has a 1 hour cooldown, but the 10 minutes spent performing Treat Wounds counts against that hour. In other words, the cooldown starts when you start using the ability, not when the ability is complete. It's why Continual Recovery is so powerful. The cooldown is equal to the duration of the activity, so you can immediately perform another Treat Wounds as soon as the first activity is complete Absent any other guidance or rules text, I think that sets a precedence that should be carried forward for Clear As Air: The cooldown starts when you first use the ability, not when you stop using it. If you Sustain Clear As Air for the full 10 minutes, then stop, and use it again, I think you should be Invisible

With all the hubbub going on about content creators, I think my interest has been sparked again, but here’s my question: what exactly is expected of a PF2 content creator? Like what are we supposed to do? What appeals to folks that makes “PF2 stuff on YouTube” worth watching?

Well there's a difference between what people want to see and what helps you with the algorithm. It depends on wether you want to be a succesful creator or wether your want to make quality content. Getting both right is a skill noone here will be able to tell youw how to do.

If I roll an skill against a creature immune to that effect, is the roll still subject to failure/success? Playing a braggart swashbuckler and fighting a bunch of constructs, foundry is letting me roll intimidation and giving me panache when it succeeds and they are not getting frightened as they are immune to mental conditions. So in a sense I am succeeding, it's just not doing anything. Is this intended or just foundry being weird?

I believe foundry is correct in this case. The rules for immunity states: >You can still be targeted by an ability that includes an effect or condition you are immune to; you just don't apply that particular effect or condition. Therefore, your Demoralize was successful, which applies the frightened condition. The construct is immune to that condition, so it is not applied, but the check is still treated as a success.

[Swashbuckler](https://2e.aonprd.com/Classes.aspx?ID=15) > You gain panache by successfully *performing the skill check* associated with specific actions that have a bit of flair, including Tumble Through and additional actions determined by your swashbuckler's style. [Immunity](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2313) >When you have immunity to a specific type of damage, you ignore all damage of that type. If you have immunity to a specific condition or type of effect, you can't be affected by that condition or any effect of that type. *You can still be targeted by an ability that includes an effect or condition you are immune to; you just don't apply that particular effect or condition.* >*If you have immunity to effects with a certain trait (such as death effects, poison, or disease), you are unaffected by effects with that trait.* Often, an effect both has a trait and deals that type of damage (such as a lightning bolt spell). In these cases, the immunity applies to the effect corresponding to the trait, not just the damage. However, some complex effects might have parts that affect you even if you're immune to one of the effect's traits; for instance, a spell that deals both fire and acid damage can still deal acid damage to you even if you're immune to fire. The Swashbuckler text suggests that you just need to succeed at the skill check. Immunity suggests that you can succeed at something that will have no effect. The [Swashbuckler styles](https://2e.aonprd.com/Styles.aspx): * Battledancer: You gain panache during an encounter when the result of your Performance check to Perform exceeds the Will DC of an observing foe, even if the foe isn't fascinated. * Braggart: You gain panache during an encounter whenever you successfully Demoralize a foe. * Fencer: You gain panache during an encounter whenever you successfully Feint or Create a Diversion against a foe. * Gymnast: You gain panache during an encounter whenever you successfully Grapple, Shove, or Trip a foe. * Wit: You gain panache during an encounter whenever you succeed at a Bon Mot against a foe. They're all 'succeed at action', not 'apply effect', assuming you read 'successfully' as 'get the success result'. Battledancer makes it explicit. I'd be interested to hear other interpretations, though.

i've heard the argument that Battledancer is meant to be more broadly applied because the potential effects of a successful combat performance check are a lot weaker than Demoralize or Trip even if the enemy has no immunities. One could say that a Demoralize attempt isn't really "successful" unless you actually apply frightened (etc), and if they had meant "When your intimidate check exceeds the enemy's will DC" they would have used the same language as Battledancer. I think your reading is a reasonable call to make (especially if the party has a Wit), but it does negate one of Battledancer's biggest advantages

Definitely valid. I believe the reason Battledancer is worded that way is that in combat, without [Focused Fascination](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=1516), [Fascinating Performance](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=5147) requires a crit success: > If the observer is in a situation that demands immediate attention, such as combat, you must critically succeed to fascinate it and the Perform action gains the incapacitation trait. Battledancer's specific wording would lend support to 'Success' meaning 'apply effect', not 'gets the success result', but rules clarity would be great. The mention of the Wit is pertinent, since Bon Mot has Linguistic and Mental. > A linguistic effect that targets a creature works only if the target understands the language you are using. > A mental effect can alter the target’s mind. It has no effect on an object or a mindless creature. PF uses 'effect' to mean [anything that occurs in the game world](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2270). The Linguistic tag means that targets need to understand the language you're using to make it a valid target, so in either interpretation, at least you're not going to have Wit Swashbucklers generating panache by insulting inanimate objects.

What is the purpose of the 10-foot pole item? A seek action can search up to 30 feet but the pole is only 10. I don't quite understand what the pole is adding to the seek check!

You can seek things without vision. Can also have an impact

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Thank you!

The [10-foot pole](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2756) as an item goes back to at least [the original D&D Book 1: Men and Magic](https://archive.org/details/dndbook1/page/13/mode/2up). While it has a thousand uses (give or take), it's intended for poking at traps from a moderately safe distance. The current PF2E item description appears to have been written by someone who hadn't looked at the [Seek](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2301) action lately.

What is an 'extreme climbing kit'? Page 287 of Player Core under Climbing Kit has the line "You gain a +1 item bonus to Athletics checks to Climb while using an extreme climbing kit. I can't find any other reference to it being extreme!

[Climbing Kit (Extreme)](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2713) is the level 3 version of the climbing kit. All the +1 tools have goofy names like elite, infiltrator, expanded, etc.

Ah amazing thank you.

It's just a better version of the Climbing Kit. Similar to how there's Expanded Healer's Toolkit.

Is there any good reason why water Kineticists are banned from using [Extended Kinesis](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=4184) to sculpt? With the feat they can create ice so it only makes sense to me they could sculpt said ice as well. Bonus question: How long would you rule does a Kineticist needs to sustain Base Kinesis with the Regulate option to deal damage?

> The sculpted element can be shaped into a functional short tool (or a long tool if your Base Kinesis can affect 1 Bulk or greater). Making a functional tool out of ice is going to be challenging.

1. Probably to stop water-shaping shenanigans where people dig tunnels through water? 2. The change is instant, but only affects very small volumes. At level 1-8, you affect the equivalent of a coke can of "stuff". 9-16, it's a coke bottle and 17-20 it's two coke bottles. So, personally, I'd rule at the first bracket you can do 1 damage, the second bracket 1d6 and the third bracket 2d6.

What's the rule from moving from swimming in water onto land?

[Here](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=2346)'s the rules. Basically, you swim as far as you can swim, then your swim action ends and you have to use another action to move. Which can have different outcomes, depending on where you're swimming. Swimming inside a pool? Swim action to swim to the edge, climb action to climb out, move action to move further. Swimming at the beach? Swim action until you're in water that's too shallow to swim, then move action. Swimming in swampy or muddy river? Swim action until you're in water that's too shallow to swim, then move action, but you're probably in difficult terrain for both of those actions.

You can also very much combine movement actions. This was infuriating to read with the Winter Sleet discussions.

You can't. Not unless your GM throws you a bone for very small movement. To quote the rule section I linked: >Switching from one movement type to another requires ending your action that has the first movement type and using a new action that has the second movement type. For instance, if you **Climb**ed 10 feet to the top of a cliff, you could then **Stride** forward 10 feet. In some cases, the GM might rule otherwise, especially if you're moving a very short distance using one of the types of movement.

Oh, I mixed it up in my head with this: >The different types of actions representing movement are split up to clarify how the rules work with a creature's actions. However, you can end up in odd situations, such as when a creature wants to jump vertically to get something and needs to move just a bit to get in range, then Leap, then continue moving. This can end up feeling like they're losing a lot of their movement to make this happen. At your discretion, you can allow the PCs to essentially combine these into one fluid movement as a 2-action activity: moving into range for a Leap, then Leaping, then using the rest of their Speed.

Yeah, that’s the last sentence in my quote, just from the DM perspective. Basically explaining to new DMs that they can boil 3 movements into two actions if one of those is negligible.

I'm building a zombie archetype character cause I thought of a backstory I really loved and have a few questions about the basic undead benefits. For negative healing, it says that you can't be healed by "Positive healing effects". Does this mean you can't be healed by things with *either* the positive tag or the negative tag, or just things that have both? Then, the combination of Negative Survival and Immunity to Death Effects. Negative Survival says that you begin Dying at 0 rather than instant death like other undead, and says that "Many methods" of bringing you back from Dying don't benefit you, but only specifically names Stabilize as not working. Then, Immunity from Death Effects says that your Dying value "Can't increase automatically". I'm a bit confused as to how these two features interact, specifically wondering: * How does immunity from death effects interact with recovery checks? Does it mean that failing the checks doesn't increase the dying condition? * Does negative survival prevent recovery checks from ending the dying condition? * Does negative survival prevent healing effects from ending the dying condition? If it does, does that extend to features that I would heal from with Negative Healing like the Harm spell?

> For negative healing, it says that you can't be healed by "Positive healing effects". Does this mean you can't be healed by things with either the positive tag or the negative tag, or just things that have both? No, it means you can't be healed by healing effects that are positive. Its not "You can't be healed by negative effects" and "you can't be healed by positive effects". Note that a negative effect must specifically be a healing negative effect to heal you. You don't heal from just taking void damage. > Then, the combination of Negative Survival and Immunity to Death Effects. Negative Survival says that you begin Dying at 0 rather than instant death like other undead, and says that "Many methods" of bringing you back from Dying don't benefit you, but only specifically names Stabilize as not working. Then, Immunity from Death Effects says that your Dying value "Can't increase automatically". I'm a bit confused as to how these two features interact, specifically wondering: That section is specific to death effects. Normally, when you get hit by a death effect, you just die instantly. This prevents a death effect from killing you and increasing your dying value to 4 if you get hit. It has no interactions with non-death effects. > How does immunity from death effects interact with recovery checks? Does it mean that failing the checks doesn't increase the dying condition? It doesn't interact > Does negative survival prevent recovery checks from ending the dying condition? No. Its just that many effects that bring you back don't affect undead, so you have to check each effect before applying it. > Does negative survival prevent healing effects from ending the dying condition? If it does, does that extend to features that I would heal from with Negative Healing like the Harm spell? No, but it must be a healing effect that can affect undead. So Harm could bring you back no issue.

Is there something I'm missing with the Witch's Lesson of Renewal (or Lesson of Death) with it giving me a 6th level spell, that I don't have a spell slot for at the level I can take the feat? (Major Lesson, Level 10 Witch feat)

Seems like an oversight from the book. If you're a player, I'd chat with your GM about picking a different, flavorful 5th rank spell instead. Otherwise, the feat grants you a spell that you can't cast for another level

Yeah, I thought maybe oversight too, but questioned that because I haven’t been able to find anybody else talking about it online, and it is the same pre and post remaster. So it’s left me wondering if there’s something I’m missing or don’t understand. But yeah, might just be poorly made.

Any good podcasts or YouTubers to listen to as a newish DM? I'm running Abomination Vaults right now and I'm still a little sluggish on running exploration mode. I figure I might as well listen to something as I work

I am really enjoying Rotgrind: [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9AaoeRUTCouisJNq9Ijs9\_3VJ1N2Tmh&feature=shared](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9AaoeRUTCouisJNq9Ijs9_3VJ1N2Tmh&feature=shared) I doubt how much you'll learn about exploration specifically, but it has been extremely entertaining as a show.

Are there any ways one could directly benefit from abnormally high movement speed? I am currently working on an Elven Monk centered around speed, but beyond run in - flurry of blows - run out I can't really seem to find a way to actually benefit from my movement speed. Can you think of any actions/feats/archetypes that (in)directly benefit from movement speed? Or even just tactics.

Peak cheese would be to engage in the open, and use solely very long range spells while maintaining distance the enemy can't close.

Some alternative movement speeds are tied to your ground speed so raising it up means you can for example fly further. Similarly, your maximum leaping distance is also tied to your land speed. You also have some feats like [Blazing Streak](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2984) which make use of your stride distance, and having the extra speed might be able to net you more use out of the thing. For example if you have 60ft of movement and you use Blazing Streak, you have 120ft of ground you can cover to make the four strikes that the feat gives you, which makes it less likely that you have to gather enemies closer together to get the most out of it. Any feat that gives you "stride+additional action" compression will potentially benefit from having a long stride distance. You can also potentially deal with the enemy backlines before their casters or snipers become an issue at the obvious risk of you likely being alone back there. And even without any of that, being able to stride a long distance in a single action means you're less likely to need two actions to do the same. A lot of players put a lot of value in wands that have Lvl2 Lonstrider for that reason.

True, leaping is tied to movement speed. Not sure how well that would work out for me, as I only have 12 Str, but it's worth considering. Also I have completely neglected stances since I couldn't pass up on Ki Rush, but seeing the feat you linked gives reason ro reconsider. Anyway, thanks a bunch for the tips ^^

The leap distance is unlikely to matter unless you build up to getting [Cloud Jump](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=5133) which requires having legendary in athletics so no need to worry about it unless you were planning on investing into the skill anyway. You're not leaping your max movement distance without it. And for stances, [Stoked Flame](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2981) stance that Blazing Streak is linked to also gives you additional movement speed while you're in it for additional consideration.

Oh yeah, that stance is for sure the call. Originally wanted to get Acrobat dedication at level 2 for the free expert in Acrobatics and the level 7 skill feat that lets you use Acrobatics for Athletics, but I guess not anymore lol.

You still could depending on priorities I suppose. Stoked Flame's speed boost will scale better once you have Incredible Movement at level 3, so you can save the stance for level 4 if you don't need anything else at that level (granted, you may want to get Guarded Movement if you really want to zip around the field). Alternatively you can grab Acrobat at a later level if the free expert in acrobatics isn't a high priority for now. Also just in case you didn't know and to potentially avoid any confusion later on, stances sometimes lock you in to their unique strike (e.g. Gorilla Stance) but luckily for you Stoked Flame, which does not have a finesse strike, does not force you to use it. So if your str is too poor to work with the Flashing Sparks strikes, you can still default to normal fist strikes that you can use your dex with.

Sadly the higher level Monk feats are a bit too good to pass up lol. But it's not the worst, the archetype was more quality of life anyway.

How does feats like Hefty Hauler and Beast of Burden interact with sizes outside the Small/Medium range? Would a tiny creature have its bulk capacity increased by 1 or 2 by Hefty Hauler? I'm assuming 2 given how this impacts the Beast of Burden feat that increases the Minotaur's Bulk Capacity by 4 and how that would actually be +8 if the feat applied its flat modifier before the size multiplier found on table 6-19 on page 270 of the player core.

I'd just apply them exactly as written. Beast of Burden and Hefty Hauler both give a flat increase to bulk, so that's not affected by the x2 modifier. But what would be affected is their capacity to haul "normal" stuff. Small/medium sized objects with 1 bulk are treated as L (and small/medium L is treated as / ) so a minotaur or centaur can haul the entire gear of the party without any trouble. A 10 strength minotaur would have a bulk maximum of (5 x 2) + 4 = 14, which would let them carry 140 longswords! A 16 strength minotaur with hefty hauler would have a maximum of (8 x 2) + 4 + 2 = 22, which would let them carry 220 longswords! And in reverse, a tiny creature with 12 strength would have a bulk maximum of (6 / 2) + 2 = 5, which would let it carry 5 longswords! Funny enough, those could be large longswords, which makes it all the more hilarious. The entire bulk system kinda breaks apart outside of small/medium creatures, but hey. Edit: also don't forget table 6-20, which makes it a little less taxing for the tiny creature to wear appropriately sized gear. Bulk 1 tiny gear is treated as L, so the tiny pixie can carry almost half as many tiny longswords as the large minotaur can carry medium longswords!

It should really be clarified if the bonus encumbrance feats are modified by size, but the Beast of Burden feat does indeed suggest that it isn’t. Which means that my idea of a tiny wrestler can actually reach 6.5 encumbrance limit off the bat and thusly carry a medium creature.

Bulk is relative to your size so everyone gets the same amount of increase from the Hefty Hauler feat. Here is the important section from the rules: > "Because the way that a creature treats Bulk and the Bulk of gear sized for it scale the same way, Tiny or Large (or larger) creatures can usually wear and carry about the same amount of gear as a Medium creature."

It works for appropriately scaled gear, but this doesn’t really answer my question in terms of absolute weight such as how a Minotaur with Beast of Burden might be allowed an extra 8 bulk worth of medium sized items because large size doubles their encumbrance limit.

That feat allows a minataur to carry two extra greatswords pf their size (2 bulk each) or they can carry 4 extra greatswords made for medium people (1 bulk each). They're still carrying 4 bulk worth of extra items thanks to the feat. The bulk increase from the feat does not change at all.

Nvm this shit's so unnecessarily complicated

Do tieflings/nephilim get a bonus language like celestial or abyssal in PF2?

Nope. But they grant you access to it.

Thanks for your answer. What do you mean with they grant access to it?

Well, Uncommon feats, items, spells and languages (and prob. some otherthings) either need GM approval if you don't have access, but if you have something that grants you access let's makes them common, allowing you to definitely take it.

I'm planning to make a Wrestler Storm Druid with Orc Nephilim Heritage. Going for the Raijin (Japanese Thunder God) aesthetic. Orc gets Bloody Blows and I think that's pretty neat. Problem is that the Unarmed Strikes are pretty weak without more Dedication (Monk, Martial Artist). I know that my role is mostly to stand back and blast but I would like my Wrestler side to not fall behind. There's the option of picking Tusk (1d6 Piercing, Finesse) or Claws from Bestial Manifestation (1d4 Slashing, Agile, Finesse versatile Piercing). Is the lower damage die from Claws worth it for Agile? or I'm better off picking something else and focus on Wrestling during Wild Shape (Order Explorer)?

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Alright, the Claws is it then. Thank you. Would you say getting STR to 18 or WIS to 20 first is more important?

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Yeah, they should be maxed eventually but the time in-between ability boost matters too. I'll be maxing the WIS first and use Wrestle when it matters. Thanks

So which one is it? If you want to wrestle, why do you care about unarmed attacks? You'll have a pretty bad time if you want to be a martial shapechanging combat maneuvers spellcaster.

Wrestler dedication feats have moves that use your unarmed attack like Combat Grab, Suplex, and Aerial Piledriver. You can also do all of these while wild shaped which generally have a higher Strength modifier than your character. The trade off of course is that you can't cast spells (though you can sustain which is good for the one leftover action you'll have if you're not moving). I'm asking if the Tusk or Claws are better or if I just forgo either of those and use Wrestler maneuvers while wild shaped. Or of course, just don't mind about unarmed attacks and focus on grappling. Druid proficiency in Medium Armour and class HP plus access to heals will help for going into Melee. Though it's mostly for switching between Blaster mode and Wrestle mode, not staying in the frontline all the time but can if needed.

Yeah, but even then you're stretching across 4 different roles. You want to stand in the front like a Tank, you want to hit like a Striker, you want to crowd control like a Controller and blast like a mage. I mean, just think about the stat distribituion. 4 WIS, 3 STR, and thrn you either have 2 CON and 1 DEX or the other way around. I'd cross one or two roles off of that list.

That's exactly the stat distribution that I have in mind. The roles are interchangeable. Against a group, focus on being a controller/mage, while against a Boss try to Tank when I can. If it were you, how'd you go on building them/which one you'd cross off?

I'd completely forego unarmed Strikes since they are completely unnecessary to achieve what you want. I'd also put an asterisk on that Tank moniker, since even though you can take a hit, that's about as far as I'd take it. You simply don't have the feats left to also be tanky, unless you're fine with further gimping either Grapple's or blasting.

With the new rules can you cast spells with the manipulate trait with both your hands full?

Yes.

Couple of questions about the Flexible Spellcasting dedication: a) does it require you to take a level 1 feat to use, b) how does it interact with the 'you must take 3 feats of an archetype before you can take another' rule since it only has a single feat other feat at level 2, and c) how does it interact with the unified magical theory wizard's drain bonded item?

The important part of drain bonded item: > During your turn, you gain the ability to cast one spell you prepared today and already cast, without spending a spell slot. Seems to work just fine with the flexible caster rules. Once per day you can cast a spell you already cast that day without expending a slot!

Flexible Spellcasting is only sort of "half a dedication". It doesn't follow normal Archetype rules. The intent is that you will choose it at 1st level because you want to use your spell slots in this way. Most GMs let you take Flexible Spellcaster for free as it takes away about as much as it gives by giving you a lot more flexibility at the price of half your spell slots. The Flexible Spellcasting Dedication is just one feat that gives you one extra Cantrip Slot above what you would normally have but is only available to characters that took Flexible Spellcaster to begin with. As this is the only feat associated with something most GMs give for free if you want it, I wouldn't worry about the normal dedication rules.

Example. Player character 1 casts [Oneric Mire](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=961) spell (mentall illusion). Player character 2 is in the area of effect of the spell, but he knows PC1 has this spelll, knows that he will be in the area of the spell, he has been warned as much as possible that there will be such an illusion in combat. Will PC2 believe in the illusion? Does he need to make a Will saving throw? Does he get any bonuses to saving throws or attempts to disbelieve the illusion?

The rules don't give any bonuses to saves because you suspect something might be an illusion. The save is intended to represent you pushing past the wrong info your senses are giving you. If you blow the save, your instincts took over regardless of what your rational mind is saying. (Which is why a good Wisdom helps with these kinds of saves) Just being aware that an Illusion is a possibility RAW doesn't help you escape it. Most illusions aren't like Holograms. Oneric Mire specifies that it makes the ground \*feel\* different. You may even on some intellectual level \*know\* this isn't real but darn if you aren't stumbling around anyway while your equilibrium keeps trying to correct for running through mud when you are actually running across a stone floor. Ever seen one of those videos where a magician \*tells\* people he is about to trick them? How most people in that situation can[ know they are being tricked but still react like they experiencing what an illusion is telling them](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdxlT68ygt8)? Stuff like that doesn't even involve magic directly jacking with their senses!

Thank you very much for the answer!

Without spoilers what's a good Free Archetype for a Fighter in Season of Ghosts? I'm building an unarmoured ronin-esque character, primarily wielding a katana with some occasional wakashizi dual wielding. I was going to go marshal originally but then I realised the party bard does that far better.

Rogue might be a nice option.  Strengthen skills and pick up some extra utility options like Mobility and Trap Finder. 

We've already got a Rogue unfortunately, right now I'm considering either Beastmaster or possibly Blessed One

Hard to go wrong with Blessed One.

How are you supposed to defend your familiar as a witch? Before the remaster, none of my players used the familiar in battle but now that they actively do more to assist in battle, what are the resources witches have to defend their familiar from getting splattered in the first couple of rounds?

You command it to run away. If it's staying within melee reach and debuffing them eveytime you cast a hex it will get attacked and probably die. Command it to run away after your familiar has used their ability. Use hit and run tactics. Cast buff spells like invisibility on it if you're high enough level.

In terms of abilities you could choose Resistance, or Tough to give it extra health, and Construct (or another trait ability) to make it immune to stuff your enemies might have. There's an ability, and maybe also a spell/feat, to recall a familiar quickly if it gets into trouble. And of course you might be able to use your spells to buff the familiar

Nothing really impactful. If you use your familiar in combat, it will probably die if it starts actively doing stuff to enemies unless you present the enemy with bigger threats. But hey, you get it back the next morning and each action spent to deal with the familiar is one not spent to deal with you.

I have a question about reach. A reach weapon gives a +5ft range for a normal sized character. But what if a huge sized character, like a barbarian with the giant instinct, is using a weapon that is still 1 size larger category wise than them, i.e gargantuan. Does this mean the weapon still only offers a +5ft reach? So if they were punching, they'd have a 10ft punch, and a 15ft stab with their spear that is 4 increments larger than a normal spear that also only gives +5?

Correct. There is no mechanical benefit for using a larger weapon, other than extra rage damage for a giant instinct barbarian

where is willowshore in shenmen?

In the Specterwood Forest. Further geography details are in the [Willowshore Pathfinder wiki article](https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Willowshore), along with a *bunch* of spoilers for the Season of Ghosts AP.

Are undead player characters unholy? If so how would this interact with cleric?

Undead player characters are not by default unholy. Before the remaster, when alignment was around, undead PCs were not by default evil. That's because it allowed players the freedom to be non-evil undead in the interest if narrative enagagement. If we follow that same logic, it would make sense why no errata text has been added to force undead PCs to be unholy.

That's great to hear are undead creatures unholy by default?

*By Default*, no, but in practice, yes. Monster Core did not set out an explicit rule that all undead are unholy, but every single printed undead in the book was marked as unholy. I think its a very, very, very, very safe assumption to go with "Undead are unholy", but only use exceptions for that when it makes narrative sense. This allows for some characters like the "Friendly Lich" concept to exist without being unholy.

Lets say you're a Inexorable Iron Magus, you have a [Spellstriker Staff](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2258). You use the shifting rune to turnt he staff into a gauntlet. Can you cast True Strike from the staff while wielding a two-handed weapon?

[Staves](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=748) > Casting a Spell from a staff requires holding the staff (typically in one hand) and Activating the staff by Casting the Spell, which takes the spell’s normal number of actions. A gauntlet has [Free-hand](https://2e.aonprd.com/Traits.aspx?ID=613): > You can use the hand covered by your free-hand weapon to wield other items, perform manipulate actions, and so on. You can't attack with a free-hand weapon if you're wielding anything in that hand or otherwise using that hand. When you're not wielding anything and not otherwise using the hand, you can use abilities that require you to have a hand free as well as those that require you to be wielding a weapon in that hand. I would RAI the Free-hand restrictions to also apply to the Staff requirement that you be holding the staff to activate it, and say that you can only cast a spell from the Spellstriker Staff gauntlet while your hand is not otherwise wielding anything.

First off, there's no clear answer on this. However, some rules elements align to suggest you can't do it while wielding a two-handed weapon. First, staves need to be wielded to be cast from. > Casting a Spell from a staff requires holding the staff (typically in one hand) and Activating the staff by Casting the Spell, which takes the spell’s normal number of actions. Holding an item and wielding it are fairly synonomous, as defined in wielding items: > You’re wielding an item any time you’re *holding it in the number of hands needed to use it effectively.* When wielding an item, you’re not just carrying it around—you’re ready to use it So you need to be holding the staff in enough hands to use it. A gauntlet can't be used if the hand occupying it is holding something else, so its hard to argue that it counts as being wielded. You can see more of this at the bottom of [this discussion thread](https://paizo.com/threads/rzs43rh4?Spellstrike-Staff-with-Shifting-Rune). This is, however, a bit of a grey area, so some tables may allow it.

Yeah, I thought I was missing something, but I agree. I think it's a similar case to weapons with an activated ability, take the [Icicle](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=2868) from GM core. Can you use the activated abilities if holding it in one hand? Seems unclear but I think most people would rule that you can. While I think most people would rule that you can't cast from the spellstriker gauntlet while holding something in that hand, even though it's the same rule interaction as the Icicle.

> Can you use the activated abilities if holding it in one hand? Seems unclear but I think most people would rule that you can. You need two hands. [Manipulate Activations](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=3141) > If an activation has the manipulate trait, you can activate it only if you’re wielding the item (if it’s a held item) or touching it with a free hand (if it’s another type of item).

Actually, the rules are explicit you can't use the icicle in one hand. That's because it explicitly states: > Usage: Held in Two Hands That tells you how many hands you need to wield it, and the [rules on manipulate activations](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=3141) state: > If an activation has the manipulate trait, you can activate it only if you’re *wielding the item* (if it’s a held item) or touching it with a free hand (if it’s another type of item). And then [this](https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=3154) tells us that Held in two hands means you need two hands to wield it > If a character must wield the item to use it, this entry in the item’s stat block lists the word “held” along with **the number of hands the character must use when wielding the item**, such as “held in 1 hand.” So the icicle must be held in two hands to be wielded, and it must be wielded to activate.

Of course I managed to pick an item with the manipulate trait when looking for a random weapon with an activated ability lmao

Searching AoN, there appear to be [34 specific magic weapons that are two handed and can be activated](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?Category=37&Subcategory=40&q=%22held+in+2+hands%22+%22activate%22). Most of them are either Interact, or a two action Manipulate, both of which require wielding the weapon. Most of the remaining Command or Envision Activates involve a Strike before, during or after the activation, so you still need to be wielding it for the Strike. Exceptions: [Acrobat's Staff](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=581), [Conflagration Club](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1051). [Vampiric Scythe](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1287) technically has a Reaction activation that triggers on a Disarm, and [Skyrider's Sword](https://2e.aonprd.com/Equipment.aspx?ID=1432) has a hilarious 'ride your sword like a witch's broom' activation.

Something I've just run into that I had a question about: Does the damage from the feat The Harder They Fall replace the normal damage from a critical trip, or does it stack on top?

There are technically two feats with the same name: [The Harder They Fall - Rogue](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=4938) and [The Harder They Fall - Ranger](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=3901), a Legacy Rare from the Kingmaker AP. Pretty sure we're talking about the regular Rogue one, though. [Trip](https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=2382) > Critical Success The target falls, lands prone, and takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage. Rogue: > You make your foes fall painfully when you trip them. When you successfully Trip an off-guard foe, your target takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage. On a critical success, the target takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage plus your sneak attack damage. Ranger: > You know how to make a larger creature hurt when it falls to the ground. If you successfully Trip a foe that's larger than you, it takes 1d8 bludgeoning damage (or 2d8 bludgeoning damage on a critical success). If you are master in Athletics, the damage increases to 2d8 bludgeoning (or 4d8 bludgeoning on a critical success). Phtevus' mention of Brutal Bully is a good example of a feat that's explicitly additive: > While raging, when you successfully Disarm, Grapple, Shove, or Trip a foe, you deal that foe bludgeoning damage equal to your Strength modifier; add this to the damage from a critical success to Trip. THTF in both instances has an additional requirement that limits application: off-guard for the Rogue version, larger creatures for the Ranger, but I'd still be inclined to rule that it's a replacement, not an addition.

Thanks for taking the time for the detailed breakdown! I appreciate it!

I'd argue that it's a replacement of the normal Crit Success Trip damage. Compare to [Brutal Bully](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=146), which includes a clause that the damage it deals is added to the damage from a Crit Success Trip The Harder They Fall is still a pretty good feat. Turns normal Trip in Crit Success Trip, and gives you Sneak Attack on a Crit Success Trip

Thanks for the answer, it's much appreciated!

Is there a way, other than the one Thaumaturge feat, to replace Item DCs with class/casting DC? There are a lot of items I would love to use with a wizard, but without a scaling DC it just doesn't make sense.

The alchemist doing that for alchemical items they create on the fly is the only other example I can think of. I don't think any such feature is accessible to the wizard.