#pf2e light

[honourablejester]

Doodling that lovecraftian Cult crew for Blades in the Dark reminded me that I had also been doodling a dungeon for D&D involving a lighthouse. A fully functional occult lighthouse, where the great beam of the light, and the entire top floors and a certain spherical radius around the light itself, would be very bad for you. Specifically, I was thinking that the light is defended by a permanent AOE with the effects of the Sickening Radiance spell. Because I really love that spell. And lighthouses. And light.

And I’m realising that that is a real and genuine theme that I just keep coming back to. Light. Light vs dark. And I do want to clarify that by that I do not mean good vs evil. I mean genuinely and tangibly light vs dark. Shadows. Chiaroscuro. Lighthouses. Beams in the darkness. Stars. Light as illumination, hope, beacon, calling, but also illusion and burning and pain and hideous relentlessness. Darkness as terror and void and chasm, but also shelter and shield and the peace of sleep.

It is one of the reasons that Pathfinder’s lack of radiant damage genuinely does make a difference to me, because fire just doesn’t have the same … the same call. I want light itself to have an inherent ability to hurt. It’s not heat, it’s not fire, it’s the light itself. Radiant damage. The sort of occult, radiation sort of vibe. I deeply adore Sickening Radiance. This hideous radiance that sickens and exhausts and gradually leeches your life away. I love the imagery of darkness as the shield and light as the weapon.

But I also love the reverse. The idea of the darkness as the death-dealer, the creeping terror that freezes your blood in your veins. And … I think, in D&D terms, I think I do prefer cold damage to be darkness’ weapon of choice, rather than something like necrotic? Necrotic is something different, death and rot. Cold, the leeching of life by the lack of heat, light, hope, is the damage type that I feel suits darkness best. (Possibly psychic, I can see psychic also having its place, darkness is terror after all). (PF2e’s new void damage, what used to be negative damage, is somewhere in the middle – it carries a lot of the implications of necrotic damage, but the description now of the void that saps life does work very well).

And to go with that, light as hope. The beacons in the darkness. The lighthouse. The lantern.

And then corrupting one into the other. Corrupted light. Lighthouses that have been suborned, either by wreckers or more occult forces. Light that not just lets but forces you to see … certain things. And darkness … actually, darkness corrupted by rot. There we can have necrotic damage. Darkness that is no longer the pure implacable cold of absence, but that has been corrupted by crawling things. A rot.

I just. I love the themes and imagery around light and darkness. The symbols. I love worlds that are full of shadows, worlds where the light and the darkness are shown stark against each other, worlds where there is something metaphysical about them. I love bioluminescence, I love the vast chasms of darkness underground. I love lanterns and candelabras and eerie flames flickering underwater. I love lighthouses, beams of light sweeping the darkness, guiding people to safety or horrors to the shore. I love grey gothic worlds where the darkness is a silvered weight, and the pale lights that shine within in are tiny, frail beacons of hope that somehow, despite it all, do not go out. I love the light as a horror, as a burning, searing, relentless thing, and darkness as the space you crawl into, blistered and desperate, to let its cool balm seeps across you.

I just. Gothic and cosmic horror have spoiled me. The standard fantasy ‘light is good and dark is evil and neither are particularly examined’ just doesn’t cut it for me anymore. I want light as a horror and darkness as a balm. I want light as a beacon, a call, and darkness as a void, a terror, a crawling thing. I want the softness of shadows and the frail shining of one last star of hope. I want light to hurt and darkness to shield, and darkness to swallow and drown and light to offer a beacon and a path out of terror. I want both of them to be vast and powerful and terrible and stark, and yet also small and frail and gentle and beautiful.

I just. I really love light and darkness. I love playing with them, interacting with them, pondering them. The stark contrast between them and the way they can blur together. Chiaroscuro. It’s a thing.

Also lighthouses just make a great set piece? Just in general. Excellent imagery, no notes. Heh.

Carry on.

[big-cheesy-productions]

Last session ended with me swallowing an eldritch cult scroll that drives people mad into an extra-dimensional space in my mouth, this session ended with me holding a piece of the key to probably the end of the world in my t*ddies.

Ttrpgs are fun

[cat-of-starlight]

Hey, followers!!

Ok so I know that I mentioned this EARLIER, but yea, my brainrot for Dante is so strong that I'm making an AU version of them for a TTRPG (Specifically, I'm making them for a Pathfinder 2e campaign)

So ye! Behold Them!! I'm making them as the "Oracle" class -Specifically "Mystery of Life" (Because gang. holy shit. its as close as I can get to how their power works- They're the group healer but they're SO CURSED and the curse hurts themselves to do some of the cool heals. Just like canon fr)

They still have amnesia, of course, but I will be giving this version a vague backstory of their own (Not like I could even steal the irl canon anyway because they don't know it, but yea!)

(Some better outfit pics, because I gave them two :3 ) (They deserve to get to wear whatever they want honestly)

(Outfit 1 Credit / Outfit 2 Credit - I did buy and use them both, so I wanted to actually credit the outfits as well - DID edit the first one to match their normal colors, but yea!)

I'm not fandom tagging this, lmao, everything is crazy enough in there rn- but! Followers (and other people scrolling through) feel free to ask about them!! They're my ultimate blorbo rn and I even if the CANON one has to be miserable, at least I can play a version of them that GETS the happiness they deserve, even if it takes a bit <3)

*Edit note: Lmao I've already talked to some of the other players and they've kinda collectively adopted this Dante as the party's mascot- Big "We've only known them for 2 min but if anything happened to them we'd kill everyone and then ourselves" vibes One wants to be the group tank and once we inevitably finish battles with my poor character on like. 2 HP because spells like Life Link are a thing, she's just gonna throw their scrawny ass over her shoulder after battles- Even if the sinners continue to be mean to canon Dante, at least this version can have their Found Family™

Oh and the DM is the only other person in the group who's played Limbus, so extra conspiring to make this backstory hurt <3

Note: Do not repost my art anywhere (If in doubt, ask me)

[xenodile]

It's her, the funny fox! Commission of my pf2e character Hakai no Hono done by @bigscaryartist! Thank you again!

I've been part of this campaign for, shoot, we're coming up on two years soon. We're up to level 12 as we close in on the end game, and there's still so much to look forward to.

Hakai is an Oracle-turned-Sorcerer, abandoned as a baby without a name due to the divine spark within her, she gained the title that would serve as her name from a slip of paper with a warning on it. Alas, the people that found her and brought her back to their town couldn't read the kitsune language, so they had no clue what the warning was supposed to be.

It's common enough in rumor and myth that kitsune have some innate fire magic, so nobody thought much of it when she started producing wisps of flame as a small child, and even encouraged her to practice her new talent by heating pots of tea, or lighting cooking fires. Of course this would all go wildly off course when she got too excited and accidentally caused a firestorm that burned down the schoolhouse where she was communally raised.

Not wanting to accidentally destroy anything or hurt anyone else, the young fox went into a kind of self-imposed exile, learning to forage and take care of herself, avoiding direct contact with other people, and living on the outskirts of society as she searched for a cure to what she believed to be some kind of illness, a defect that made her innate foxfires rage out of control. She tried potions, healers, obscure occult legends, but nothing could give her an answer.

She had no idea she was actually the reincarnation of primordial flame itself, the concept of fire made flesh, destined to cleanse the world of impurity so that new life might take root in the ashes. Good thing she doesn't believe in destiny.

[thecreaturecodex]

Tolokand

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[The tolokand is a monster I really like--it gives me vibes of the Dark Tower meets China Mieville--but gave me a lot of trouble in the conversion. For one thing, the tolokand is Patient Zero for why I wanted to explicitly make poison dealing hit point damage more of a thing. With poison blood, poison smoke and poison claws, giving the tolokand three different ability damaging poisons would be a bookkeeping nightmare; not to mention that they all do HP damage in the original. Also frustrating was that a large number of its SLAs only exist in PF2e; I had to get a little creative to make this feel similar to the original in play, but fit more smoothly into PF1e mechanics.]

Tolokand CR 15 NE Aberration This creature appears as a giant humanoid, covered head to toe in clothing but only barely concealing its aberrant anatomy. A slumped hat and a bandana almost conceal its lack of a face, and black ichor drips from its gauntleted hands. Metal pipes emerge from its back and shoulders, spewing thick black smoke.

The faceless, voiceless tolokands are inexorable agents of destruction. Where they walk, plants die and the earth cracks, and the sky is blackened with toxic smoke. They are sometimes called waste walkers, as wherever they go turns into wasteland. They seem attracted to environments on the brink as a bird knows its migratory routes. A region subject to famine, drought or natural disaster is pushed into oblivion by the tolokand’s grim presence.

A tolokand is unmoved by pleas or threats, and they cannot speak to make their motives known. If anyone tries to stop them from poisoning the land and killing its plant life, they fight back. Although tolokands typically move at a stately pace, they can move with frightening speed when threatened, and they cannot be entangled, paralyzed or slowed for more than a few seconds. Their claws ooze a toxin that causes creeping necrosis, and when badly injured toxic blood sprays from the wounds. Every round, a tolokand uses its quick blight, call to earth or sudden destruction in addition to its movement and claw attacks. Tolokands are devoted to the cause of destruction, but are willing to retreat and regroup in the rare cases when badly injured.

There are only a handful of tolokands, but more than one clearly exist–their smoking footfalls leave distinctive footprints. They do not serve any particular gods or archfiends of destruction, and that leaves them in an odd position among daemon cultists. Some sects value anything that accelerates the apocalypse, whereas others feel that tolokands are competitors for the privilege of bringing about the doom of worlds. Charon tolerates the tolokands, and most daemon harbingers follow his lead, but Szuriel specifically views them as contemptible upstarts.

Tolokand CR 15 XP 51,200 NE Large aberration Init +10; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +29, smoke vision Aura heartless furnace (50 ft., Fort DC 27)

Defense AC 32, touch 16, flat-footed 25 (-1 size, +6 Dex, +1 dodge, +14 natural, +2 armor) hp 230 (20d8+140) Fort +13, Ref +12, Will +18 Immune poison; Resist acid 20, negative 20; SR 26 (31 vs. druid, ranger spells) Defensive Abilities endure elements, inexorable, spurn primal magic, toxic blood

Offense Speed 120 ft., air walk Melee 2 claws +22 (2d12+8 plus poison/19-20) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks call to earth, quick blight, sudden destruction Spell-like Abilities CL 20th, concentration +25 (+29 casting defensively) Constant–air walk, comprehend languages, endure elements 3/day–cloudkill (DC 21), empowered explosion of rot (DC 20), volcanic storm 1/day–earthquake, fire storm (DC 24), horrid wilting (DC 24)

Statistics Str 26, Dex 23, Con 24, Int 21, Wis 22, Cha 5 Base Atk +15; CMB +24; CMD 41 Feats Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Empower SLA (explosion of rot), Improved Critical (claw), Improved Initiative, Intimidating Prowess, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack Skills Acrobatics +29, Knowledge (engineering) +28, Knowledge (geography, nature, religion) +25, Intimidate +28, Perception +29, Stealth +25, Survival +29 Languages comprehend languages, voiceless

Ecology Environment any land Organization solitary Treasure standard (masterwork leather armor, other treasure)

Special Abilities Call to Earth (Su) As a swift action, a tolokand can pull a flying creature out of the air within 120 feet. If that creature fails a DC 25 Will save, it falls up to 120 feet, although it takes no damage from the fall if it hits the ground, and cannot fly for 1 minute. If it succeeds the save, it falls half that distance (still taking no damage), but can still fly on its own turn. The save DC is Intelligence based. Heartless Furnace (Su) Toxic smoke fills a 50 foot radius around a tolokand, providing concealment to all creatures within the cloud. All creatures in the area must succeed a DC 27 Fortitude save each round or take 2d6 points of poison damage. The save DC is Constitution based.  Inexorable (Su) A tolokand is immune to all penalties to its speed and to both magical and mundane difficult terrain. If a tolokand suffers from the paralyzed, slowed, staggered or stunned conditions, it recovers automatically from that condition at the end of its turn. Poison (Ex) Claw–injury; save Fort DC 27; duration 1/round for 4 rounds; effect 1d4 Con damage; cure 2 saves. The save DC is Constitution based. Quick Blight (Su) As a swift action, a tolokand can create a 10 ft radius burst of negative energy within 120 feet. All creatures in the area take 2d10 negative energy damage (Fort DC 25 halves); this does not heal the undead. All mundane plant life in the area dies. The save DC is Intelligence based. Smoke Vision (Ex) A tolokand’s vision is not hampered by smoke of any kind.  Spell-like Abilities The save DCs and concentration checks of a tolokand’s spell-like abilities are based on Intelligence.  Spurn Primal Magic (Ex) A tolokand’s spell resistance is 5 points higher against the spells of druids, rangers and hunters, and against the spell-like abilities of the fey. Sudden Destruction (Su) Once every 1d4 rounds, a tolokand can use one of its spell-like abilities as a swift action. It cannot use this ability on a round it has already used a spell-like ability.  Toxic Blood (Ex) If a tolokand is hit by a critical hit with a slashing or piercing weapon, toxic blood spews from the wound. All creatures in a 5 foot radius around the tolokand must succeed a DC 27 Reflex save or take 3d6 poison damage. All mundane plant life in the area dies. The save DC is Constitution based. Voiceless (Ex) A tolokand cannot speak or use verbal components.

[ttrpg-smash-pass-vs]

Green Hags are human-sized creatures that can shapeshift into other humanoid women. They're also great at mimicking animal noises, and are liars who delight in corrupting others and shattering thier morals/minds. Before eating them of course. But hey, seduction is one of thier best skills! Helps with betrayal and spreading misery. Thier breath can sap your strength, as can thier touch if you don't know they're an enemy. They've also got spells for invisibility, making lights and sounds, and turning into trees!

The gongorinan is a qlippoth, which in PF2e are the beings who lived in the outer rifts before demons started forming and pushed them to the outskirts. Gongorinan are some of the stronger ones, standing 6 feet (1.8 m) at the top of thier shell. They can force you to drop any tool you're holding, have innate spells to petrify and turn you into an animal, and can make you slow and clumsy by showing you the horrors inside thier maw. Those horrors are all the forms it can turn you into, as even without thier spells they can turn you into animals, plants, or even fungi! That's thier ultimate plan, make everyone return to monke so you can't conceptualize sin, and therefore don't become damned and add to thier enemy's forces.

[catgirlforeskin]

"even the most gentle suggestions that trying out other games could be good." ^ .... ?? "We should round up everyone who still likes DnD 5e and hold their faces down into hot coals until the smell of charred melting flesh suffocates our noses! Who’s with me!" "an rpg so alien to the design philosophy of DnD that hearing it makes cr fans’ heads explode into tf2 gore giblets" & you keep saying that you'd give people a list of other ttrpg's to play... and you don't. you just shit on stuff and whine. i don't even like dnd anymore because all the manuals are "big" but insubstantial and wizards of the coast are greedy and making the game worse.. but it doesn't mean you have to be rude to the people who still enjoy it.

You’re right, we don’t have to be rude to people who still enjoy 5e. We have to kill them

I’ve had several posts about other systems to play, usually as answers to asks I’ve gotten, if tumblr search worked better you could look on my blog quite easily. But for posterity’s sake…

Crunchier games:

-most similar to DnD 5e: Pathfinder 2e. All rules free online, extremely popular

-faster, high stakes cinematic combat with more flexibility in setting: Mythras

-apocalyptic survival exploration with good gun-based combat: Twilight 2000 4e. Easily reskinned for other settings that keep the same thematic core

-people will get mad if I don’t mention Lancer, it’s a mech game, I just think it’s okay personally.

Pf2e and Lancer are combat as sport while mythras and t2000 are more combat as war (explainer here)

Lighter Games:

-OSR: Old School Renaissance, this is a school of RPGs based on original DnD and adventuring with fragile characters defined by gear instead of abilities who should always fight dirty and creatively, trying to outwit opponents instead of engaging head-on. Mausritter and Dragonbane are my current favs, but there’s hundreds of games in this genre of all different kinds of themes. Favors GM rulings over written rules⭐️Great for people who already play 5e in a much more freeform style⭐️

-PbtA: Powered by the Apocalypse, a school of RPGs based on Apocalypse World. Strong mechanical support for collaboratively making your story at the table. ⭐️Great for people who prefer roleplay and narrative⭐️. People often recommend Dungeon World because it’s similar to old dnd, personally I just think it’s okay. Current fav is The Sword, the Crown, and the Unspeakable Power for Game of Thrones feeling stories, Fellowship is good for LotR style fantasy. Hundreds of games in this genre and the subgenre Forged in the Dark (FitD) for games based on Blades in the Dark. Current fav is Rebel Crown.

Closing thoughts:

-Umm suck me off :)

-Free League Publishing makes a ton of rpgs and pretty much all of them are good, I highly recommend anything they do. FIST is a fun osr and pbta hybrid. Riddle of Steel and its successors are cool rpgs trying to simulate real sword fights unfortunately mostly made by reactionary dipshits. There’s tons of unique rules light stuff outside of OSR or PbtA design space as well, go on the various rpg subreddits, go to rpg blogs, go to itch.io and explore. r/rpg is a great resource and I’ve learned about so many good systems from it.

-I hope this one shows up when searching my blog for rpg posts in the future so silly people don’t go “you never recommend games you’re just a HATER!” I love to hate but it’s slightly more fun to play good rpgs with friends than it is to be a hater online. Oh my god I didn’t even mention GMless games, good lord uhhh check out Quiet Year and The Zone okay love you all bye bye I want 100 5e player scalps xoxo

[cy-cyborg-draws]

Migli is one of my favourite TTRPG characters ive ever played, so with art fight coming up, i decided to redo her character art. I first played her as a Dragonborn Wild Magic Sorcerer in a d&d 5e game, then again in a few pathfinder/PF2e games as an unusually large kobold witch with a wild magic curse

Migli wasn't born, she was created as part of an experiment to create a dragonborn with abilities based off the purple chromatic dragons (deep dragons). However, the magic used to create her went wrong, leaving her with a normal electric breath weapon, and now any time she uses her magic, it will often become wild. Every time it did, more of her scales peeled back to reveal what appears to be a starry void (though these spots feel like liquid to the touch), and the more of this void that covered her, the more chance her magic would go wild.

This is where her familiar, smiley, comes in. She doesn't know it's real name, it refuses to tell her, all she knows is that he gives her a way to regulate her powers and keep the void spots at bay. Now the void spots only grow after extended use of her magic, and so long as a smiley is around, they begin to shrink once she is able to rest. It says that it is not doing this to help her, that it gains something from this, but what that is, she doesn't know.

Migli doesn't use a prosthetic for her arm, but she can cast a spell Smiley taught her called "void-hand" which functions similarly to the mage-hand spell (though this counts towards her spell usage for the day, so she doesn't use it often).

[ID 1: an illustration of migli, a purple, anthropomorphic dragon with one arm, covered in blue "spots" filled with a starry pattern and holding a staff with a hook at one end and a blade on the other. She is wearing a reddish-brown dress, and has torn bandage on her tail and right arm. Over the stump of her left arm is a smokey fog, with the same starry pattern as the spots. Coiled around her staff is a black snake with a creepy smile, and the same starry spots on it's back /end ID 1]

[ID 2: the same illustration of migli without any lighting or shading, and without their smokey arm. In the background is the silhouette of a human woman, showing migli only comes up to the average woman's shoulder. To the left, is migli's colour pallet, to the right is a close up of the snake. /end ID 2]

[keplercryptids]

Hi! I'd love your advice/thoughts if you have the time: a friend is interested in trying ttrpgs. Theyre, uh, scifi/fantasy-curious? (such a normie & I love them for it) They love strategy games and stories but are a little nervous about the freeform/rp elements. I'd really like to NOT use 5e as the intro game but having a lot of trouble thinking of another good option for someone who has zero sff/ttrpg background.. (I love reading about your new campaign 🥰) thank you!

hi! there's a bunch of possibilities and almost certainly your friend will need to try out multiple things to find something they really vibe with, but! here are some suggestions. i tried to include a wide variety in terms of mechanics, vibes, genre etc.

Savage Worlds. this system is setting-neutral so it can be as SFF (or not!) as you like. it has some mechanical crunch but not nearly as much as, say, d&d or pathfinder so it's likely easier for beginners to pick up. easy to prepare encounters on the gm side and character creation is super customizable.

Fiasco. this is a gm-less oneshot-style game that i think does a great job of dropping players into narrative roleplay with JUST enough guidance from the rules. the game is designed to simulate a caper gone wrong. all players share narrative control, which can be intimidating for newbies, but is also great practice of doing that kind of thing.

Shadowdark, for a dungeon-delving OSR style game. i haven't gotten the chance to play this myself but I've read through the rulebook and hope to run some games someday. the rules are not as complicated as d&d, but still provide great structure and opportunity for strategy. there's also a cool real-time element of tracking light sources (each torch only lasts for one IRL hour) which is fun. i feel like it's a good introduction to old-school style ttrpgs with a modern twist.

systems like Powered by the Apocalypse (i.e. Monster of the Week) and Forged in the Dark (i.e. Blades in the Dark, Scum and Villainy) are narrative-driven and fiction-focused games that are often recommended for beginner players. IMO, these kinds of games really push players (and GMs!) to approach games entirely from the fiction side of things, which can be challenging, especially if your friend isn't comfortable with that kind of thing yet. i did want to suggest them though because they might be the flavor of game your friend would enjoy, and there's a ton of varied genres within these systems.

and finally, if you're looking for a mechanically crunchy game similar to d&d that's better than d&d, Pathfinder 2e is your friend. it's high fantasy and rules heavy, so it may not be the vibe, but if your friend is looking for strategy, combat, and tons of character options, pf2e is great. (and, importantly, all the rules are free online!)

[pathfuckery]

Hey ya'll, I've decided to start slowly sharing the maps I make for my sessions so other people can get use out of it too! It's nothing too fancy. Everything I share will be things I've mocked up in Dungeondraft, a fantastic program I highly recommend if you make maps for your VTT. This first one is a small vampire manor. Secret doors are not marked, but can be easily placed in multiple locations.

I've not added lighting on this particular map, as it varies based on the time of day!

I'll try to post one or two of these a month as I go through past maps and clean them up a bit, and everything will be accessible from this shared file!

[leidensygdom]

I've seen you posting about what I think is a DnD campaign, and I'm wondering what software the screenshots are from?

It is a DnD campaign, even if an odd one!!

We use FoundryVTT, which is an absolute godsend. It's a Virtual TableTop (like roll20), with a few differences:

It's single payment. $50, but it goes on sale, and it's very lenient with the license (one person gets it, the whole group can use it to DM as they'd wish! they don't really care)

No subscriptions or extra payments after that. You get the entire software with all of its utilities for that.

It's self-hosted (think like Minecraft servers) but it's easy to set up and it's wonderful since you don't need to worry about storage

It comes with just all sort of functionalities out of the box and it's far much more fleshed out than roll20. There's a lot of integrated TTRPG systems in it already (including 5e, Pf2e, Blades in the Dark, Call of Cthulhu, etc), which update constantly

The software itself is also actively updated and they add more functionalities constantly- It's already VERY good, but they keep expanding it!

A very important one, but it allows modding and has a very active modding community, so if there's a functionality the base software doesn't have, chances are that someone already did it. for example, the healthbar or the turn markers are mods

Honestly the devs are pretty cool too and I appreciate the work they do

For some of the cool functionalities it has that I really use (most of which roll20 doesn't have)

It's just really well optimized and they actively work on optimizing it further with every update!

This one is very important to me, but it allows animations natively, which I use quite a bit for animated tokens. There's people who have done animated spell effects and such too. It supports webm, which are much better than gifs

Overall a LOT of visual customization. You can set lights in the scene with lots of animation, filters, there's a mod to add weather and particle effects, you can have forehead tiles (basically stuff that is over the character), etc.

The sheet and inventory management system is so much better than roll20! you can drag and drop features, classes, spells, all that sort of stuff. Pf2e's module is particularly well done and you can just drag about everything and get a sheet ready in no time

it has a delightful vision system with integrated walls, fog of war and so on (yknow, that thing that roll20 has behind a paywall, but better)

integrated rulers and templates too!

and of course just endless customization with mods

a really nice system for journals, player notes, handouts, etc

fairly specific but you can make both lootable chests and interactive shops for your players with a mod and I LOVE that

I could fawn ALL day about how much I love this software. I ran my campaign in roll20 for two years and the amount of wrestling I had to do with it was infuriating! I really recommend FVTT to pretty much anyone. It can be a bit overwhelming at first since it's a bit harder (given how much functionality it has), but once you get used to it, it's hard to go back to other stuff tbh

[honourablejester]

Still on the subject of Starfinder 2e, though, the playtest rulebook had this fantastic art of a rockstar-looking borai:

Which. Undead rockstar lashunta. Noice.

They also have a magic item in the equipment section called the Diva’s Microphone, which is an ‘ostentatious crystal microphone is embellished with glimmering jewels and delicate lights that pulse in time to music’, and which amplifies your voice out to 500ft and grants +1 to performance. It also lets you cast the sonic scream spell. You can get levelled versions that increase the bonus and the level of the spell.

So. You know. I now kind of want to make a borai envoy with the ‘in the spotlight’ leadership style and the icon background and give her this item and basically make an undead Macross-style spaceship idol singer?

Also, sidenote, I enjoy how they made the borai a versatile lineage. That is one PF2e style conversion that I appreciate. Imma put borai on a dwarf. Also ysoki. What does a mostly-undead barathu look like? Thoughts!

[lesbianalanwake]

Did some Pathfinder builds for Remedy characters, which I've done before, but there's been a PF2e remaster and I wanted to do it for Saga too, so.... Saga as a psychic, Alan as an oracle, and Jesse as a summoner, up to level 5.

Saga Anderson, Psychic 5

Ancestry: Human, Heritage: Aphorite Aphorites were first forged by axiomites, the primary inhabitants of the Eternal City of Axis, the plane of pure law. The original aphorites served as liaisons between their lawful progenitors and frustratingly unpredictable mortal allies. Marrying the logical thought processes of conformity to law and the gift of self-determination, early aphorites spread across the Material Plane to serve as Axis's proxies and enact its will. Over time, their appearances and personalities grew to resemble their mortal comrades as they were increasingly born among mortals. Aphorites still exhibit Axis's touch in their metallic skin coated in crystalline dust, aptitude for logic, strength in artisanship, and propensity for order and cooperation. But despite these links to their purpose-built origins, contemporary aphorites are undoubtedly their own masters. Background: Detective You solved crimes as a police inspector or took jobs for wealthy clients as a private investigator. You might have become an adventurer as part of your next big mystery, but likely it was due to the consequences or aftermath of a prior case.

Attributes: Strength +1, Dexterity +2, Constitution +1, Intelligence +3, Wisdom +2, Charisma +4 Perception: +9; Low-Light Vision, Darkvision Skills: Acrobatics +9, Athletics +8, Deception +11, Diplomacy +11, Intimidation +11, Lore: Underworld +12, Medicine +9, Nature +9, Occultism +10, Society +10, Survival +9

AC: 19 (Unarmored); Fortitude: +8, Reflex: +11, Will: +11 HP: 43; Resistances: Mental 2 Speed: 25 ft. Ranged Weapon: Jezail, Air Repeater, Crossbow

Class: Psychic The mind can perceive truths hidden to fine-tuned instruments, house more secrets than any tome, and move objects and hearts more deftly than any lever. By delving into both the conscious and subconscious aspects of your inner self, you have awoken to the might of psychic magic, allowing you to cast spells not through incantations or gestures but by the power of your will alone. While the thin line between your mind and reality means that a single errant thought could have unintended consequences for yourself and your companions, you know that anything is possible, if you can imagine it. Conscious Mind: The Infinite Eye Conscious Mind Spells: Sure Strike, Augury, Organsight Psi Cantrips: Detect Magic, Guidance, Glimpse Weakness The true strength of the mind lies in the knowledge it contains, with each new observation contributing to the totality of its experiences. To grow your experiences—and with them, your power—you devote yourself to observing as much as possible, casting your senses through space and time with clairvoyance and precognition. Subconscious Mind: Emotional Acceptance Psyche Actions: Restore The Mind The mind's truths come not in learned words or mathematical formulas but in deeper feelings and sensations. Emotions unlock the door to your power—you might consider your heart the source of your strength, or you might find that the infinite complexity felt in a moment expresses your power more efficiently than any string of mystic words ever could. Your thought components are emotions. You might summon the sense of freedom to buoy you through the air or let fear grip your heart even as you plant it in another's mind. Emotion components tend to impart abstract or vivid effects to your visual and auditory spell manifestations as well as more intangible flashes of emotion, such as swirls of joyous color or a sense of growing melancholy.

Other Psychic Features Clarity of Focus, Precognitive Reflexes, Signature Spells, Unleash Psyche, Counter Thought, Mental Buffer

Occult Spells 3rd: Hypercognition 2nd: Clear Mind, Umbral Mindtheft 1st: Object Reading, Runic Weapon Cantrips: Infectious Enthusiasm, Read The Air, Wash Your Luck

Aphorite Feats: Lemma of Vision, Internal Cohesion General Feats: Weapon Proficiency Skill Feats: Cognitive Crossover, Eyes of the City, Streetwise

---

Alan Wake, Oracle 5

Ancestry: Human, Heritage: Versatile Background: Artist Your art is your greatest passion, whatever form it takes. Adventuring might help you find inspiration, or simply be a way to survive until you become a world-famous artist.

Attributes: Strength +1, Dexterity +1, Constitution +2, Intelligence +3, Wisdom +2, Charisma +4 Perception: +9; Low-Light Vision Skills: Acrobatics +1, Arcana +10, Athletics +1, Crafting +12, Intimidation +11, Lore: Art +10, Nature +9, Occultism +12, Religion +9, Society +10, Stealth +8, Survival +9

AC: 18 (Unarmored); Fortitude: +9, Reflex: +8, Will: +11 HP: 58; Resistances: Physical 4 Speed: 25 ft. Ranged Weapon: Dragon Mouth Pistol, Double-Barreled Musket Melee Weapon: Stiletto Pen

Class: Oracle Your conduit to divine power eschews the traditional channels of prayer and servitude—you instead glean divine truths that extend beyond any single deity. You understand the great mysteries of the universe embodied in overarching concepts that transcend good and evil or chaos and law, whether because you perceive the common ground across multiple deities or circumvent their power entirely. You explore one of these mysteries and draw upon its power to cast miraculous spells, but that power comes with a terrible price: a curse that grows stronger the more you draw upon it. Your abilities are a double-edged sword, which you might uphold as an instrument of the divine or view as a curse from the gods. Mystery: Cosmos Celestial bodies great and small exert influence on you, giving you sublime cosmic power. Perhaps you see the glittering stars as a divine blessing, or perhaps you feel drawn to the infinitely dark spaces between. You might uphold deities like Desna, Sarenrae, or the deific lovers Shizuru and Tsukiyo who represent the sun and the moon—or you might draw power from dark entities from beyond the stars, like certain Outer Gods, or destructive gods of the night like Zon-Kuthon or the rat goddess Lao Shu Po. Mystery Benefit: Your body is as much an astronomical one as it is physical. You gain resistance equal to 2 + half your level against all physical damage. Mystery Cantrip: Dancing Lights; Revelation Spell: Spray of Stars Mystery Domain: Darkness; Domain Spell: Cloak of Shadow

Oracular Curse: Curse of the Sky's Call You have your head in the clouds—and not just figuratively. Your body is drawn toward the heavens, making you lighter and less substantial than you should be. Your eyes glow with starry light, and your hair and clothing float and drift around you. Minor Curse: Your unnatural lightness makes it hard to keep your footing and interact with other physical objects. You are enfeebled 1 and take a –2 penalty to saves and DCs against Grapple, Shove, and other forms of forced movement. Moderate Curse: Your body is drawn further skyward. You are enfeebled 2, and the penalty from your minor curse increases to –3. You are treated as one size smaller for wind effects. You gain a +2 status bonus against Trip attempts, you only take half as much damage from falls, and you gain the effects of the Powerful Leap and Quick Jump skill feats. You weigh only half as much, and your Bulk, should someone need to carry you, is also half as much. Major Curse: As your body rises, you float just above the ground beneath you. You become enfeebled 4, and the penalty from your minor curse increases to –4. You can walk on liquids as if they were solid; you gain the effects of the Cloud Jump skill feat; and you don't leave tracks, trigger weight-sensitive pressure plates, or otherwise connect with the ground below you.

Other Oracle Features Domain Acumen (Additional Domain: Moon, Domain Spell: Moonbeam), Glean Lore, Revelation Spells, Signature Spells

Divine Spells 3rd: Holy Light, Scrying Ripples 2nd: Radiant Field, Fear the Sun 1st: Breadcrumbs, Command, Bane Cantrips: Illuminate, Light, Message, Void Warp, Divine Lance

Human Feats: Gloomseer, Haughty Obstinacy General Feats: Fast Recovery, Weapon Proficiency Skill Feats: Arcane Sense, Magical Crafting, Specialty Crafting

---

Jesse Faden, Summoner 5

Ancestry: Human, Heritage: Versatile Background: Otherworldly Mission You're called to serve a specific purpose—your deity told you so, and so it must be true. Maybe you grew up knowing all along, or maybe it came to you one day in a vision, clear as a bell and twice as loud. You have some task that only you can accomplish. You mission might be as dangerous as killing a deadly tyrant or as simple as opening a particular door on a particular day. Once per adventure, you can ask the voice you believe to be a deity for orders and get some kind of instruction—you never get any kind of explanation, simply a command to go somewhere or do something. Following those commands isn't always safe, but it's usually interesting.

Attributes: Strength +1, Dexterity +3, Constitution +1, Intelligence +2, Wisdom +2, Charisma +4 Perception: +11 (+2 initiative) Skills: Acrobatics +10, Arcana +9, Athletics +8, Crafting +9, Intimidation +11, Occultism +11, Religion +9, Society +9, Stealth +10, Survival +9

AC: 20 (Unarmored); Fortitude: +10, Reflex: +10, Will: +11 HP: 63; Speed: 30 ft. Ranged Weapon: Pepperbox

Class: Summoner You can magically beckon a powerful being called an eidolon to your side, serving as the mortal conduit that anchors it to the world. Whether your eidolon is a friend, a servant, or even a personal god, your connection to it marks you as extraordinary, shaping the course of your life dramatically. Focus Spells: Boost Eidolon, Evolution Surge Eidolon Type: Construct; Tradition: Arcane, Home Plane: Astral Plane Evolution Feat: Energy Heart; Energy Type: Sonic Your eidolon is a mental construct based on an astral thoughtform and given physical presence and life by its connection to you, its shape limited only by your imagination. Your eidolon's appearance and physical form vary based on your shared vision for its construction, from clockworks to stuffed dolls and everything between, and it's not uncommon for that appearance to change greatly as your construct gains evolutions. Because it arises from an astral entity, your construct is no mindless servitor, but a fully thinking being with its own ideas, goals, and even emotions. These entities are extremely diverse; while many construct eidolons come from a powerful symbiotic connection with astral denizens, just as many arise from the forgotten memories of ancient empires and craftworks drifting across the Silver Sea of the Astral Plane.

Other Summoner Features Act Together, Link Spells, Manifest Eidolon, Share Senses, Shared Vigilance, Unlimited Signature Spells, Meld Into Eidolon, Defend Summoner

Arcane Spells 3rd: Levitate, Haste 2nd: Telekinetic Maneuver, Dancing Shield, Fleet Step (Heightened +1) Cantrips: Telekinetic Projectile, Phase Bolt, Read Aura, Warp Step, Telekinetic Hand

Human Feats: Clever Improviser, General Training General Feats: Fleet, Incredible Initiative, Untrained Improvisation, Weapon Proficiency Skill Feats: Skill Training (Athletics), Streetwise

---

I didn't do archetypes or multiclasses to keep it simple, but in the absence of 2e mythic adventures and origins (though they will be arriving soon), and since these babies are Very Special, I'd probably use it as a limited secondary leveling-up system with a bit more power (instead of archetype feats replacing class feats or alternating classes one level at at time).

Example:

If I did a multiclass for Saga, it would be Interrogation Investigator, and probably the Psychic Duelist archetype. Also, godlings are from 1e, but if the shoe fits....

If I did a multiclass for Alan, it would be Enigma Bard (less "people person" charisma and more "force of personality" charisma), and maybe with the Shadowdancer archetype as well (less "you choose the shadows" and more "the shadows choose you"). Or maybe even the Curse Maelstrom archetype...

If I did a multiclass for Jesse, it would be Spellshot Gunslinger, and then the Pactbinder or Living Vessel archetype (or both!) for sure.

Also: I need to finish QB for real before I do Jack, but I think he'd be another Oracle, for the Time Mystery, and Chronoskimmer or Time Mage for an archetype. Which means it's Oops All Charisma Classes so far.

[stupidsexynonbinaryperson]

I said in a post earlier that duskblade is the bees knees. The question is, of course, why? "Faux-Grognard", you may be asking "how is this different to any other gish, and why is it better than pathfinder's magus, which is literally the same class?". You might also be asking what a gish is. For the uninitiated into the cult of feeling special, a gish is just any character or class that hits stuff and casts spells. Generally arcane spells, so that we can exclude clerics so they can remain healbots forever and paladins because they suck. For the 5e audience, eldritch knight and bladesinger are both attempts to make a gish, one of which succeeds far better than the other. Oh and I guess swords bard, but that isn't particularly relevant to this discussion.

Characters that fight and wield magic are sort of a staple of dnd. Back in B/X, we had elves. Not as good as casting as a cleric, although they did get up to 5th level spells, and got their spellcasting before them, but were limited in other ways (level maximums, ability score requirements, xp required to level up).

The complete elf handbook for AD&D 2e is where, I believe, we get the idea of the bladesinger from, an elf capable of fighting and casting with a musical theme.

3e/3.5 comes along, and there is an explosion of caster options. Half-casters, full casters, gishes, arcane casters, divine casters, not-a-casters. Magic was the thing to do. Bladesinger becomes a prestige class, and there is also the spellsword prestige class.

All of these suck compared to duskblade.

I know nothing of 4e, so I'm skipping it. As any person interested in previous editions should. You want to make things boring in the name of balance? Go play pf2e, it's probably better and goblins don't have 29 hp.

On release, 5e lacks a gish class which isn't a subclass. That's find, so did every edition except B/X. It also lacked an arcane half caster. Sure there was warlock, but that's not a half caster really, and they changed it from being an intelligence class to a charisma class because a bunch of people got their knickers a twist and didn't read the new flavour, and complained about it. And now everyone, wrongly, believes that all you need to be a lawyer is to be persuasive.

So, rather than talk about what makes duskblade so cool and epic, let's first talk about people's regrettable introduction to the concept of gishes. In all fairness, eldritch fighter is pretty good. Actually it is the most gish of the gish options in 5e. Way to go! Bladesinger, however, is a stain. Now, you may argue that like how eldritch knight is a bit more fighting but not as magic, bladesinger is more magic than it is fighty. But that is kind of an issue. See, when it comes down to it, gishes aren't good casters. Primary casting isn't their role, gishes do damage. Bladesinger, played optimally, has no reason to go to the frontline. And that sucks. All of its features are defence orientated, to make up for the lack of defence options on a wizard. But a lack of defence is part of the balance of the class, always has been and always should be. If you want better defence, you should be forced to give something up. But bladesinger allows you to bypass that. This just incentivises playing a wizard with an AC higher than a martials, rather than playing a character in the front line.

Now, back to duskblade. Duskblade is the gish to end all other gish options. Full base attack bonus, same as fighter and other martial classes, as expected. The rare intelligence based spontaneous casting, which is kind of expected on a class not meant to be a primary caster. It retains the flavour of being made by elves- many gish based options are usually tied to them. A d8 hit die which isn't great but not terrible. Light and medium armour proficiency. You can't actually wear medium armour until later levels due to arcane failure chance, but regardless.

Duskblade, however, does everything right. It's key ability, the class gimmick, is being able to channel melee spells through a weapon of your choice, and having a shit ton of spell slots to do it with.

I do mean a shit ton of spell slots, by the way.

You do also get the ability to ignore arcane spell failure chance, which is pretty standard for gish classes and prestige classes in 3.5. The rest of the abilities aren't so great, but duskblade is an amazing chassis to make a gish build. It does lack splatbook support, so its spell list is fairly limited, but it has some great options. Did you know that dimension hop is a melee spell, and doesn't require consent from the person effected to work?

Most of duskblade's spell list are offensive, damage dealing spells. A lot of them are melee spells. But it also gives a good amount of non-offensive combat options, to help you get into position, position others, or hit more reliably (true strike gives a +20 insight bonus to your next attack).

Duskblade also has full caster level, which means your spells remain viable throughout the campaign. So while they may be of a lower level, they are as effective as a wizard casting a spell of the same level. A lot of gish options don't do this.

PF1e gave magus, the system's legally distinct duskblade, access to 6th level spell slots, but with less spell slots overall. That is, I suppose, fine. Just not to my tastes.

Anyway, the only reason why they made artificer is because eberron is popular. Duskblade would have made a much better arcane half caster for 5e, and there are a bunch of options for subclasses to choose from. A few, from the top of my head, is a general spellsword subclass, for the basic "standard" subclass choice. Jade Phoenix Mage for focusing on more damage. And yoink bladesinger from wizard and put it pretty much as is, with some minor adjustments, on duskblade. More defensive orientated, but not egregious as you have given up access to 9th level spells and such.

You should probably reduce the amount of spell slots given, though.

[literalliterature]

God help me but I have a new OC. She is my first long-term PF2e character and is a Ganzi and I think the chaos magic means she gets to be fantasy radioactive. And I am of course not normal about her. <3

[ID: A drawing showing a bust of a young woman, who is casting magic in the form of a neon green ball of light with particles shooting off and around it. Half of her body is dark-skinned, while the other half is purple and slightly melty. She has a light purple eye on one side of her face and two green eyes on the other, one of which has an extra pupil. Her hair is textured and black with a couple of green streaks. Her hand has 6 fingers; the opposite arm is gel-like, and her bones can be seen through it. She wears a hot pink vest with a fur lining and a black choker with a yellow tag on it that has the radioactivity symbol. She grins intensely. End ID.]

[thecreaturecodex]

Skull Peeler

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[The skull peeler from PF2e's Bestiary 3 is a monster I wanted to like, but enough stuff bugged me about it that the version published isn't my favorite. For one thing, it supposedly is a specialist on sauropod dinosaurs, but as a CR 6 versus a CR 10 (at least) seems a little steep. It's described as being explicitly a "naturally evolved creature", but a mammal with insect wings doesn't strike me as something that can be claimed to be naturalistic, even for fantasy world evolution. Lastly, the slow speed and the excellent camouflage make me think it was originally intended to be a sloth monster, and got changed to a monkey monster at some point in development. I have made a number of tweaks to the mechanics and flavor text alike in order to bring it to my admittedly persnickety standards.]

Skull Peeler CR 6 N Magical Beast This creature looks like a monkey except for its translucent butterfly wings. Its forelimbs have oversized claws, and it has a long tongue studded with razor blades.

Skull peelers look cute, but their behavior is anything but. Skull peelers are predators of the canopy, feeding on birds, monkeys, lizards and browsing megafauna. A skull peeler will attack a giraffe, elephant or even sauropod dinosaur from ambush, tearing into its face and neck with razor sharp claws and a bladed tongue. Even if the prey survives the initial assault, it often bleeds to death from the creature’s supernaturally anticoagulant saliva. The skull peeler then lives up to its name, tearing off its victim’s head to eat the fleshy cheeks and the fatty brain. Skull peelers can go a long time between meals, and rarely descend to the forest floor to feed on the rest of the corpse. Scavengers and kleptoparasites tend to feed well in areas inhabited by a skull peeler.

Skull peelers are native to the First World, but have escaped onto the Material Plane through portals and the intervention of mortals and fey alike. Fey creatures and gnomes can often coax a skull peeler to remain in a particular area, but otherwise they are undomesticable, being semi-sapient in their own right. The combination of adorable appearance and vicious temper makes them popular as trophies and guardians by crime lords or rulers of a crueler bent. Skull peelers are notorious escape artists, however, and are adept at escaping into the wild and taking up residence in unexpected habitats.

Skull Peeler CR 6 XP 2,400 N Small magical beast (extraplanar) Init +8; Senses low-light vision, Perception +8

Defense AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+1 size, +4 Dex, +4 natural) hp 66 (7d10+32) Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +5

Offense Speed 20 ft., climb 15 ft., fly 15 ft. (average) Melee 2 claws +13 (1d4+5), tongue +13 (2d4+5 plus bleed) Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with tongue) Special Attacks anticoagulant, bleed (1d4), giantslayer, sneak attack +1d6

Statistics Str 20, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 5, Wis 16, Cha 13 Base Atk +7; CMB +11; CMD 25 (29 vs. trip) Feats Acrobatic, Improved Initiative, Stealthy, Toughness Skills Acrobatics +10 (+6 jumping), Climb +17, Escape Artist +7, Fly +12, Perception +8, Stealth +13 (+17 in vegetation); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth in vegetation Languages Sylvan (cannot speak) SQ fragrant, freeze (vegetation)

Ecology Environment warm and temperate forests (First World) Organization solitary or pair Treasure incidental

Special Abilities Anticoagulant (Su) Bleed dealt by a skull peeler requires a DC 21 Heal check to stop with mundane methods. Anyone using a healing spell to stop the bleed must succeed a DC 16 caster level check or the bleed persists. Fragrant (Ex) A skull peeler smells like vegetation as well as looking like vegetation. Creatures with the scent special ability must succeed a Perception check against the skull peeler’s Stealth check -10 to recognize the presence of a creature within their scent radius. Giantslayer (Ex) A skull peeler deals an extra +1d6 points of damage with its sneak attack for every size category larger the creature is than the skull peeler. Tongue (Ex) The tongue of a skull peeler is treated as a primary natural weapon that deals slashing damage.