Howdy, I'm looking for advice on building a 2e character that has the general capabilities of the 1e Questioner. It's essentially a hybrid of bard and investigator.

The problem I'm having is ability scores. No matter which class I choose, I'm struggling to fit the two together because of ability score requirements.

Im aware of palatine detective, but it doesn't scale well and was nerfed by the recent changes to resist all. So I'm not really considering it atm.

How would you build a character like this? Main class? Ancestry?

DISCLAIMER: I am seeing an allergist, and will be speaking to them about this, I just want to know other's experiences. I am not currently in danger, and have taken antihistamines for any mild reactions.

Then

About 10 years ago, when I was a teenager, I had a hives one morning and severe abdominal pain that lasted for several days. My parents got me an appointment with doctor immediately. I got some blood tests for allergies, and lo and behold, I was allergic to dairy.

Over the next year and a half, I was diagnosed with allergies to soy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and egg. I tried seeing an allergist, but never could get my primary care doctor to comply, and when I finally did get a referral, it was a several hour drive, that my family was unable to make.

Now

Recently I saw an allergist for the first time, and got skin tests. The environmental test was BAD, was pretty much allergic to everything. However, the food test was almost completely negative. There were signs of reaction to 3 foods that I hardly eat. (mushroom, ginger, barley)

I spoke with my allergist, and she said I could try to slowly reintroduce the foods I'd been avoiding all these years. I decided to try eggs first.

First time eating eggs was fine. I felt nothing, and seemed okay. Second time, I had tingling and itching in my face, though I chalked that up to being too close to my cats (to which I'm allergic.) Thought I'd try one more time, to confirm that the last reaction wasn't the eggs, and it happened again.

I dealt with the reaction by taking antihistamines, and will cease eating the eggs. It was a very mild reaction. I've never had a significant reaction, outside of peanuts and dairy, but I still wont continue to risk my health by trying again.

Why make a post?

I wanted to see if anyone else has had similar experiences, where their tests come back negative, but they still react to something, and whether or not the doctor's advice is par for the course?

I'm emotionally exhausted by all of this. I got my hopes up only to have everything come crashing back down. I feel like I've been cheated by the universe. I hate having to buy expensive alternative foods, and prepare meals on my own.

I thought that maybe all of the struggle was over, but now I feel a sense of crushing despair at it all.

I feel lied too, and like the test was pointless.

Assuming that access to the weapon is solved with an ancestry feat (Human or Tengu), which class has the most support for the hook sword? By that I mean, which class gets the most out of tripping and striking multiple times in a turn?

• Monk
• Ranger (flurry)
• Exemplar
• Fighter
• Rogue (ruffian)

Each of these has some amount of dual wielding capability and the ability to key strength. What I'm unsure of is the unique build paths that are open to each?

(BTW, does tripping count as attacking for the purposes of the twin trait?)

Howdy, about 3.5 years ago, I was put on Abilify to manage depression and anxiety that wasn't responding to other medications. I was on Abilify for 3 years when another doctor mentioned I'd gained 50lbs since starting it. So I decided to ask my psychiatrist to taper off of it because it was making me feel numb anyway.

The initial tapering process was amazing. I felt the best I had in years. I was genuinely happy. I went from 7.5 mg to 0mg in about 2 months. About a week or two after the last dose, it started going downhill fast.

I had assumed I was just relapsing and kept spiraling. After 2 months, I had to call my doctor and have him reinstate the medication at 2mg.

My mood had become extremely unstable, and I was consumed with negative thoughts. For context, I have formally diagnosed ADHD and non-diagnosed OCD symptoms. The intrusive thoughts were worse than ever and all consuming. My concentration was also very terrible, even on atomoxetine. Oh, and I began having severe restless legs.

I've tapered off of effexor in the past, and I thought those were the kind of withdrawal symptoms to expect, but now I suspect that it was Abilify withdrawal that caused those issues.

After starting the medication again, I felt great for about a week and a half. Now, I'm starting to feel anxious again, both mentally and physically.

I'm unsure if I should ask for 5mg and try to ease the anxiety or taper off much more slowly instead.

Anyways, does this sound like abilify withdrawal? Does it ever get better?

Preamble

Recently I've been thinking about thrown weapons' place in the system. They're an interesting compromise between melee and ranged damage and provide excellent versatility assuming it's a melee weapon to begin with.

For the purpose of this post, I'm specifically referring to a single weapon you throw repeatedly, not a build that uses a thrower's bandolier. To narrow it down even further, I want to keep the discussion to the starknife.

I've excluded Exemplar because it seems to be most people's default answer for a throwing build, but I'm not very fond of the flavor of the class, nor the their mechanics for throwing builds,and don't think it would fit at my table.

I've considered several options, but I'd like to narrow it down to one. I also would like to hear from anyone with actual experience playing these types of characters.

Option 1 - Champion (Justice)

Pros:

• Ranged Reactions with Nimble Reprisal
• Free Returning rune that, per Errata, doesn't count against total runes
• Good defensive options
• Focus spells for healing, utility, or damage
• Good damage options at levels 6+ (Smite, Blessed Counterstrike, etc)
• Expand Aura for increasing reaction range

Cons:

• No damage boost at earliest levels
• only Justice benefits from thrown/ranged weapons
• CHA focused features are MAD

Option 2 - Swashbuckler

Pros:

• Flying Blade allows for finishers at range
• Many ranged debuff options (Demoralize + Antagonize, or Enjoy the show)
• Can drop CHA entirely with right Style (Battledancer + Acrobatic Performer)
• Great Skill progression
• High Maneuverability
• +1 to bravado actions

Cons:

• No ranged reactions without an archetype

• Defensively Average

• CHA focused styles can be MAD

Option 3 - Thaumaturge

Pros:

• 10ft Ranged Reaction with weapon implement
• Early access to ranged off-guard (Divine Disharmony)
• Good flat damage boosts (Empowerment, or Adept Regalia)
• Plentiful Utility options (Scrolls, Diverse Lore, and Talismans)
• Feats are less build defining, good for archetypes

Cons:

• CHA key ability & MAD
• No free hands
• Tight action economy
• Lower Hitpoints

Honorable Mentions

• Precision Ranger (far shot + hunter's aim)
• Investigator
• Mastermind Rogue (Strong arm + Analyze Weakness)
• Starlit Span Magus
• Weapon Familiarity Monk (Human + unconventional weaponry)

Dishonorable Mentions

• Barbarian (Raging Thrower)
• Bard (Warrior)
• Cleric (Warpriest)
• Wizard (War Mage archetype)
• Inventor (Weapon Innovation)

Final Thoughts

All of these options are assuming no free-archetype. The considerations would change considerably given the option to mix and match. That's why I didn't really delve into archetypes. However, archetyping is still an option I'm willing to consider.

Anyways, I'd love to discuss what you all think are the best options for such a concept.

I've been theorycrafting a dragonscaled kobold ruffian rogue and I realized that, despite their power, I'm not that fond of rogue's feats with a few exceptions at very late levels.

I understand that rogue has an amazing kit, and the feats really build upon that fantasy, but I also feel like I don't want "more of the same."

I recently wrapped up a free archetype 1-20 Adventure Path alongside a rogue who went all in on damage and medicine. Their character was extremely potent, and made encounters a breeze. However at the end of it all, their character had the least variety between turns.

What archetypes, not assuming free archetype, would you pair with the following? (Any other tips you have would be great too!)

Level 1

Heritage/Ancestry: Dragonscaled Kobold
Background: Warrior
Class/Subclass: Rogue (Ruffian)
Abilities:
Str: +4 Dex: +1 Con: +2 Int: +0 Wis: +0 Cha: +2
Feat (Ancestry): Kobold Weapon Familiarity
Feat (Class): You're Next!
Feat (Skill): Titan Wrestler
Feat (Background): Intimidating Glare
Skills (Trained): Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Diplomacy, Intimidation, Lore: Warfare, Performance, Society, Stealth, Survival, Thievery
Equipment: Pick, Lattice Armor, Adventure's Pack
Notes: Pick will be replaced with a Tricky Pick as soon as possible.

Context

Until a couple nights ago, I had been daily driving Fedora on my main desktop PC for more than a year and a half. I wanted to migrate to PikaOS after trying it on my laptop, but never took that leap until a failed update started cause a myriad of problems. So I relocated my data, and installed PikaOS.

When I installed Pika, I made sure to separate my home directory into it's own partition. I also made sure to use the MSI compatibility fix in the installer because of my motherboard.

Issue(s)

I used a noise suppression app on Fedora called Noisetorch. Unfortunately it stopped functioning on Fedora, and doesn't function to begin with on PikaOS. I switched to Easy Effects instead. I tried the both the Flatpak, and included version in the repos. Both have separate issues.

The flatpak works fine, at first, but then gets static-y and muffled over time, and sometimes just cuts out entirely.

The repo version doesn't pick up my mic audio unless another program is actively using my mic.

What I've tried

I scoured github, reddit, and distro specific forums looking for anyone with the same issues, but came up empty.

I checked my Pipewire version, and it seems to be behind other distros, but up to date enough for Easy Effects. The version is 1.6.4

Sidenote, the installation feels a bit sluggish, and I'm unsure why. For example, icons take longer to load in my file explorer.

System Details

Software

OS: PikaOS 4

DE: KDE 6.5.4

Kernel: 7.02-pikaos

Graphics Platform: Wayland

Hardware

CPU: Ryzen 7 5700X3D

Memory: 32 GB at 3200

GPU: XFX Radeon RX 6800

Mobo: MSI MEG X570 UNIFY

Audio interface: Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 mk2

EDIT: Formatting