I have been DMing PF1 since it was published, and I go back to AD&D2. I’ve played a little 5e and don’t really care for it, and lots of other games. But I’m not deep into mechanics like some people on this sub, so I’ve got a question for you:

What, really, is it about D&D 3.5/PF1 that necessitates players amassing an arsenal of magical items? The system doesn’t really work great for low magic, because I understand the assumption is that every class is augmented with magic bonuses as they level, and players expect that they’ll have access to more or less whatever they want, as long as they have the money, no matter how little sense a magical emporium makes in the game world.

This doesn’t really seem to be the case in D&D 5e, where magical items are a fun bonus that players might come across. It doesn’t seem nearly as essential that they be able to buy them with gold, and the DM seems to have more freedom to sprinkle them around as quest rewards or a way to add color and lore, and players might reasonably be less impatient about not finding a magic shop in every village.

Am I way off here, and if not, what is it about the game, specifically, that causes this?

Iirc they removed or changed them for 2e so i was wondering if you guys preferred them

For me i like having them as they allow you to have more out there concepts and specialize more.

Like black fire adept for summoning evil monsters or eldritch knight for a well, magic knight

Today's magic item is the  Hag's Shabble

+2 to Diplomacy and Intimdate, though people are likely to think you worship Gyronna. Different Strokes for different folks? Let's just look up Gyronna here...

>Spend at least 30 minutes working to make another sentient creature’s life measurably worse or more miserable, whether by destroying its property, sabotaging its efforts, or afflicting it magically. Your victim must survive this encounter, but your actions can indirectly lead to its death, such as tainting a plague-ridden man’s medicine or stealing the money a woman would use to pay back a loan.

Eh, it's probably fine. But if you do worship Gyronna, you can also Detect Thoughts once a day, so you can hear everyone's "Please leave me alone. Please leave me alone..."

1. Would you buy this item?
2. Would you spend 1.5 times the price to add it to an existing item?
3. Would you use the item, if you found it? Or is it immediate sell-bait?
4. Would a GM use the item?
5. Is there anything cheesy that could be done with it?

Link to past discussions

Hey it's been a while since i came to ask for build ideas, Ive been here before and the latest build suggested (a swash/phantom blade) did survive many sessions in the hardcore Gestalt temple of elemental evil (ad&d) port i'm playing, but the other sesion he met his fate at the hands of a Fey which seemed fitting due to his backstory.

I have the backstory and the stats or the new pc but don't know what to build,i want him to go unarmed, the character has a prosthesis arm (already talked to the Dm and due to a npc/hook in the story i'll be able to just pay the materials for an arm) it can be a clockwork prosthesis or a graft from 3.5 book of vile darkness.

The character is a kayden caylean follower (i think thats how u spell it, sorry if not), he is a pugilist first and foremost, Chaotic Good, he is based in Tom Hardy and old classic boxers, he likes booze, cigars, and card games..... And femboys from iblydos

The stats rolled are 16-16-16-15-13-6.

Starting gold is 26k.

Lvl8 ,all paizo(including vampire hunter and omdura) and 3.5 paizo content.

Resta of the party is a white haired witch/iron ring strike magus, a fighter/ sword binder wizard and a karma Umonk/Urogue specialized in disable device.

I really don't know what to build, thought brawler/vampire hunter, or free style Master fighter/ any scaling unarmed damage .archetype/class. Please refrain from the monk cleric- monk druid suggestions. Sorry for the Bad English (English is not My mother tongue) and long post. Thanks

EDIT: homebrew/3pp is allowed under dm approval

I wanted to create a Vampire NPC Big Bad that likes to do "her business" in "her office," which is doing the tango on the ballroom floor, in the open, where everyone can see her, but still be none the wiser.

Human Vampire, Mesmerist 1 (Autohypnotist, Vexing Trickster), Bard 1, Sleepless Detective 1, Witch (Seducer) 13, Mythic 1.

Vampire Feats:

Alertness, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness

Skill Feats:

Alertness (thru familiar), Deceitful, Deceitful (Mythic)

Magical Feats:

Conceal Spell, Improved Conceal Spell

Class-related Feats:

Extra Hex, Improved Familiar (Rakshasa, Raktavarna), Accursed Hex, Amplified Hex, Split Hex

Combat Feat:

Osyluth Guile

Witch Options:

Patron: Enchantment

Hexes:

Cackle (from Cackling Hag's Blouse) (disguised so as not to be loose-fitting or grotesque)

Charm (mandated by Seducer)

Evil Eye (Note: does not stack with Mesmerist's Hypnotic Stare when applied to will saves, but can be used to decrease ability checks)

Misfortune or Peacebound

Slumber

Major Hexes:

False Hospitality (may be swappable, since bard level means she can cast glibness from scrolls)

Weather Control (also swappable, but is there for flavor when a gal has to go out for a day in the town)

Bard Options:

Pageant of the Peacock

So, here's where it gets ugly for the players.

When she dances, she can use Pageant of the Peacock, she can substitute Bluff for any Int based check and Int based skill check.

Skills she can substitute Bluff for include:

Appraise, Craft (alchemy), Diplomacy, Knowledge checks, Linguistics, Perception, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device.

Her bonus to bluff is:

16 ranks

+3 class skill

+12 Cha Mod (maxed out charisma for epic point buy + human = 20, +4 vampire, +6 headband, +4 leveling

+1 from Mesmerist

+8 racial bonus from vampire

+6 from deceitful/mythic

+5 competence from Rod of Beguiling

+20 from glibness

+4 from the dance itself

Can use mythic power to nat 20.

Which means a 95, but also gets to add Int (+7) for those Sleepless Detective Skills, so probably 102 for Int based skills and skills turned into Int-modified skills. ...I think.

Doesn't include additional bonuses, such as morale bonuses, assistance from the vampire music crew (if I add mastermind template to vampire), if any of them are bards...

But it seems like the skill checks options are all better than trying to use Witch Hexes and Vampire Dominate, which a save would make sure any gig is up.

Any thoughts on different approaches to get players to flirt with the dark side?

Edit to add:

Forgot Pragmatic Activator and Bruising Intellect, adding UMD and Intimidate, which was Cha, now Int, now Bluffed (Cha again).

Pretty much as the title says. Playing in a 1E game, and since I need to make a new character anyway, I figured I'd leave (desktop) Hero Lab behind and slim down to my iPad. What character sheets have you used that you liked? New character is going to be a bard, so something that handles spells and buffs well is a must.

I am a level 15 monk who just turned LE. Now, I don't want to get my alignment exposed by angels, who control two main portals. So, while browsing magic items, I realised that you could cover the Ring of Mind Shielding in a one-inch layer of lead to block out any detect magic on the ring. Now I want that because the angels are experienced and would check for that, especially with the devil invasion going on.

So I wanted to know if this would work, and do I need to have skin-to-skin contact with the ring, because it is magical and can probably know when it's on my finger. I could also tell the magic item creator to leave the inside of the ring exposed so it would still work on me, while being undetectable by others and looking like a mundane item. I might even get it a gold covering afterwards to cover the one-inch lead film

I recently set out to find where I could get all the first edition books that contain the classes/archetypes/prestige classes (including the Vampire Hunter and the Omdura), but I’m having a really hard time, so I’m asking for help from the folks in this wonderful subreddit. I know there are D20PFSRD and Archives of Nethys, but I’d like to have those files in physical form at home or digitally on my computer, and I’m not sure if the files from D20PFSRD can be downloaded. I really need some help here, and I’d greatly appreciate any assistance.

Thanks for reading, and good luck with the dice!

Edit: spelling corrections

A party member just drew from the deck of many things and got the sun card. I want the item given to be themed to the character. He is a flame oracle blackened curse. CE aligned pyromaniac. What powerfull fire themed magic item could be given that will be usable for majority of the campaign?

Any thoughts on items that would be useful would be great

How do you manage multiple books at once? We play in person and I've usually got three to four books open at once for reference. I'm getting tired of not having any space behind my screen, it makes it harder to check or write notes as a start.

One of my players just sent me a link to a laptop stand that attaches to the side of the table and I'm tempted,I just don't know what other options people might have experience with.

A follow-up to the previous blog post I linked to a bit back. Sorry for the intrusive ads on the site. I am trying to figure out how to remove the more obnoxious ones or possibly moving off of Blogger altogether.

Hi everyone! I'm building a level 5 Goblin Unchained Rogue (with the Swashbuckler and Scout archetypes) focused on two handed fighting for a stealth-heist themed oneshot (but it doesn't have to be focused on that, I may have to reuse this character in the future).

TLDR: I created a traditional goblin weapon using the appropriate rules and used the Swashbuckler archetype combined to the Military Tradition alternative racial trait to gain proficiency with the weapon.

Apart from this, I don't know what to build: the weapon is two handed, but I didn't decide anything else, the only requirement is that I don't want the weapon to have reach (I already had enough recent combat reflexes and reach weapon shenanigans).

I really don't know around what to build the character. The most useful rogue talents I found are Fast Stealth, Surprise Attack, Slow Reactions. One feat I find interesting is Shadow's Shroud.

EDIT: I added the level, it's 5
EDIT 2: GM approved the weapon, don't worry

Just a heads up that we've kicked off our Fall Clearance sale! Save up to 70% on Pathfinder First Edition and Miniatures, but there are savings available for Pathfinder and Starfinder Second Edition as well. For more details, check out the new store blog.

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Today's magic item is the Coldfire Wrappings

I was waiting for the post to show up, only to take an hour to remember I was supposed to be posting it today... Today we have a body slot item that's really just a potion in a trenchcoat! Everyone loves Fire Shield, right? Right?... Anyone?

1. Would you buy this item?
2. Would you spend 1.5 times the price to add it to an existing item?
3. Would you use the item, if you found it? Or is it immediate sell-bait?
4. Would a GM use the item?
5. Is there anything cheesy that could be done with it?

Link to past discussions

If you use Feral Combat Training to use your Bite or Gore on a Character without other Natural Weapons to make multiple Attacks during Flurry (instead of Unarmed Strikes), do these Attacks apply the full Strength Bonus or 1-1/2 Strength Bonus to Damage?

The Universal Monster Rules aren't quite clear on that, since they use the Term Natural Attack instead of Natural Weapon and also say:

>If a creature has only one natural attack, it is always made using the creature’s full base attack bonus and adds 1-1/2 times the creature’s Strength bonus to damage rolls.

Also, considering the Language, wouldn't this mean, that during Flurry every Attack would be made at full BAB?

A few years ago I asked about a Living Grimoire Bloodmarked with a build idea. Well, I've been thinking about such a character and wanted to ask you lovely folks about the following basic parameters and see what y'all say. This time it is set in Ruins of Azlant and I am aware that one would need to find a way to deal with the underwater portions. This is not necessarily optimized, but just a fun character idea.

Race: Skinwalker Bloodmarked

Trait: Fight with the Flock

Class: Inquisitor, Living Grimoire Archetype

Inquisition: Reformation (?) or Restoration

Free Feat Tax: Weapon Finnesse

Throw them at me (again, I know it's not optimized, just a query to the community. Also was not sure of what query to give).