Looking for feedback on house rules
-
There are a few mechanics in PF2E that I feel are either unbalanced or not fun and I've come up with band-aids for them. Would love to hear what others think about these ideas and other ways to approach them.
Character Creation
Extra Ability Skill Bonus
Choose one ability. All trained skills based on that ability receive a minimum ability bonus of +4 regardless of your actual ability score. Note that in order for skills to qualify for this bonus, they must be a core part of your character concept and background. The motivation for this is to allow character concepts that are too MAD (e.g. the Warpriest who can deliver a compelling sermon or the Dwarven Barbarian who is a skilled blacksmith).
Combat
Increased spell damage
All damaging spells add the caster’s key ability to damage for one of the targets (chosen by the caster). This effect occurs only when all targets of the spell are within half of the spell’s range. This is intended to:
- Increase the viability of many underutilized spells and cantrips
- Improve caster damage at low levels
- Introduce an additional tactical trade-off (do I get with 3 hexes of the ogre in order to do more damage to it).
Increased ranged weapon damage
All ranged attacks add half of the attacker’s Dexterity to damage as long as all targets are within half of the weapon’s range increment. This does not stack with the Propulsive trait.
Spell balance
Daze
You push into the target's mind and daze it with a mental jolt. The jolt deals 1 mental damage, with a basic Will save. If the target fails the save, it is also stunned 1. It is stunned 2 if it critically fails. Heightened (+1) The damage increases by 1.
Feats
Assurance
Fortune, General, Skill Prerequisites: trained in at least one skill Even in the worst circumstances, you can perform basic tasks. Choose a skill you’re trained in. Once per ten minutes you can roll two dice and use the higher roll (do not apply any other bonuses, penalties, or modifiers). Special: You can select this feat multiple times. Each time, choose a different skill and gain the benefits for that skill.
-
There are a few mechanics in PF2E that I feel are either unbalanced or not fun and I've come up with band-aids for them. Would love to hear what others think about these ideas and other ways to approach them.
Character Creation
Extra Ability Skill Bonus
Choose one ability. All trained skills based on that ability receive a minimum ability bonus of +4 regardless of your actual ability score. Note that in order for skills to qualify for this bonus, they must be a core part of your character concept and background. The motivation for this is to allow character concepts that are too MAD (e.g. the Warpriest who can deliver a compelling sermon or the Dwarven Barbarian who is a skilled blacksmith).
Combat
Increased spell damage
All damaging spells add the caster’s key ability to damage for one of the targets (chosen by the caster). This effect occurs only when all targets of the spell are within half of the spell’s range. This is intended to:
- Increase the viability of many underutilized spells and cantrips
- Improve caster damage at low levels
- Introduce an additional tactical trade-off (do I get with 3 hexes of the ogre in order to do more damage to it).
Increased ranged weapon damage
All ranged attacks add half of the attacker’s Dexterity to damage as long as all targets are within half of the weapon’s range increment. This does not stack with the Propulsive trait.
Spell balance
Daze
You push into the target's mind and daze it with a mental jolt. The jolt deals 1 mental damage, with a basic Will save. If the target fails the save, it is also stunned 1. It is stunned 2 if it critically fails. Heightened (+1) The damage increases by 1.
Feats
Assurance
Fortune, General, Skill Prerequisites: trained in at least one skill Even in the worst circumstances, you can perform basic tasks. Choose a skill you’re trained in. Once per ten minutes you can roll two dice and use the higher roll (do not apply any other bonuses, penalties, or modifiers). Special: You can select this feat multiple times. Each time, choose a different skill and gain the benefits for that skill.
I'll necro this a bit!
Extra Ability Skill Bonus Choose one ability. All trained skills based on that ability receive a minimum ability bonus of +4 regardless of your actual ability score. Note that in order for skills to qualify for this bonus, they must be a core part of your character concept and background.
I think making this into a
You can use a different ability score for this skill [maybe only specific actions/situations]
Would work a bit better for the flow.
Increased ranged weapon damage All ranged attacks add half of the attacker’s Dexterity to damage as long as all targets are within half of the weapon’s range increment. This does not stack with the Propulsive trait.
I don't think this is a good idea. Going strength on a ranged char is costly already and a pc with 18 in str on level 1 then just has a +1 on their damage on ranged weapons. Also as it is written thrown weapons gain the strength bonus and dex bonus to damage.
Increased spell damage All damaging spells add the caster’s key ability to damage for one of the targets (chosen by the caster). This effect occurs only when all targets of the spell are within half of the spell’s range.
That's probably fine, early game damage is a bit low. Maybe excluding Electric Arc specifally would be a good idea.
Daze You push into the target's mind and daze it with a mental jolt. The jolt deals 1 mental damage, with a basic Will save. If the target fails the save, it is also stunned 1. It is stunned 2 if it critically fails. Heightened (+1) The damage increases by 1.
No to the crit fail, that's too much. Having a boss roll a one against a cantrip should not basically invalidate a whole round
Assurance Fortune, General, Skill Prerequisites: trained in at least one skill Even in the worst circumstances, you can perform basic tasks. Choose a skill you’re trained in. Once per ten minutes you can roll two dice and use the higher roll (do not apply any other bonuses, penalties, or modifiers).
Probably a good idea, but the base effect of assurance is fine to keep without a cooldown.
-
System shared this topic on
M Mr. Omgits Jafo shared this topic on