Ring Side Report- RPG review of Pathfinder Monster Core

Product– Pathfinder Monster Core

System- Pathfinder 2nd Ed 

Producer– Paizo

Price– $59.99 here https://paizo.com/products/btq02ej4 

TL; DR-Another Solid Addition to the Core line. 97% 

Basics– We’re all gonna die!  Monster Core is the last of the three main books needed to play Pathfinder, providing the foes that the heroes will face in their journeys.

Mechanics or Crunch–  Paizo knows their math.  These monsters are the ones we know, mostly, and love.  The Paizo staff designed good monsters and this just gives them the 2.5 glow up new coat of paint the system needed to get them fully ORC compliant.  It’s well done. 5/5

Theme or Fluff–  The story of the monsters takes a tiny bit of a dip.  As we move from 3.5/SRD base to ORC/Paizo’s own world, we lose a few things.  A major example is alignment.  We have Demons, Daemon, and Devils.  We have three different groups that are basically out to destroy everything but all just end up with the bad guy banner.  There is a story, but it’s that part of the story supported by differences in alignment and motivations that really separate these different D-based bad guys (that and centuries of European occult history).  The same goes with different dragon types.  I want to reiterate that what’s here is good, but the theme of these different monsters does miss alignment. 4.5/5

Execution– Yeah, we all know this was gonna be a 5/5.  It’s a Paizo book.  It reads fast, well, and is pretty.  Monsters get art for me to show players.  I get a good layout and hyperlinks.  Heck, there are even a few player things like a few rituals to sell your soul or talk to god!  5/5

Summary-This is a good book.  My view might be tainted by the changes from 3.5 to ORC.  I love the ORC, but we do lose some things along the way due to the legalese.  Those are things you will have to bring with your own stories to the table now.  This book will easily give you the foes to make those stories full of conflict and victory.  97 %

Daily Punch 5-29-24 Immediate Save medicine skill feat for Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Time to help!

Immediate Save One-action Feat 12

General Skill
Prerequisites master in Medicine, ally taking a persistent effect that a flat check can end.


Medicine is all about being there to helping other when they need it. As an action, you can attempt the flat check to end an ally’s effect. You may do this only once per round per ally.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 5-22-24 Preparatory Healing skill feat for Pathfinder 2nd Ed

New goal, skill feats at every level a fighter could take a skill feat!

Preparatory Healing Feat 4

General Skill
Prerequisites expert in Medicine


You know your friends will get banged up soon, so you’ve learned how to prepare for an event in advance. Once per day, you can make a medicine check in place of a crafting check to make an elixir of life of up to your level following all crafting rules except for cost of that item and that it only takes on hour to prepare the elixir. If you succeed you produce an elixir of life of that level that last for one day.

Thoughts?

Daily Punch 5-20-24 Service Guarantee skill feat for Pathfinder 2nd Ed

My players don’t really like using skill feats, so let’s build for them!

Service Guarantee Feat 6

General Skill
Prerequisites expert in Medicine


You’ve learned how to make sure your healing at least is a guaranteed to be more than the minimum. When you do an action that restores hit points, you reroll any 1s on any dice. Continue to do so till you do not roll a 1 on that die.

Daily Punch 5-13-24 Arcane Absorption eldritch armor feat for Pathfinder 2nd Ed

Haven’t built in this in a while, so let’s build more!

Arcane Absorption one-action Feat 4

Archetype Dedication
Archetype Eldritch Armor
Prerequisites Eldritch Armor dedication


You’ve learned ways to burn spells to heal and protect at the same time. As an action, you can lose a spell slot of your lowest available to gain temporary hit points equal to your highest available spell slot and a +1 status bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.

Thoughts?