MONSTER BRIEFING: Orcs don't just "run up and attack" in Pathfinder 2e! Building, Running ENCOUNTERS

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

ADDITIONS/ERRATA: -At the start of the video, I suddenly gain devil's horns in the thumbnail. This was NOT intended! That is a holdover from an early title for this series, "Devil's Advocate"! I know some of you probably prefer that title (it is catchier), but I chose to go for a title closer to the series' intent. -18:04 I forget that you can make a "fist" attack with another appropriate part of your body. Player Core p. 275: "The Unarmed Attacks table (page 277) lists the statistics for an unarmed attack with a fist, though you'll usually use the same statistics for attacks made with any other parts of your body." -I see a lot of comments about spider swarms' skills, with a lot of good answers (including jumping or swimming). I just want to remind folks that creatures with Climb Speeds might still be required to succeed on a Climb check to climb through "in hazardous conditions, to Climb extremely difficult surfaces, or to cross horizontal planes such as ceilings". BUT I struggle to see what a spider swarm would have any difficulty climbing! They definitely should be able to crawl on a ceiling! (Maybe sticky sap, but I would say that's different from Climbing.) -There is a Level 2 Surgeon NPC with a Medical Malpractice action! 2e.aonprd.com/NPCs.aspx?ID=910

[@ShadowDrakken]

I would saw Athletics is useful for entangling, capturing, and wrapping up prey. And acrobatics for climbing, web building, and controlled falling/ballooning

[@hypercube8735]

It does say "might be required" - I don't think a ceiling qualifies as a difficult surface, hazardous conditions, etc. for a spider.

[@ostravaofboletaria1027]

Monster Statblocks are the least explored aspect of the game in online discussions. I am glad you are taking deep dives into them.

[@thementalitydisturbedcolli7430]

Agreed, and they are so important for actual play!

[@hedgeyes6411]

Honestly, nearly everything about PF2 is unexplored. There's a ton of stuff I've literally never seen people talk about: When was the last time someone brought up spell catalysts, for instance?

[@thementalitydisturbedcolli7430]

@@hedgeyes6411Spell wha? (Point proven)

[@yannickletourneau7231]

As a GM currently running my 1st PF2E campaign, I strongly encourage you to pursue this series. Monster statblocks are incredibly dry, technical reads. Sometimes I understand each individual ability, but that doesn't translate into actionable monster tactics and teamwork strategies. It's not always entirely obvious how they're intended to be run. PF2E is certainly ripe for a video series in the style of "The monsters know what they're doing" books for 5e by Keith Ammann. Keep it up!

[@esurielt7930]

Second this completely!!

[@GameMasterDude230]

Third this completely!

[@jwarner1469]

One thing I'll note with Spiders description text being attracted to food, that generally means that the PCs they attack are ones they think are food. In nature, generally other creatures are either your food or you are their food. In the case of the former the goal should be to incapacitate as quickly as possible to back to your home (if you are a creature that has a den). In the case of the latter, once a creature knows it is overwhelmed they'd flee, for fear of becoming food. So I'd say this means Spiders should operate under the basic assumption that any PC that enters their webbed domain is food, and will attempt to quickly subdue and restrain the PCs, dragging them back to the nest with the rest of their food to eat. But if the PCs prove tough they'd probably flee.

[@IndieGoFigure]

An all leshy party would get left well alone then?

[@AlexM-is6ru]

@@IndieGoFigure Only if they have some way to tell the leshys are plants and not meat, which they might not being able to do without taking a bite.

[@vellusviridi]

Spider swarms have Athletics and Acrobatics because regular spiders have Athletics and Acrobatics. Regular spiders have these skills so they can Tumble Through and ensure they don't fall while Climbing (though they do have a climb speed, they may still need to make a check if say something tries to shake them off).

[@al8188]

Big suggestion for the Barghest and Greater Barghest. I adore low-CR monsters that tell a story all on their own, and a Barghest is a monster with a clear motivation that can be a supplemental player in or even the villain of a low-level arc, with it's Feed ability having a lot of story implications that you can go wild with. Greater Barghest mutations explicitly encourage the GM to take a stab at monster design, and also have their own, more lofty motivations that can, in conjunction with their explicit tendency to take over goblinoid cultures, create a capstone encounter that recontextualizes the common enemies of the goblin, hobgoblin, and bugbear.

[@jonmimir]

My group has just made the jump to 2e and these videos are super helpful. Thanks so much!

[@aspookyghost5969]

Hey,Really glad you took a look at those NPC's even if it was really brief! If wanted I'll go through and pick through the CR1 creatures too! In which case actually.... Why not Melphits? They come with breath weapons,spells,And get Fast Healing when touching their element! A pretty good step up from most -1 and 0 creatures,They could hammer home the importance of positioning and diverse tatics....Why? Because they all get flight! Nothing teaches a PC they should carry and use ranged weapons quite like a nasty lil bugger they otherwise can't hurt. And the fast healing being element based? All sorts of interesting things! Water Melphit touching a puddle to regenerate? Try to evaporate it with a fire spell,Fire Melphit healing because its touching a torch or campfire? Put it out! Want a terrifying boss monster to act like a final threat of some quest? Bloody Blade Mercenary comes with a class level,Ranger! There's nothing more scary to a squishy spellcaster then a large guy with extra damage out the wazoo. Clockwork Handlers,Teach your players that some creatures have immuntites,And certain typed have a *lot* of Immunities. Now,It does have a weakness to certain type of damage,And more interestingly, A certain material.....Now,It'd be a shame if there was a orichalcum blade ((potentially a quest item youre suppose to retrieve,Or on the verge of breaking if its too high level/expensive for your group of low level people to simply wield) laying around to show that weakness huh? *Ssssh* You can use a Drow Fighter,Paizo can't stop you. They're still really cool,They have innate spells,poisons, everything you'd want from a drow,Just use them You want something a bit more spooky? Something a bit more intense? What about Ghouls? A infection that could turn you into one,A template you can apply to any creature to catch your party by surprise,Way to avoid reactions,Paralysis....Oh,Did I mention that not only can they speak,Theyre more intelligent than the average person. Put one in a graveyard with some zombies (That they can eat to regain health if need be if its fresh enough!) And watch the party scramble! I could keep going,But hopefully at least some show up!

[@Sunny_Haven]

Small nitpick: isn't the whole point of orichalcum that it completely repairs itself 24 hours later? I don't see a point in making it on the verge of breaking if it's just gonna repair itself a day later.

[@aspookyghost5969]

@@Sunny_Haven That's true,But the idea was that it would acutally *break* during the fight itself. Though,It could be the case where they just pocket the item,wait for it to repair,Then sell it.

[@Sunny_Haven]

​@@aspookyghost5969Yeah, I imagine most parties would do the latter, especially because orichalcum is such a high level material (and is rare to boot). An orichalcum longsword would cost 24,750 gp (and heavier weapons cost even more), and a low-level party being able to sell that for half its price would still get an immense amount of gold (relative to the party's level) and would really mess up the expected gold per level system Pathfinder has. And even if they don't, they could wait for the long-term benefits of being able to have four property runes on that weapon. In the case of a shield, it will outclass many of the shields they will come across for several levels. Maybe your table would use the item in battle so it would break, but I can't imagine other tables doing that unless they just didn't know it was orichalcum (which might be likely in-world, depending on how prevalent rumors/legends about orichalcum are). But even in the case that they don't know what it is, if someone can repair it, it doesn't cost that person anything but time and a repair kit, and the item will either repair itself before that happens or they'll realize the item is very valuable due to the very high Crafting DC it would have to repair it. I haven't gotten to play Pathfinder 2e yet though, so maybe it'll be different in play, but that's how I imagine it would go.

[@aspookyghost5969]

@@Sunny_Haven Yeah in hindsight probably not best to give it to a party unless there's a reason they can't sell it

[@Kiaulen]

Suggestions for Levels 2 and 3: Shadow Drake (Draconic Frenzy is a much better way to do multi-attack, and speed surge is cool) Gnoll Hunter/Duergar Taskmaster/Draugr Bugbear Thug (Bushwhack is amazingly flavorful) Dire Wolf (worry, buck don't exist in 5e) River Drake (same as above) Werewolf (much better defined across all aspects than 5e)

[@TacticusPrime]

It's odd that elk and those giant ancient ones have stat blocks but there isn't one for deer.

[@sashamercier3337]

Orcs can be nasty. I run an encounter once where I had the orcs gang up on a single PC. They try to grapple until they succeed, and then proceed to beat the PC into submission. It cut the party down. The party didn't TPK, but it was a close thing.

[@LagiacrusHunter]

+1 for Keith Amman's "The Monsters Know What They're Doing". It gives a lot of great advice for how to combine a creature's stats and lore to come up with encounter tactics for a creature. Most important I think is that it includes advice for when a monster will try to run away from combat. No living creature wants to die without excellent reason, so having a retreat condition makes the encounter much more realistic.

[@timjohnson2533]

I'm really loving this series. I'm still new enough to PF2e that I'm learning the ropes of even 'basic' creatures. I'd say that your mentioning 'Read the monster description' advice is gold. When I started out GMing-while-learning the system, I ran an encounter with a couple animated suits of armor that came across pretty 'meh'. The problem was that I didn't read their abilities, and didn't see the 'Construct Armor' enhancement that they all have. When that clicked, the next time they met the second set of constructs was MUCH different. I'm finally getting out of the habit of just thinking of lower basic creatures as 'bags of hit points' as they largely are in 5e (and even moreso in 2e and older editions). But I'll take all the advice I can get, and this series is perfect for that.

[@rileymcleran2895]

37:50 i think the acrobatics and athletics proficiencies are so the spiders can Balance (such as on a beam or strands of web) and Climb (as spiders are want to do). Also, a lot of spiders handle being on water well, so Swim is also available Edit: forgot a word

[@jackmcfadden-finlayson372]

They could also use athletics to bowl over targets and topple them prone under a tidal wave (trip attack) of spiders. maybe even flavor a grapple attempt as collectively wrapping their prey in webbing.

[@malkyn9998]

So this series is great, but I have a bit of feedback: include a caveat about damage numbers when using humanoid enemies for your examples. There is usually a big level discrepancy on their damage stats; they're usually crazy high or crazy low for their level, skewing high at low levels and too low at higher levels. Explanation: someone in charge of stat blocks at Paizo insists on the PF1e method of assigning damage to humanoid enemies based on their weapon and their modifiers. This is not the recommended method of building creatures in PF2e. Creatures, which means anything not a PC and includes humanoids and other NPCs, are supposed to be built per the monster building guidelines, which Ronald referenced when referring to creature roles such as Brute. Brutes use either moderate attack bonus and extreme damage or high attack and high damage. If we look at the Orc Brute at level 0, it has +7 to attack and deals d6+3. In other words, per the guidelines, either the attack bonus should be 1 lower or the damage should be 1 lower. But if you look at the Orc Brute's Strength modifier and the weapon they're holding, we'll see that they add up to 1d6+3. And the rest of the orc statblocks on screen follow the same formula: looking at the weapon damage die and then adding their modifier. Why is this a problem? A level -1 creature with a shortsword and even a +1 Strength mod (d6+1) or a dagger and a +2 Strength mod (d4+2) are at the Extreme category for damage, even for creatures that really shouldn't be, like the Commoner, Kobold Warrior, Black Tear Cutthroat, etc. The Burnbearer is particularly egregious, dealing d6+2 while having a +8 to attack. The creature creation guidelines suggest not using Extreme statistics regularly until creature level 11. To be fair to humanoid statblocks, most of the time they're pretty reasonable by the time you're looking at level 1 or 2 versus what's expected by level, and so the Warrior and the Warchief are still high but not as bad as the Brute or most level -1 or level 0 humanoid statblocks. So be careful with very low level enemies and then we're good, right? I wish. The opposite end of the spectrum - damage on humanoid creatures being too low - starts to appear around level 4. I can only speculate that Paizo is worried about the PF1e problem of feeding players too much gold when they give humanoid creatures the right gear to have the numbers they need to be a threat, but it results in goofy scenarios where level 5 or 6 humanoid enemies will still be dealing only 1 die of damage on attacks and literally getting a relieved chuckle out of players any time they get hit by them. This could easily be solved by decoupling a humanoid creature's damage from their gear, but whoever writes the stat blocks for Adventure Paths seems reluctant to do so, instead opting for a very patchwork method of giving these higher level humanoid creatures some way to get bonus damage, most frequently sneak attack. Now, to be fair, this method is acknowledged in the creature building guidelines as an option that can be used, but is distinctly recommended against because it can be imprecise. By imprecise, I mean that sometimes it works, sometimes it still falls short of the target numbers given by creature building. Bonus frustration when the creature is clearly supposed to be modeled after a class, like a rogue, but the class roadmaps given in the creature creation guidelines are not followed because a creature's sneak attack only gets it to the Low or Moderate damage category, when the class roadmaps (which are supposed to be how you build humanoid creatures) call for a rogue to deal high or extreme damage when sneak attack is triggered. For a particularly egregious example, check out the Stag Lord, and then bear in mind he's supposed to be level 7 but they hit him with a permanent Sickened 1 and said "good enough, he's level 6 now." My point is, humanoid creatures at levels -1 through 2 or so should probably have a point or two shaved off the damage, and any humanoid creature above level 4 will seldom be hurt by adding an extra damage die to their base damage and ignoring any extraneous damage-boosting abilities that exist solely for the sake of hitting (or failing to hit) the right benchmarks. Either way, it's rebuilding that shouldn't be necessary in a system that wants to make its creatures very plug-and-play.

[@christopherg2347]

Small mistake on "Fist": "The Unarmed Attacks table (page 277) lists the statistics for an unarmed attack with a fist, though you'll usually use the same statistics for attacks made with any other parts of your body." So they can just kick you, while wielding a Great Club.

[@SmithLord117]

I notice there has not been another video in this series. Please continue making these videos! They are invaluable in helping spark ideas on how to use these monsters better (I'm going to have to use orcs in my upcoming campaign now because i love the strategies you discussed).

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

They've been on my queue! (I just have more than one queue, alas)

[@luckymikemadziar]

I need more NPC stat block reviews! In my homebrew, they are fighting NPCs about 10x more often than a prewritten campaign.

[@duckymcduckface6636]

as a new GM I really like this series, I'd love to see more monster briefings! very helpful

[@kelpiekit4002]

The acrobatics and athletics I think comes into an area I feel you should add to these monster briefings. That is environment. Creatures will have environments that they prefer, especially for attacks, and this affects their challenge. Some want lots of cover or visibility impairment, some want open space to run you down, others may ignore difficult terrain common to them, etc. Spider swarms probably want that close up ambush. With their climbing they want trees or similar clustered climbable locations. Acrobatics lets them balance and squeeze to make use of high, precarious locations or to ambush from surprisingly small spaces. Atheletics makes them able to jump out both high or far for their ambush and move across water a little.

[@MortalsandPortals]

Great video! Adding to your comment on reading monster descriptions, even if you run a campaign in a homebrew setting and the descriptions don't quite conform to your world, it can be great for generating ideas. Flipping through the bestiary has given me ideas for entire arcs and adventures, so it's a great resource when you need some inspiration even if you aren't playing in Golarion! Also, great job describing poisons, it's a fun dynamic that I've certainly messed that up a time or two 😂

[@kevindaniel1337]

I'm new to pf2e, having come over from 5e. Please keep up with these monster videos. I learned a few things I didn't know in this one.

[@jayknight1099]

I'm just starting a PF2e game (played PF1 long ago), this advice has been great and I really appreciate how you explain the concepts behind things. I usually think fists are given for weapon users more because they might be disarmed than they might want to punch in addition to swinging their weapon.

[@ramiromurga4832]

A small but important thing not mentioned while describing poisons is that, in the case that you are on the highest stage of a poison and an effect would make the stage increase (such as failing the save), the effect of the highest stage happens again.

[@SwingRipper]

12:08

[@thementalitydisturbedcolli7430]

Im lovong this series Ronald, very excited to see you do some more

[@iwishilive]

This is some excellent content for DMs, and people like me who are considering becoming a DM. I really like seeing videos like this to get some ideas on how to play monsters and try and make things interesting

[@chavesa5]

As a long-time GM I still REALLY appreciate these videos for helping me learn new ways and modes of approaching combat for my players.

[@drinkingproblem8934]

So happy to see the series continue with more quality GM advice!

[@ShadowDrakken]

The Monster Core PDF is already available on the subscription members from Paizo, and a few of us have started receiving our books in the mail already :D It's interesting to see the changes that have been made, especially related to the culture or more intelligent races like orcs

[@djseggrighfscu1616]

Your videos are making it easy for me to transition to pathfinder

[@duncbot9000]

The Orcs are quite brutal to fight against with their reactions in Dawnsbury Days.

[@RekijanGaming]

One small thing that could have been added when talking about the spider sense is what a basic Reflex save means. Other than that, excellent series I will recommend to fellow GMs.

[@TonganJedi]

Improving combat from both the player and GM perspectives is a huge point of interest for me. As a GM I'm always on the lookout to improve my sills.

[@namedjasonc]

Thanks for this excellent video! I feel like you're both giving me a fish and teaching me how to fish at the same time!

[@Apheleion]

this was fantastic I'm new to GMing and new to TTRPGs overall. Im going into my 3rd session so this information has been fantastic, awesome job I hope you continue the series all the way to 20.

[@commenter1430]

I do wish that the orcs had some cleric npcs to go with them. Keep in mind that the OG game mastery guide had NPC stats such as a prophet (for a religious leader) and a zealot (for a chosen champion) that can swapped in easily. Just remember to give them their gods chosen weapon and swap some of the spells out, and give them ferocity to top it off.

[@icezera]

Very helpful for new gms to pf2e. Thanks so much! Especially when the first few sessions can really make or break a group's desire to stick with the system

[@StayinFoxy]

I agree that it’d improve encounter building to put monster roles in the statblocks. Especially since then GMs can have an easier time building synergies in an encounter.

[@BharathanRajaram]

I'm so pumped for this series! Thank you Ronald!

[@leandersearle5094]

Creature 1: WAAAAAAAAAGH!!!! Creature 2: "Why couldn't it be 'follow the butterflies'?" Creature 3: Twitter.

[@santiagogodoy974]

The acrobatics and athletics scores reflect climbing and jumping, I think

[@archaeopteryxish]

Great video! I agree acrobatics and athletics for the spider swarm are a bit mystifying. I could see Athletics being fun to trip, grapple or shove a small PC, but that's about it.

[@duncbot9000]

Hmmm, how does Trip interact with it being a Large swarm? Can they "trip" a huge creature by engulfing it's legs and attempting to pull it down?

[@ghostyuki-kfpinquisitor1038]

On the topic of baiting reactions, monks (and ghouls) get a feat called guarded movement. If you trigger a reaction by moving you get a +4 ac bonus vs the hit (this doesn't stack with shields as theyre both circumstance bonuses). Combined with a monk's natural tankiness (or picked up on another durable class via archetype), you're unlikely to get hit and will probably only get crit on a 20. Also useful if you're trying to flank something with AoO/RS or are trying to get to something with reach. Acrobatics on creatures can be useful for balancing. Run a combat against basically any water kineticist to see what happens when a creature doesn't have it (and can't fly).

[@ShadowDrakken]

Thankfully, Monster Core now tells you which page to find things like Ferocity next to the ability :D

[@nbell63]

Cheers, Ronald, always much appreciated. 😊

[@lyracian]

Another great video! I shall watch this again before running my next low level game. If you are going to wear a shirt with a funny slogan on you really should let us see the full text! I like the Pitchfork. Seems to be somewhere between a Longspear and Ranseur. Could be a fun Uncommon Simple Weapon to add into home games or use those weapons for an upgraded angry mob when the players really go off the rails...

[@Kiaulen]

All uses I can think of for a spider swarm having athletics and acrobatics are obviated by them having a climb speed. They wouldn't need to swing on webs, make checks to climb walls, or jump across things. They also can share spaces, so don't need to tumble through. Maybe so they can shove a creature into their webs? Maybe so they don't take (as much) fall damage? Your guesses are better than mine, I'm sure.

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

By rule under Climb Speed, the creature might still be required to succeed on a Climb check to climb through "in hazardous conditions, to Climb extremely difficult surfaces, or to cross horizontal planes such as ceilings". But I struggle to see what a spider swarm would have any difficulty climbing! They definitely should be able to crawl on a ceiling! Maybe sticky sap, but I would say that's different from Climbing

[@tbgold07]

Maybe jumping spider swarm.

[@TheRulesLawyerRPG]

Maybe!

[@unusualfrog779]

@@TheRulesLawyerRPG Ceramics. Those little buggers always get stuck in my sink, I suspect their little climbing hairs can't stick into ceramic

[@ikaemos]

_In a million tiny voices_ "En garde!" _disarms you_

[@CooperativeWaffles]

Huzzah!!! Very much enjoying this playlist (as with the Channel's many other parlays) and look forward to more. I would appreciate single 👻monster👽 videos 📹. Then a secondary playlist "Monster Know (Alphabetical) can exist. The DM will get to snag just the monster videos necessary to review during prep, before & after the session.

[@philopharynx7910]

In our 19th level game, I used my cleric/champion to trigger a long-reach enemy's reactive strike so that the rogue and barbarian could move in. A lot of these tactics stay valid all game long.

[@rockwallguy]

Got a serious laugh from the swingripper shout out!

[@Taricus]

37:33 Jumping spiders.... Also, you have obviously never been chased by a spider before LOL!

[@2ntwins]

So this may be surprising but all of my favorite encounters as both a player and a GM have been techinicalyl deadly encounters. Someitmes it's ok to push your players to theiir limits. Notably all of said players were Pf2e Vets, but I will say taht combat balance isn't everything. One example is for a pf2e conversion of skulls and shackles we went up against a horde of sea devils (probably over a dozen? don't remember) with a boss monster, underwater. it was really fun trying to bottle neck them in an environment that gave them the advantage. I think we ended up retreating and ccoming back with more AOE spells. perhaps my favorite encounter of all time.

[@Lawrencelot89]

This content is great, keep it up! My suggestions for level 1 creatures: - Cultist - Giant Amoeba - Mephits - Quasit

[@MLGertzert]

barbazu and its infernal wounds (and solutions parties have to these problems) gliminal and its healing obviously the owlbear and its frightening screech

[@commandershepard9920]

Just wanted to say that your video on complaining about 5e's "bounded accuracy" has gotten me interested in Pathfinder 2e, and your other videos have sold me on it. I haven't started it yet, but I just ordered the revised core books and will be running the Kingmaker campaign + plenty of custom content. For PF2e, the more I read the rules, the more it just clicks with me. In fact, I haven't been this excited about D&D since 4th edition. I grew up on and played a ton of 3.0/3.5 since 3rd released during it's entire run, then did the same with 4th during it's entire run too. When 5e came out, I kind of fell out of the game. Not to disparage 5e or those who enjoy it, but it just didn't gel with me. I love how PF2e seems to 'protect niches', preserve reasonable balance, and just overall feel 'more airtight'. I'm especially looking forward to finding ways for players to sometimes utilize the environment within its 3 action economy.

[@andreasgiebel2337]

would love Ghouls and Morlocks next, since they are a core enemy in an very popular Adventure Path.

[@bmcguire1788]

I would like to see a set of rule comparisons for similar monsters. The easiest examples would be goblin and koboldes.

[@lucamonticelli267]

I really hope you are gonna continue this series, monster design was the thing that totally sold me on pf2e.

[@yuven437]

love this series! I could watch 1000 of these

[@tompritchard8655]

I love Megans interruptions

[@ZoneofA]

This series is really useful for novice GM. I hope to continue to cover all iconic monsters up to CR of say 4, such as various animals, Lisardfolk, Xulgath, Sculks, Boggards, Scum, Bugbears, Gnolls, Morlocks, and some lover CR demons, devils and daemons.

[@mikehennebury]

Love these videos - please keep them going!

[@ikaemos]

I love the way Ferocity is worded here. It really depicts a kind of fighter like the Uruk-Hai chief in _Fellowship of the Ring._ Stabbed through the chest? Yank yourself down the sword and try to bite at your assailant! Unless you overwhelm them with blows, they just mug through the pain and don't stop coming until you chop their head off (Dying 4).

[@jameshudson5293]

Love your content brother.

[@Sunny_Haven]

This was wonderful! I do hope you continue this series, I've really enjoyed your Pathfinder Law School series and this in particular has really helped me (especially because I'm going to be running a sandbox campaign in late May as my first Pathfinder 2e campaign).

[@claytonthompson700]

I love this monster series! Please make more. 😊

[@Stephen-Fox]

Loving this series and just rememebered I should comment that on youtube as well as on your discord

[@Gibbons3457]

Ah, the Bestiary 1 Orcs, not the best designed NPC statblocks, the goblins, gnolls and hobgoblins are all much better designed. They're incredibly similar, no magic and no dedicated ranged options and a very bland selection of all melee options. Worth noting the Orc brute despite its name is built more like a skirmisher than a brute; the brute road map builds for much lower AC and much higher hitpoits. Both the soldier and the warchief are solider statblocks with very few differences outside of simple level adjustments. Two of them have intimidation but cannot use it due to language barriers, sure they can try but a -4 penalty on their already low modifier destines them for repeat failure and wasted actions. It's what's refered to in design terms as double dipping. They have a low modifier but they also are given a debuff as well. If they're going to have the debuff then they should have a higher modifier, if they are going to have a low modifier they shouldn't get the debuff. Not unqiue to orcs is the mistake of making each statblock higher than the next (something goblins don't suffer from) meaning that encounter diversity is constrained by level difference. When NPCs are of similar levels you can budget for say 4 APL -2 enemies but chose 4 different statblocks, whereas for example here with orcs you have only one choice per level and you can only change the ratios but there's only so many ways to fit them into the encounter budget for a given level. Some notes on tactics. Orcs should play around their ferocity. They know how it works. Once below half hitpoints an orc should change tactics in order to only ever get hit once per round when possible and other healthier orcs should spend actions to enable this. As long as they are only being hit once an orc massively extends its life span whilst remainign in the fight. Once and orc is at wounded 2 they fall back and find cover. As mentioned above Orc Brutes aren't really brutes they have agile weapons, moderate ac, and moderate hitpoints. Though they do have extreme damage for their level and moderate/high attack bonus which is not correct for that damage (they have a +7 to hit, it should be +4 if they are to have extreme damage) this is another case of double dipping but this time in the orcs favour. So be warned orc brutes can kill PCs on crits very easily, especially with agile weapons. (Pet Peeve: If a game is going to go out of its way to have rules for statblocks it should not break those rules on printed monster statblocks or else what's the point in the rules to begin with. If it's bad when done in 5e; it's bad when it's done in PF2e) If the monsters know what they are doing and with a Wisdom of +1 no Orc Warchief should be baited into using reactive strike by a guy in full plate witha raised shield, especially if they cornered a know spellcaster or injured party memeber, the bad guys want to win. Better instead to shove or reposition the enemy to give the PC some space to move. Worth noting that two of the orcs get Reactive Strike but then all are given tools that don't incentivies tripping their foes. This is similar to the Intimidation problem. The base statblocks are full of anti-synergies rather than synergies. Leading to DM frustration, or, worse, DM fiat to overcome poorly thought out statblocks.

[@20catsRPG]

Spider swarms have acrobatics to prevent a Swashbuckler jump on a high beam to evade the swarm, the swarm following but failing their balance check and falling off lol Similarly they have athletics to succeed on climbing checks since they can literally run up the walls 😉

[@H1Guard]

An Int -1 is an insignificant difference. They will use group tactics.

[@laharl8417]

Very good video, i'll recommend to everyone starting!

[@KT-pv3kl]

Spiders have a high acrobatics Skill because they can effortlessly balance on strings/ropes climb up and down or even walk on ceilings/walls with no issues. Some spiders are even adept at jumping over ten times their body length and precisely hitting their prey when doing so. I prefer to play spiders as ambush predators that lay a trap, hide and wait for their victim to step on their net/trap before swarming them or ambushing them from above/below

[@block_the_]

In my first run if the Beginner Box (first time with PF2), I killed 11 PCs. Two TPKs...they rolled so brutally bad! The last player survived because he fled, or there would have been another TPK. My current adventure is the follow-up adventure, taking place months later. So there's a loose dragon! Might be a final boss (and might have grown) ^^ Had another TPK a few weeks back, but that was because of my inexperience as a GM and PF2 encounter difficulty xD So 15 casulties in total :P

[@danrimo826]

This is really useful - thanks!

[@scotttemple939]

Keep more videos coming like this one

[@Mitchenzo282]

Love this. More please!

[@Wunder]

This is really helpful, thanks. I'd love to see more clips/edited examples of actual play running these monsters. I know you've run some actual play on the channel for new players, but having certain combat scenarios pulled out, or even talked over like director's commentary would be interesting to see your moment to moment decisions as a GM in combat. The biggest hurdle for me is simply taking full use of the 3 actions and not just attacking 3 times once a monster is engaged in combat. For tribes like kobolds or goblins, I can use hit and run tactics but for beasts or mindless creatures like skeletons, I typically end up just running in and attacking. Is the solution just to use more varied monsters, like throwing in a spellcaster or commander type monster to order them around and rearrange the battlefield?

[@MxEuphemia]

Another great video! I'm running my first 2e campaign soon, and these videos are very helpful Would love you to tackle the Owlbear when you reach the level 4 vid

[@madman_chris]

Yes. Awesome. More please!

[@Schdt]

Finally a new vid. Hype!

[@dooperdooper6679]

With the Orc Warchief’s death I don’t think the Orcs would flee. If they were lowly bandits it would make sense, but these are orcs they wouldn’t be scared they’d be enraged. The orc that lead them has been killed and they’ll avenge him no matter what. I would send them after his killer ignoring anything and everything else. Obviously that would be really dangerous for that player, but would make them more memorable.

[@scotttemple939]

Spiders can jump and climb would be my best guess is why they have acrobatic and athletic skills

[@kidrissa]

I was ALREEADY enjoying the Law School series, but this Monster Briefing series INSIDE of it is spectacular. I'm new 2 PF2e, and this comes at a GREAT time just before Monster Core gets release. Thanks so much! As for the Spider swarm stat blocks, I'm assuming they're there as markers for what those creatures COULD do, physically? So, if you ran from the swarm, jumping across a gap/chasm, could the spiders ALSO make the jump? Or could they Squeeze through a small space to chase you? That's my thinking.

[@amiablereaper]

Perhaps the spider swarm has acrobatics/athletics to help it be more mobile Since it lacks a ranged attack and has a climb speed, it could easily be in a position where jumping at or dropping down onto PCs could be an option.

[@Feralhyena]

Spiders Jump, Grapple, Trip, and Shove, but aren't necessarily great at those compared to other creatures of comparable size and Strength. Likewise, they do have a knack for moving into and through tight areas and over precarious surfaces, as well as around and through the spaces of other creatures. That's why they are trained in Athletics and Acrobatics.

[@SquidasaurusRex]

Spider swarm has Athletics and Acrobatics for environmental interactions. For instance swimming, it would need an Athletics score for the swarm to wade across water army-ant style. Similarly, the swarm might be immune to prone but it is not immune to falling; if say its on a Narrow Surface and it needs to make a Balance check after being struck. Also... is there anything stopping a swarm from grappling a foe? A spider swarm could move, swarm bite, then try a grapple at full MAP. It's Athletics score isn't high enough to capitalize on it unless targeting weanier PCs, but if it works then it forces an interesting conundrum on that party/PC. Do they escape on their turn then move, burning two actions? Do they stay to get more actions but get bitten three times? Does the party hit the ally with AoE to kill the swarm (and the PC)? A weaker fortitude character being grappled by a spider swarm is great nightmare fuel for any arachnophobe.

[@kevinvito8336]

The XP budget reminds of D&D 4E.

[@dlarso11]

Thanks Ronald🎉

[@MAEX25]

What I really miss is how many creatures you usually find together. For example Orcs 1d6 scout troop, 2d10 war band etc.

[@Jermbot15]

Spider swarms can't BE grappled.... but can they grapple? A Gulliver's Travels style mass webbing? Thousands of spiders deploying thousands of strands of silk to hold you in place?

[@ryanhale6339]

Regarding intelligence and tactics: Even crayon eating US Marines can employ sophisticated combat tactics, with enough training and a decent officer in charge.😁

[@Zr0din]

I may not be hot on Pathfinder, but I like your videos. Very informative. Are these stats from the new Monster Core? I also like the Keith Amman books. Lots of Depth in those books. You are helping the Community- and I appreciate it.

[@SeanSmithPit]

Absolutely love these videos! Regarding your question for Athletics and Acrobatics I'm thinking jumping for Athletics, and maybe "tumbling" after falling for Acrobatics? Acrobatics seems pretty weak, but jumping seems solid!

[@Valdreag17]

Also, any kind of climbing or balance- so wall crawling, webs, squeezing into tight spaces is a trained acrobatics check, and grappling requires Athletics unless an ability says otherwise.

[@agoristtaxadvice]

Re- Spiders and athletics- I think it has to do with climbing- From the player Core- A climb Speed allows you to move up or down inclines and vertical surfaces. Most creatures need to succeed at Athletics checks to Climb, but if you have a climb Speed, you automatically succeed and move up to your climb Speed instead of the listed distance. You might still have to attempt Athletics checks to Climb in hazardous conditions, to Climb extremely difficult surfaces, or to cross horizontal planes such as ceilings. You can also choose to roll an Athletics check to Climb rather than accept an automatic success in hopes of getting a critical success. Your climb Speed grants you a +4 circumstance bonus to Athletics checks to Climb. No idea why acrobatics- maybe to "tumble through"? But I would never do that for a non-intelligent creature like this

[@dodge7246]

I could imagine the spider swarm making a Trip attempt, crawling all over someone until they fall over and get engulfed For Acrobatics, though, I got nothing. I reckon they're not too inclined to Tumble Through

[@hrafnkol1404]

My girlfriend suggested spiders with Acrobatics and Athletics to be jumping spiders

[@rylandrc]

Legally approved tactics.

[@CreeperSlayer365]

37:40 Climbing in "difficult conditions" requires a check even if you have a climb speed. So maybe they are expecting players to get creative with a wind spell or something.

[@scotttemple939]

I love it

[@arzhmael7799]

I would love to add an iconic custom 'thirth party" monster to my Horror Campaign, put it's not an easy one and I have hard time figuring out "how to play/fight it"... Could you go over how to create an encounter with the False Hydra in one of your future videos? 😁😱