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9.0: Hybrid initiative
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@Vadskye Vadskye released this 22 Oct 22:06
· 2186 commits to master since this release
v9.0.0
b711224

Problem: The fully simultaneous initiative system is unintuitive for new players. It requires fairly frequent backtracking, or forcing players to make decisions while ignoring important information that they technically shouldn't have access to. As one common example, if three party members attack the same monster, the third party member is forced to roll their attack against the same monster even if they already know the monster is dead based on seeing the first two rolls. Their actions are guaranteed to be irrelevant, but since they don't know that in-character, they are forced to waste their action instead of changing targets.
Problem: The system also makes coordinating party actions surprisingly complicated. If you want to wait to attack until after your ally has knocked an enemy prone or dazed them, you have to delay until after all monster actions are resolved, which can dramatically change the battle landscape. This also frequently leads to backtracking, where you roll your attack during the action phase and then realize that you should have delayed to sync up with your party member. Delaying to sync up with party members also creates many opportunities for feel-bad moments, such as if enemies resolve a debuff on you during their action.
Problem: The system also makes coordination actions with yourself surprisingly complicated. You can't just draw a weapon and attack with it, even though drawing a weapon is a free action and attacking is a standard action. All of your own actions resolve simultaneously with each other, and you can't do simple logical sequences on your turn - since you don't actually have a turn at all.
Solution: Actions in the action phase are now sequential within your allied group. Each party member takes their turn before the next party members starts their turn. When you start your turn, you know the results of your ally's actions, and enemies have any relevant defense debuffs applied, so can change your action accordingly. However, actions are simultaneous with enemy groups. Your actions still cannot interrupt or alter your enemy's actions, which allows each group to resolve their actions individually. This preserves the speed and efficiency of the simultaneous action system while making it more intuitive and simplifying party interactions.

Specific changes
  • Actions resolve sequentially within allied groups and simultaneously with enemies, as described above
  • The delayed action phase no longer exists, since it is no longer necessary for party coordination
  • Move actions are now just called "movements"
    • This allows a simpler "during your next action" wording for delayed effects that unambiguously refers to the action phase
  • In the rare case that damage and healing are simultaneous, damage now explicitly resolves before healing
    • This means the unintuitive "healing shield" effect to offset incoming damage now explicitly no longer works
  • The timing of negative hit points and vital wounds has been altered to make more sense in this system
  • Sustained abilities now end at the start of your action during the action phase unless you sustain them
  • Many abilities that could be used "at the start of each phase" can now be used "as a free action", since the distinction is now much less significant
  • Many personal-only abilities that had the Swift tag no longer have that tag simply because they no longer need it if actions resolve sequentially
  • Free actions can now be used once per round instead of once per phase
  • Abilities that remove conditions no longer have text preventing them from removing a condition you gained during the current round
  • Classes
    • Sorcerer: Rolling a 10 on Wildspell+ has been tweaked since the delayed action phase no longer exists
    • Wizard: Intricate Spell has been redesigned since the delayed action phase no longer exists
  • Equipment
    • Staff of Focus has been removed

Problem: In a partially simultaneous system, you should be able to fully resolve your actions without your enemy making any relevant decisions. This means that triggered effects can't allow any decision-making.
Solution: Add "reactive attacks" and "reactive checks", which can't be modified by the user in any way. For example, you can't use Desperate Exertion on a reactive attack. All triggered attacks are now reactive attacks. All abilities which allowed reactive decision-making have been redesigned to be static.

Specific changes
  • Many triggered attacks and some triggered checks are now reactive
  • Equipment:
    • Ring of Blessed Protection has been redesigned
  • Feats
    • Deception Specialization: Deceive Magic has been replaced with Deceive Reality
    • Entropist: Entropic Defense is now a static failure chance instead of a fatigue-spending reactive ability

Problem: Although movement increasing effects were nerfed in previous patches, movement decreasing effects were left unchanged. In particular, the slow debuff is extremely powerful when used for kiting, but underwhelming when used in a normal combat.
Solution: The slowed and immobilized debuffs now grant larger defensive penalties, and are more difficult to inflict. Some other effects that decrease movement speed have been nerfed to varying degrees.

Specific changes
  • "slowed" now grants a -2 penalty to Armor and Reflex defenses
    • It is now considered a "tier 2" debuff, like stunned or goaded
  • "immobilized" now grants a -4 penalty to Armor and Reflex defenses
    • It is now considered a "tier 3.5" debuff, halfway between blinded and paralyzed
  • Classes
    • Fighter
      • Threatening Influence now says "half speed" instead of "difficult terrain", which makes more sense with abilities that ignore difficult terrain
      • Threatening Influence no longer affects enemies that can move through your space freely
      • Threatening Influence scales to a Medium radius rather than one-third speed
      • Hold the Line has weaker scaling
    • Ranger: Wolfpack has been redesigned
    • Rogue: Stutterstep Staccato is now single-target
  • Equipment
    • Nets now have range limits of 5/15 instead of 15/30
    • Giant wasp poison no longer dazes, and immobilizes instead of stuns
      • This also affects the hybrid bee uncommon species
    • Tanglefoot bags are now higher rank
    • Staff of Hindrance has been merged with its greater version

Problem: Although movement increasing effects were nerfed in previous patches, some extremely long-range abilities were not nerfed. This made them even more devastating given the generally lower movement speed of mid to high level characters.
Solution: Bows now have lower range limits. Range scaling for long-range abilities is weaker.

Specific changes
  • "Long" range is now 90 feet instead of 120 feet, "Distant" range is now 120 feet instead of 180 feet, and "Extreme" range is now 180 feet instead of 240 feet
  • Classes
    • Cleric: Air domain mastery grants a 60 foot height limit instead of 120 foot
    • Ranger: Quarry now works at Extreme range instead of Distant range
    • Wizard: Conjuration school specialization has weaker rank 7 range scaling
  • Equipment
    • Longbows and flatbows now have range limits of 90/270
    • Shortbows now have range limits of 60/180
    • Greater Throwing Gloves now also improve the range limits of regular thrown weapons

Problem: Since synchronizing actions with allies is much easier, knocking enemies prone is now much stronger. Allies will much more reliably be able to take advantage of the significant defense penalties from attacking prone enemies.
Solution: Nerf abilities that knock enemies prone. Also, Garguantuan and Colossal enemies are now intrinsically immune to being prone. They're too big to fall.

Specific changes
  • Standing up from prone now costs half your movement instead of your entire movement
  • Garguantuan and Colossal enemies are now immune to being prone
  • The Trip universal ability now requires beating both Fortitude and Reflex defense
  • Knocking an enemy prone is now considered a "tier 1.5" debuff, like frightened
    • For specific spell and maneuver changes, see the long lists below as part of the broader redesigns

Problem: Universal abilities generally have a little too much text.
Problem: The Disarm universal ability is very powerful in very specific situations, but generally useless. That's a weird position for a universal ability to be in, and it creates a memory issue / trap where people think it will be more useful or common than it is. Also, it will always feel bad to get disarmed as a melee martial, and that is an archetype that generally has greater difficulty already.
Solution: Remove the Disarm universal ability. Change some abilities that referenced it, but mostly just remove them. Simplify some other universal abilities.

Specific changes
  • Combat rules
    • The Disarm universal ability no longer exists
    • Overrun no longer knocks creatures prone on a critical hit
    • Shove no longer moves at full speed on a critical hit.
  • Equipment
    • The Disarming tag has been removed
    • Jitte is now Parrying
    • Nunchaku now has +2 accuracy instead of +1
    • Ranseur now has +1 accuracy instead of +0
    • Rapier is now Keen
    • Sai is now Grappling
    • Three-section staff is now Parrying
    • Two-section staff is now Long
    • Locked gauntlets no longer exist
    • Thieving weapons have been replaced with Thieving gauntlets, which have no disarm mechanic

Problem: Sonic damage is basically never used. It's not clearly narratively different from bludgeoning damage, since they're both just sort of vibrations.
Problem: Some damaging-dealing effects have no clear damage type. The worst of these is Enchantment and similar mental attacks, which just deal energy damage. That's better than physical damage, since it should work on ghosts, but it's also a narratively jarring damage type.
Problem: Why do ghosts dissolve in acid?
Solution: Sonic damage has been replaced with bludgeoning damage. Acid damage is now a subtype of physical damage. "Psychic" damage now exists, and is a subtype of energy damage. Several abilities have been changed to deal psychic damage.

Specific changes
  • The damage type changes described above
  • For specific combat style and mystic sphere changes, see the larger lists below

Problem: Free action, minor action, and triggered effects were a little too common. Those are dangerous for the action economy - if present in any significant quantity, they can slow the game down to a crawl.
Solution: Replace non-action abilities with stronger effects that require a standard action or passive effects that don't slow the game down.

Specific changes
  • Classes
    • Druid: Instant Shift has been replaced with Hybrid Aspect
    • Warlock: Exchange Soul Fragment and Exchange Vitality have been redesigned
    • Wizard: Experienced Quaffing+ has been replaced with Alchemical Infusion+
  • Equipment
    • Concussive, Flaming, Arcing, and Freezing weapons have been redesigned
    • Arcing weapons have been renamed to Chaining weapons
  • Feats
    • Social Insight Specialization: Read Emotions has slightly weaker scaling
  • For specific combat style and mystic sphere changes, see the larger lists below

Problem: Maneuvers are generally not that interesting, especially compared to spells. In practice, most martial characters didn't bother using maneuvers, or only used them on rare occasions.
Problem: Maneuvers were overly reliant on brief creature debuffs, which are a hassle to track.
Solution: Buff maneuvers, especially pure damage maneuvers. Redesign or remove maneuvers that use brief effects.

Specific changes
  • Combat styles
    • Blunt Force
      • New: Ground Slam+, Leap Slam+, Earsplitting Bonedrum+, Unbalanced Smash
      • Buffed: Ground Stomp, Ground Slam
      • Changed: Resonating Strike, Gutshot, Knockdown, Tenderize (previously Tenderizing Smash), Earsplitting Bonedrum
      • Removed: Stomach-Churning Strike
    • Dirty Fighting
      • New: Eye Poke, Eye Gouge
      • Buffed: Stunning Fist
      • Changed: Disarm (previously Disarm Weapon), Steal Weapon, Slipstrike, Sweep the Leg, Anklesprainer, Eye-Averting Strike
      • Removed: Dazing Fist+, Steal Weapon+, Sunder, Unbalancing Strike
    • Ebb and Flow
      • Buffed: Redeeming Followup, Reckless Strike, Back Into the Fray, Tag-Team Strike
      • Changed: Counterstrike, Counter Sweep, Counter Flurry, Victorious Followup, Dazing Feint, Stunning Feint, Mind-Fuzzing Feint, Punish Inattention, Reckless Assault
    • Flurry of Blows
      • New: Heavy Quickdraw, Frenzied Flurry
      • Buffed: Frenzied Strike
      • Changed: Strike Flurry, Quickdraw, Deathseeking Flurry, Static Strike
      • Removed: Rebounding Flurry, Daunting Swiftstrike
    • Herald of War
      • New: Thunderous Shout+
      • Buffed: Awe-Inspiring Strike
      • Changed: Dazing Roar, Stunning Roar, Goading Roar, Fearsome Roar, Directed Shout, Challenging Strike, Fearsome Blow, Steadfast Battlecry
      • Removed: Inspiring Strike, Enraging Roar
    • Mobile Assault
      • Buffed: Mighty Charge
      • Changed: Retreating Strike, Fearsome Pounce, Frenzied Charge
    • Penetrating Precision
      • New: Pierce Weakness
      • Buffed: Desperate Pierce, Penetrating Shot
      • Changed: Heartpiercer (previously Heartpiercing Strike), Groundspike, Chargebreaker, Called Shot
      • Removed: Eye Poke, Eye Gouge,
    • Rip and Tear
      • New: Flintspark Strike+, Bloodletting Strike+
      • Buffed: Blinding Brow Gash, Flintspark Strike, Tear Exposed Flesh
      • Changed: Strip the Flesh, Rend the Hide, Brow Gash, Hamstring, Bloodletting Strike
      • Removed: Strip the Armor, Bloody Brow Gash, Hamstring+, Sweeping Throw+, Agonizing Flay
    • Unbreakable Defense
      • New: Cleansing Strike+
      • Buffed: Redirecting Parry, Second Wind, Cleansing Strike
      • Changed: Flamboyant Parry, Covering Strike
      • Removed: Guard the Pass
  • Feats
    • Executioner: Execution now also doubles all damage bonuses on a critical hit

Problem: Mystic spheres do not always have clear mechanical distinctions to represent their alleged narrative differences. Too many mystic spheres all have the same basic variants of "deal some damage to some stuff", with few unique effects to make them feel different from each other.
Problem: Some mystic spheres were overly reliant on brief creature debuffs, which are a hassle to track.
Solution: Give each mystic sphere a more consistent mechanical identity. Several mystic spheres now have new mechanics which are unique to the mystic sphere. In general, battlefield control and instant effects are more common, and there are fewer debuffs. Brief creature debuffs have been almost entirely removed.

The Universal mystic sphere no longer has its cone-shaped spells, since those don't make sense for all mystic spheres, and it has weaker scaling at high levels. It should still provide a usable baseline that prevents the need to give every sphere boring bread and butter spells, but high levels spheres should feel much more clearly differentiated and less reliant on the Universal mystic sphere to fill in gaps.

Specific changes
  • General changes
    • Upgraded versions of low rank spells now use consistent prefixes to indicate what changed
      • "Intense" means a debuff got stronger, "Massive" means the area improved, and so on
  • Aeromancy
    • Overall: Larger area, longer range, more emphasis on push and knockback, lower damage
    • New: Windslash, Wind Tunnel, Dust Storm, Windburst
    • Buffed: Wind Screen, Retributive Winds, Wall of Wind, Dustblind
    • Changed: Arrow Attraction (previously Curse of Arrow Attraction), Windsnipe, Buffet, Cyclone, Hurricane, Windtheft, Dust Cloud, Air Walk
    • Nerfed: Misty Step
    • Removed: Mass Wind Screen, Gust of Wind, Piercing Windblast
  • Aquamancy
    • Overall: Smaller areas, shorter range, more damage, more battlefield control
    • New: Kraken Tentacles, Solid Fog Cloud, Puddlify
    • Buffed: Rainstorm, Obscuring Mist, Misty Halo, Misty Shroud, Fog Cloud, Fog Wall
    • Changed: Desiccate (previously Desiccating Curse), Mighty Crashing Wave (previously Greater Crushing Wave), Aquajet Propulsion, Mighty Fountain (previously Greater Fountain), Wall of Water, Raging River, Geyser, Forceful Aquajet
    • Nerfed: Manipulate Water, Constrianing Bubble
    • Removed: Sphere of Constraint
  • Astromancy
    • Overall: Longer range, more consistently attack Mental, more ability to reposition foes
    • New: Hostile Translocation, Sudden Rift, Planar Jaunt - Astral Plane, Greater Twinned Portals
    • Buffed: Translocation, Dimension Door, Hostile Transposition, Twinned Portals
    • Changed: Translocating Grasp, Dimensional Anchor, Planar Jaunt - all
    • Nerfed: Blink, Distant Spells
    • Removed: Banishing Grasp, Jittering Curse, Mass Translocation (present characters excepted), Flicker, Mass Phasing Blade
  • Channel Divinity
    • Overall: A little more fear instead of other debuffs
    • New: Fearful Judgment, Word of Fear
    • Buffed: Divine Presence, Divine Seal
    • Changed: Retributive Judgment, Massive Word of Faith (previously Greater/Supreme Word of Faith), Banish Anathema
    • Removed: Holy Blade
  • Chronomancy
    • Overall: Slow effects are different because slow was changed, more damaging attack options
    • New: Disjointed Deceleration, Wave of Senescence, Unstable Aging
    • Buffed: Accelerated Draw, Sudden Expiration
    • Changed: Accelerated Twinstrike, Accelerated Triplestrike, Temporal Dislocation (previously Curse of Temporal Dislocation), Slow, Stutterstop, Haste, Time Lock - all, Evasion, Expeditious Retreat
    • Nerfed: Temporal Duplicate,
    • Removed: Accelerated Search, Slowing Curse
  • Cryomancy
    • Overall: More battlefield control, more damage, smaller area
    • New: Icicle, Icefield, Icicle Carapace, Wall of Ice, Ice Globe, Cryostrike, Blood-Chilling Strike
    • Buffed: Skate, Skyskate
    • Changed: Freezing Grasp, Cone of Cold, Frozen Legs, Frostbite, Hailstorm, Blizzard, Chillwind Dash, Bonechill
    • Removed: Ice Lance, Ice Spike, Frigid Aura, Quickchill
  • Electromancy
    • Overall: New chain mechanic deals high damage to small target counts, less non-chaining area attacks
    • New: Brain-Scrambling Discharge, Arc, Electromagnetic Arc, Shocking Arc, Short-Circuit, Magnetic Strike, Arcing Strike
    • Buffed: Electromagnetic Grasp (previously Shocking Grasp)
    • Changed: Lightning Bolt, Lightning Rod, Stunning Discharge, Chain Lightning, Electroshock, Call Lightning, Lightning Breath, Ball Lightning, Personal Conduction, Electrocute,
    • Renamed: Lightning Speed (previously one of the two Energizes)
    • Removed: Lightning Storm, Cleansing Shock, Dazing Shock
  • Enchantment
    • Overall: Nerfs to some pseudo-brief effects that can't be conditions
    • New: Taunt
    • Buffed: Fearsome Aura
    • Changed: Confusion, Discordant Song, Cause Fear, Mind Crush
    • Nerfed: Collapse, Calm Emotions, Friend to Foe
    • Removed: Frighten
  • Fabrication
    • Overall: More battlefield control, more damage options, smaller area
    • New: Executioner's Axe
    • Buffed: Blade Barrier
    • Changed: Mystic Artillery, Whirlwind of Blades (previously Bladestorm), Precision Missileburst (previously Missile Storm), Rain of Arrows (previously Hail of Arrows), Web, Instant Magic Weapon (previously Greater Instant Weapon), Personal Sphere
    • Nerfed: Personal Weapon, Caltrops, Grease, Oil Slick, Sonic Barrier
    • Removed: Contracting Blade Perimeter, Meteor, Daggercloud, Greater Daggerswarm
  • Photomancy
    • Overall: More area effects instead of single-target, more hybrid damage + debuff instead of pure debuff
    • New: Greater Blurred Motion, Solar Flare, Radiant Field, Faerie Fire
    • Buffed: Wall of Light
    • Changed: Color Spray, Prismatic Spray, Army of Twins, Flash, Searing Light, Solar Ray, Kaleidoscopic Pattern, Disguise Image, Chromatic Orb
    • Nerfed:
    • Removed: Blinding Flash, Sunburst, False Wound
  • Polymorph
    • Overall: Slight debuff tweaks
    • Buffed: Baleful Polymorph, Spikeform, Sludgeform, Empowered Regeneration (previously Greater Regeneration)
    • Changed: Malleable Body, Cripple, Flense
    • Nerfed: Alter Self, Cleansing Bodymorph
    • Removed: Reshape Appearance, Supreme Regeneration
  • Prayer
    • Overall: Now has curses!
    • New: Holy Blades, Curse of Fugue, Curse of Sloth, Curse of Blindness, Curse of Flammability
    • Changed: Empowered Boon of Shielding (previously Greater Boon of Shielding), Consecrated Strike
    • Nerfed: Blessing of the Fortified Body, Blessing of Mental Clarity
    • Removed: Blessing of Wakefulness
  • Pyromancy
    • Overall: Larger area, more damage over time
    • New: Delayed Fireball
    • Buffed: Flame Blade
    • Changed: Burning Grasp, Pyroclasm, Fireball, Burning Hands, Eyes of Flame, Flame Serpent, Personal Ignition, Wall of Fire, Pyrohemia, Kindled Fireburst
    • Removed: Curse of Flammability, Cleansing Fire, Uncontrolled Inferno
  • Revelation
    • Overall: Slightly worse scaling at high levels
    • New: Twinned True Cast
    • Buffed: Purge Invisibility, True Cast, Discern Lies
    • Changed: Twinned True Strike (previously Mass True Strike)
    • Nerfed: Blindsense, Foresight, Reveal Weakness
  • Summoning
    • Overall: More area attack options, simpler scaling
    • New: Summon Horde - (Bees, Dogs, Wolves, Bears)
    • Buffed: Efficient Ramming Summon (previously Greater Ramming Summon), Summon Annoying Insects
    • Changed: Empowered Summon Defensive Monster (previously Greater/Supreme Summon Defensive Monster), Empowered Summon Offensive Monster (previously Greater/Supreme Summon Offensive Monster), Massive Trampling Summon (previously Greater/Supreme Trampling Summon)
    • Nerfed: Summon Pegasus
    • Removed: Summon Wolfpack
  • Telekinesis
    • Overall: Better single-target attacks, smaller area, fewer conditions
    • New: Fling Object, Multifling, Compression, Implosion
    • Buffed: Telekinetic Lift, Floating Armament (previously Floating Shield)
    • Changed: Blastwave, Mind Shove (previously Distant Shove), Toss Foe, Mind Parry (previously Redirect Attacks), Levitate, Animated Weapon, Mind Arrow, Repulsion Field
    • Nerfed: Interposing Force
    • Removed: Force Lance, Kinetic Impedance, Steal Item, Reactive Deflection, Distant Grasp
  • Terramancy
    • Overall: More battlefield control, slightly lower damage
    • Buffed: Stonefist, Wall of Stone
    • Changed: Rock Throw, Crushing Gravity, Shrapnel Blast, Earthen Anchor, Earthspike, Earthquake, Swallowed by Earth, Earthbind, Volcano
    • Nerfed: Tremor, Quagmire
  • Thaumaturgy
    • Overall: Small tweaks to magic missile scaling, nerf endgame immunities
    • Buffed: Dimensional Lock, Teleportation Ward
    • Changed: Distant/Mighty Magic Missile (previously Greater/Supreme Magic Missile), Dimensional Seal (previously Dimensional Anchor)
    • Nerfed: Reflect Magic, Reflect Targeted Magic
  • Toxicology
    • Overall: More damage over time, more battlefield control, less range
    • Changed: Corrosive Grasp, Poison -- all, Poison Immunity, Sudden Rot, Acid Bath, Acid Breath, Acid Rain, Empowered Healing Salve (previously Greater/Supreme Healing Salve), Fungal Growth
    • Removed: Acid Arrow, Corrosive Splash, Acid Orb, Retributive Spores
  • Umbramancy
    • Overall: More consistently targeting Mental, more damage, weaker weird endgame debuffs
    • New: Creeping Darkness, Heed the Dark Call, Shadowstrike, Shadow Puppet
    • Changed: Darkvision, Dark Miasma, Dark Grasp, Dark Shroud, Shadowstep Strike (previously Shadowstrike), Bind Shadow, Shadowform
    • Nerfed: Wall of Darkness
    • Removed: Chill of Darkness, Blinding Shroud, Hidden Blade, Shadow Swap, Steal Shadow, Dancing Shadow
  • Universal
    • Overall: Removed cone area and nerfed high level scaling to put more focus the differences between individual spheres
    • Changed sphere defense/damage types: Astromancy, Enchantment, Prayer, Pyromancy, Revelation, Telekinesis
    • Nerfed: Mighty Mystic Bolt (previously Greater/Supreme Mystic Bolt), Massive Mystic Discharge (previously Greater/Supreme Mystic Discharge)
    • Removed: Mystic Blast
  • Verdamancy
    • Overall: More battlefield control, slightly more damage
    • New: Entangling Plants, Forceful Vine Tentacle
    • Buffed: Wall of Thorns
    • Changed: Entangle, Vine Whip, Vinestorm, Embedded Growth, Fire Seeds, Blight
    • Nerfed: Intense Flourishing Grass (previously Greater Flourishing Grass)
    • Removed: Ensnaring Grasp, Thornblade
  • Vivimancy
    • Overall: More battlefield control, slightly weaker self-buffs, fewer weird effects
    • New: Mighty Lifesteal, Wall of Death
    • Buffed: Lifesteal Grasp, Retributive Lifebond
    • Changed: Empowered Restoration (previously Greater/Supreme Restoration), Stabilization Field (previously Cone of Stabilization), Inflict Wound, Circle of Death
    • Nerfed: Vital Endurance, Withering, Lifesense, Lifesight
    • Removed: Draining Grasp, Triage, Death Knell, Withering Curse

General changes

  • Several combat-relevant sections have been moved from the Core Mechanics chapter to the Combat chapter
  • The Monster Statistics chart has been fixed to correctly represent monster defense scaling
  • Species
    • Dwarves now gain +1 Willpower instead of gaining +1 fatigue tolerance and a minimum land speed
    • Gnomes now use Fae Light as a standard action instead of a minor action
  • Classes
    • Barbarian: Savage Precision is slightly simpler and generally stronger
    • Cleric
      • Condemn the Fearful is slightly stronger
      • Protection domain aspect now requires a free action instead of a minor action
      • Strength domain aspect now grants a magic bonus to Strength instead of an untyped bonus
    • Fighter
      • Weapon Training no longer has its fairly pointless scaling
      • Protect now requires a free action instead of a minor action
      • Hustle has been renamed to Rush
    • Monk: A new Surpass the Mortal Limits ki manifestation has been added
    • Rogue:
      • Cacaphony deals more damage
      • Dazzling Discordance has stronger scaling
      • Dirge of Doom now deals psychic damage and has simpler scaling
      • Frightening Fugue has shorter range
    • Warlock: Banish to the Abyss has stronger scaling
  • Combat rules
    • Death from vital wounds can no longer be delayed by recovering hit points
    • The Recover ability now restores all hit points instead of only half hit points
    • Push and knockback effects now explicitly require a straight line
    • Shaken/frightened/panicked and goaded now always have the Emotion tag
  • Equipment
    • You can now draw or sheathe a single medium weapon as a free action
    • Since free actions are now limited to once per round, you can no longer draw and sheathe weapons in the same round by using both the movement phase and the action phase
    • Knobkerrie now has range limits of 30/60 instead of 15/60
    • Amulet of Shared Discipline is now Swift
    • Shield of Mystic Reflection is lower rank but doesn't stop you from being targeted
  • Mystic spheres
    • The Bless mystic sphere has been renamed to Prayer, and now includes curses
  • Feats
    • Celestial Heritage: Rebuke Evil now has simpler scaling
    • Creature Handling Specialization: Battleforged Companion now also grants special monster defense bonus scaling
    • Entropist: Sudden Entropy now has simpler scaling
    • Ghostblade: Strike-based abilities now only work in melee
    • Juggernaut: Trample now has simpler scaling
    • Medicine Specialization: Slightly worse at removing vital wounds
    • Spellwarped: Only requires Willpower 2 instead of Willpower 3
    • Sphere Focus - Chronomancy: Thief of Time now only affects land speed
    • Sphere Focus - Toxicology: Cleanse Toxins no longer scales
    • Telepath: Mental Assault has been redesigned to deal damage, Read Mind has higher accuracy, and telepathy range now scales at 21st level
    • Two-Weapon Fighting: Explicitly no longer allows treating a shield as a weapon
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