Actions: P
11 actions, from Palm an Object to Pursue a Lead.
Palm an Object · Pander to the Crowd · Perform · Pick a Lock · Pistolero's Retort · Point Out · Pointed Question · Position the Hunters · Practical Research · Psychic Defense · Pursue a Lead
Palm an Object
Skill Thievery (untrained)
Palming a small, unattended object without being noticed requires you to roll a single Thievery check against the Perception DCs of all creatures who are currently observing you. You take the object whether or not you successfully conceal that you did so. You can typically only Palm Objects of negligible Bulk, though the GM might determine otherwise depending on the situation.
Success The creature does not notice you Palming the Object.Failure The creature notices you Palming the Object, and the GM determines the creature's response.Core Rulebook, page 253.
Pander to the Crowd
Requirements This is your first action in a gladiatorial match, or you've damaged or visibly impeded a foe while fighting a gladiatorial match.
With a mocking gesture, a triumphant flourish, or a bold challenge, you inspire the crowd to cheer you on. Attempt an Acrobatics, Athletics, Intimidation, or Performance check, with a DC typically set by the encounter's level. Crowds grow bored with repetition though; and attempting to Pander to the Crowd using the same skill that was used the last time someone used this action imposes a –2 circumstance penalty on the check. If you critically succeeded at an attack roll this turn, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your Pander to the Crowd attempt.
Critical Success The crowd goes wild! You can either give yourself a +3 status bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and skill checks until the end of your next turn, or give yourself and all your allies a +2 status bonus to the same rolls until the end of your next turn.Success You appeal to the crowd. As critical success, but the bonus is +2 just for you, or +1 for you and your allies.Failure You don't make an impression.Critical Failure Your pandering is laughable, and the crowd begins to favor your opponents. The next creature hostile to you that attempts to Pander to the Crowd gains a +4 circumstance bonus to the check.Perform
Skill Performance (untrained)
When making a brief performance—one song, a quick dance, or a few jokes—you use the Perform action. This action is most useful when you want to prove your capability or impress someone quickly. Performing rarely has an impact on its own, but it might influence the DCs of subsequent Diplomacy checks against the observers—or even change their attitudes—if the GM sees fit.
Critical Success Your performance impresses the observers, and they're likely to share stories of your ability.Success You prove yourself, and observers appreciate the quality of your performance.Failure Your performance falls flat.Critical Failure You demonstrate only incompetence.Core Rulebook, page 250.
Pick a Lock
Skill Thievery (trained)
Requirements You have thieves' tools.
Opening a lock without a key is very similar to Disabling a Device, but the DC of the check is determined by the complexity and construction of the lock you are attempting to pick (locks and their DCs are found on page 290). Locks of higher qualities might require multiple successes to unlock, since otherwise even an unskilled burglar could easily crack the lock by attempting the check until they rolled a natural 20. If you lack the proper tools, the GM might let you used improvised picks, which are treated as shoddy tools, depending on the specifics of the lock.
Critical Success You unlock the lock, or you achieve two successes toward opening a complex lock. You leave no trace of your tampering.Success You open the lock, or you achieve one success toward opening a complex lock.Critical Failure You break your tools. Fixing them requires using Crafting to Repair them or else swapping in replacement picks (costing 3 sp, or 3 gp for infiltrator thieves' tools).Core Rulebook, page 253.
Pistolero's Retort
Class Gunslinger; Subclass Pistolero
Trigger A foe within the first range increment of the onehanded firearm or one-handed crossbow you're wielding critically fails an attack roll against you.
Requirements You're wielding a one-handed firearm or one-handed crossbow.
You punish your foe's failure with a shot. Make a Strike against the triggering foe with a one-handed firearm or one-handed crossbow.
Guns & Gears, page 108.
Point Out
Requirements A creature is undetected by one or more of your allies but isn't undetected by you.
You indicate a creature that you can see to one or more allies, gesturing in a direction and describing the distance verbally. That creature is hidden to your allies, rather than undetected. This works only for allies who can see you and are in a position where they could potentially detect the target. If your allies can't hear or understand you, they must succeed at a Perception check against the creature's Stealth DC or they misunderstand and believe the target is in a different location.
Core Rulebook, page 472.
Pointed Question
Class Investigator; Subclass Interrogation
Frequency once per 10 minutes
You ask a question that charms or needles someone in just the right way. Ask a question of a non-allied creature that you can see and have been conversing with. Attempt a Diplomacy check against the creature's Will DC. The creature is then temporarily immune for 1 hour.
Critical Success The target must directly answer your question. It doesn't have to answer truthfully, but you gain a +4 circumstance bonus to your Perception DC if the creature attempts to Lie to you.Success As critical success, but the circumstance bonus is +2.Failure The target can refuse to answer you as normal.Critical Failure The target can refuse to answer you as normal, and its attitude toward you decreases by one step due to your aggravating attention.Advanced Player’s Guide, page 58.
Position the Hunters
With the target game animals located, you must move to an advantageous position without startling the prey. Attempt a Stealth check. Against an impressive and dangerous find, the DC is 25. Against standard game, it's DC 20. Against river turtles, bats, and lesser game, it's DC 15.
Critical Success The animals have no indication that they are in danger, and you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to rolls made during the hunting phase.Success You position yourself well and take no penalty when Hunting.Failure Your loud and clumsy movements alert the animals to your presence, and you take a –2 circumstance penalty to rolls made during the hunting phase.Critical Failure You stumble loudly and startle the majority of the animals, which escape and leave the party with very few animals to catch. The party loses 2 IP.Age of Ashes #2: Cult of Cinders, page 20.
Practical Research
Requirements You are a conversant or lore-speaker.
You identify something interesting in the field and perform special research on it. This requires an appropriate check, which the GM will describe when the opportunity arises. The results of the check vary. While they typically include all the benefits of the Study activity, some opportunities for Practical Research also offer unique benefits, such as access to new character options.
Strength of Thousands #1: Kindled Magic, page 63.
Psychic Defense
Trigger Your opponent uses a psychic manifestation against you.
Requirements You're in a psychic duel and are psychically centered.
You gain the benefit matching your psychic center against the triggering manifestation. Then your psychic center is expended.
Armor of Insight (Perception): Sensing the incoming attack, you make your mind resist psychic harm. You gain resistance equal to half your level (minimum 1) to mental damage against the triggering effect. This resistance is doubled if you're a master in Perception and tripled if you're legendary.
Empathic Orbit (Diplomacy): Displaying empathy, you sow doubt in your attacker to diminish their resolve for psychic combat. The opponent is stupefied 1 until the end of their next turn or stupefied 2 if you're legendary in Diplomacy.
Ire's Spear (Intimidation): Blazing anger surges in your mind, causing backlash to anyone who harms you. If the manifestation damages you, the opponent takes damage equal to the counteract level of the manifestation it used against you. This damage is doubled if you're a master of Intimidation or tripled if you're legendary.
Rational Labyrinth (Occultism): Analytically breaking down the attack, you realign your mind's defenses into a puzzle designed to confound it. You gain a +2 status bonus to your Will save or Will DC, or a +4 status bonus if the effect has the emotion trait.
Sensory Phantasm (Deception): Using your guile, you send psychic illusions through your mental link to your foe, making yourself harder to pinpoint. You're concealed against the opponent until the end of its next turn.
Dark Archive, page 201.
Pursue a Lead
Class Investigator
Frequency once per 10 minutes
You name one detail you've identified that you think is part of a larger mystery, then spend 1 minute examining it. The detail is typically either obvious or something you've already discovered using Recall Knowledge, Sense Motive, Gather Information, or a similar action. After the minute passes, the GM either confirms there's a larger mystery or tells you there's nothing more to learn (the detail is inconsequential or you know all the information already). If there is in fact a larger mystery at play, you can't Pursue a Lead again for 10 minutes, but you can choose to open an investigation. To do so, define the question at the heart of the mystery, such as "Where has the priceless work of art that was supposed to hang here been taken?" or "Who or what killed this priest?" Work with your GM to refine the question if need be. You can also give your investigation a name to better keep track of it (such as "The Case of the Cheated Goblin" or "The Flayhook Murders").
Investigation Bonus Whenever you attempt a Perception check or skill check to attempt to get closer to answering the question at the heart of an active investigation, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to the check. The exact checks this applies to depend on the actions you use to investigate and are determined by the GM, but checks to investigate are typically Perception checks or skill checks that use Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.
Active Investigations You can maintain two active investigations at a time. If you Pursue another Lead after that, the case must be different from any of your current investigations (as far as you are aware), and you give up on a current investigation of your choice. Once you've given up pursuit of an investigation, you can't Pursue a Lead into it again until after the next time you make your daily preparations.
Solving an Investigation If you answer the question at the heart of your investigation, the GM tells you that you've done so. You don't lose the bonus or other benefits until you choose to close the investigation by Pursuing a Lead again or voluntarily Dismissing it. If what you discover points to an even larger mystery, you can work with the GM to adapt the question and name of the investigation to the new information.
Player Core 2, page 100.