Dirty Tactics Toolbox: Is It Worth It?

[Palanan]

I’m looking to round out an Amazon order, and I’m wondering if the Dirty Tactics Toolbox is worthwhile. I don’t have much experience with the Toolbox line of supplements, so I don’t have a benchmark for comparison.

In general, is there enough useful material to make it worth my time and loose change? When it came out, most of the discussion seemed to center around one particular feat, but I'd like to know if there's anything besides that one feat that would justify the purchase.

[Kurald Galain]

That depends entirely on what you're looking for and what class(es) you usually play.

[Psyren]

Only you can really answer whether it's worthwhile to you, but I can list the useful stuff I found in it:

- Feats for poison-using characters
- Monk of the Mantis
- Accomplished Sneak Attacker
- Flexible Foe
- Friendly Shroud
- Dirty Fighting
- Superior Dirty Trick
- Equipment Tricks

Of course, all that is mechanics and thus available online for free. But the main reasons I buy PDFs are:

- Early Access (doesn't apply here)
- Easier to browse (helpful for the Equipment Tricks and items in particular)
- Artwork (Meh for this book)
- Supporting Paizo (not sure if this one matters as much to you or not)

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Psyren
…I can list the useful stuff I found in it:

Thanks for the list of specifics, that’s extremely helpful. Some of these look interesting, others situational, others a little iffy. (Is an extra 1d6 on sneak attack really worth a feat?)

I’m running a campaign which is low-level and (for the moment) fairly low-magic, so I’m mainly looking for options to make tougher challenges for a second-level party. A Monk of the Mantis could be fun to throw at them.


Originally Posted by Psyren
Easier to browse (helpful for the Equipment Tricks and items in particular)

This is my main reason--I find books much easier to look through, and I prefer a physical book in general.

Pity about the artwork, but after Sword and Fist I can handle just about anything. :smalltongue:

[Psyren]

Thanks for the list of specifics, that’s extremely helpful. Some of these look interesting, others situational, others a little iffy. (Is an extra 1d6 on sneak attack really worth a feat?)

Yes it is, primarily for early qualification. For example, this feat allows you to get into say Arcane Trickster and only lose 1 caster level.



This is my main reason--I find books much easier to look through, and I prefer a physical book in general.

Pity about the artwork, but after Sword and Fist I can handle just about anything. :smalltongue:

For the record, it's not bad. It's just that the Player Companions tend to be a bit spartan.

[Florian]

The "Toolbox" Player Companions might be amongst the least used books at my table, closely followed by the "Heroes of" series. The narrow focus mostly means that a lot of the options are simply to specialized for more regular builds, as most of my players don´t go too deep into building one-trick ponies.

[Kurald Galain]

(Is an extra 1d6 on sneak attack really worth a feat?)
Yes, basically every multiclassed rogue wants that, as does every class that has slower SA progression.

[Tuvarkz]

Your table doesn't allow grabbing material from online databases like Archives of Nethys or the pfsrd? Might come in more useful to do that, and tbh unless the entire book or most of it is quality material, it's not worth your money.

[Psyren]

Your table doesn't allow grabbing material from online databases like Archives of Nethys or the pfsrd? Might come in more useful to do that, and tbh unless the entire book or most of it is quality material, it's not worth your money.

Generally this works, but if you play PFS you need to have the books or watermarked PDFs for your character to be legal. If the book itself has less straightforward reading material (e.g. Unchained or Ultimate Campaign's subsystems) then trying to grok it from a website can be more taxing as well.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Tuvarkz
…unless the entire book or most of it is quality material, it's not worth your money.

This is pretty much what I’m asking—whether most of the book is quality material.

It sounds like some of it is pretty good, but I’m still open to hearing whether most of it is decent.


Originally Posted by Psyren
If the book itself has less straightforward reading material (e.g. Unchained or Ultimate Campaign's subsystems) then trying to grok it from a website can be more taxing as well.

Another good reason to buy the book, at least for me. I find the text of game mechanics to be difficult to puzzle out sometimes, and it’s easier for me to work with a hardcopy.