Pathfinder 2E Problems with percieved overpowered encounters in Pathfinder 1e+2e?

[Justice and Rule]

read vehicle combat rules.

I did! There's nothing mentioned of what you talk about! It took me following the path to Object Immunities, at which point I saw where they talked about items normally have to be directly targeted. Given that you are directing me to the vehicle rules, I suspect you actually didn't read it yourself and are getting this from someone else.

However, your problem is solved by reading the section on "Areas":

Some effects occupy an area of a specified shape and size. An area effect always has a point of origin and extends out from that point. There are four types of areas: emanations, bursts, cones, and lines. When you’re playing in encounter mode and using a grid, areas are measured in the same way as movement (page 463), but areas’ distances are never reduced or affected by difficult terrain (page 475) or lesser cover (page 476). You can use the diagrams below as common reference templates for areas, rather than measuring squares each time. Many area effects describe only the effects on creatures in the area. The GM determines any effects to the environment and unattended objects.

It's up to the GM as to how something would be effected by something like that, so you can totally say that a wall of fire would affect a ship that is going through it, RAW.

 

[nevin]

Wall of Fire: A wall of fire cast on the deck of a ship moves with the ship and can start on-board fires. Otherwise, the wall does not move with the ship, and does not start on-board fires

Fire Storm, Flame Strike: These spells do not start fires on a ship unless the ship rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against fire damage.

instantaneous spells do not start fires on ships. So no mythic fireball's burning it up either.

here's a couple of the first edition changes to spells. I'll have to dig for 2e stuff I don't know it as well

 

[Justice and Rule]

Wall of Fire: A wall of fire cast on the deck of a ship moves with the ship and can start on-board fires. Otherwise, the wall does not move with the ship, and does not start on-board fires

Fire Storm, Flame Strike: These spells do not start fires on a ship unless the ship rolls a natural 1 on its saving throw against fire damage.

instantaneous spells do not start fires on ships. So no mythic fireball's burning it up either.

here's a couple of the first edition changes to spells. I'll have to dig for 2e stuff I don't know it as well

Wall of Fire

You raise a blazing wall that burns creatures passing through it. You create either a 5-foot-thick wall of flame in a straight line up to 60 feet long and 10 feet high, or a 5-foot-thick, 10-foot-radius ring of flame with the same height. The wall stands vertically in either form; if you wish, the wall can be of a shorter length or height. Everything on each side of the wall is concealed from creatures on the opposite side. Any creature that crosses the wall or is occupying the wall's area at the start of its turn takes 4d6 fire damage.

Flame Strike

You call a rain of divine fire that plummets down from above, dealing 8d6 fire damage. Because the flame is infused with divine energy, creatures in the area apply only half their usual fire resistance. Creatures that are immune to fire, instead of gaining the usual benefit of immunity, treat the results of their saving throws as one degree of success better.

Neither talks about what happens to other objects because, as I already quoted, that's up to the GM under the RAW.

 

[nevin]

I posted the skull and shackles rules from paizo above you that contradict the spell descriptions. Somewhere in there it specifically states that if a spell with a duration isn't attached to the ship it can't start a fire. PERIOD>

 

[Justice and Rule]

I posted the skull and shackles rules from paizo above you that contradict the spell descriptions. Somewhere in there it specifically states that if a spell with a duration isn't attached to the ship it can't start a fire. PERIOD>

That's great and all, but I posted the rules for 2E and they don't conform to what you say. In fact, they say the GM can use their best judgment on their effects, so I don't really see the problem. If anything, it seems like they fixed something.

 

[Lojaan]

That wall of fire/boat example is so niche it's bizarre.

 

[Retreater]

Once we played Steading of the Hill Giant Chief in a more modern rules set (I think 3.x). Our wizard cast Fly and flew a high distance above the wooden structure. (I think you see what's happening.)
Four Walls of Fire boxed in the fort, trapping all inside. The wizard sustained the spells until the structures were destroyed and every giant killed.
So there you have a classic adventure "solved" with the casting of five spells by a single player.
And that is why spells don't destroy structures by default.
Also, it's a case of "do you want your enemies to have that power?"
Let's say your characters are on a boat, far in the ocean. Have yourself an enemy wizard on a rowboat with Invisibility Sphere cast on it, Wall of Fire in their boat until everyone is dead, and the players can do nothing about it.
Sounds fun, right?

 

[payn]

Once we played Steading of the Hill Giant Chief in a more modern rules set (I think 3.x). Our wizard cast Fly and flew a high distance above the wooden structure. (I think you see what's happening.)
Four Walls of Fire boxed in the fort, trapping all inside. The wizard sustained the spells until the structures were destroyed and every giant killed.
So there you have a classic adventure "solved" with the casting of five spells by a single player.
And that is why spells don't destroy structures by default.
Also, it's a case of "do you want your enemies to have that power?"
Let's say your characters are on a boat, far in the ocean. Have yourself an enemy wizard on a rowboat with Invisibility Sphere cast on it, Wall of Fire in their boat until everyone is dead, and the players can do nothing about it.
Sounds fun, right?

This is pretty much why I dont like high level play. You need to account for this kind of thing constantly.

 

[Thomas Shey]

This is pretty much why I dont like high level play. You need to account for this kind of thing constantly.

Honestly, this sort of thing has been a risk by even moderate levels with D&D since forever. Its like the ability for various things to destroy travel concerns and information gathering. If I want to avoid that sort of thing, I tend to just not use a D&D derivative.

Edit: That said, 3e and on changed the slope of this seriously, because they decided (rightly, I believe) that it was perverse to have higher level things that only a subset of players would ever see.

 

[payn]

Honestly, this sort of thing has been a risk by even moderate levels with D&D since forever. Its like the ability for various things to destroy travel concerns and information gathering. If I want to avoid that sort of thing, I tend to just not use a D&D derivative.

Edit: That said, 3e and on changed the slope of this seriously, because they decided (rightly, I believe) that it was perverse to have higher level things that only a subset of players would ever see.

Agreed. I was a big fan of E6 in the 3E era. In PF1 I don’t mind to about 12.