Take A Look At Pathfinder 2's Revamped Magic System!

This blog post got me hyped! Everything in here looks awesome, especially the formatting of the spells, which is very nostalgic for me as a 4e fan.

 

[Morrus]

The latest Pathfinder 2 blog delves into the magic system! Learn about how spells work, how components and actions interact, how to "heighten" a spell, cast a cantrip, learn about 10th level spells and rituals, and see a few sample spells!

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This is quite an in-depth blog post, and it's easier to click through to it rather than have me repeat all the information. You can find it here. There's a lot to take in there!

The third comment by JRutterbush is very interesting. They speculate that there will be four spell lists (Mental, Spiritual, Material, Vital) and that different classes will get access to a portion of those lists.

 

[RangerWickett]

Regenerate should be a much lower level spell, and limbs should get chopped off a lot more often.

 

[Ancalagon]

Regenerate should be a much lower level spell, and limbs should get chopped off a lot more often.

Then it would be just like Warhammer... well the limb chopping part. Warhammer has peg-legs though!

 

[Koloth]

Have to wonder if that 7th level Regenerate spell can be undone by 1pt of acid damage from that 0 lvl Ray of Acid cantrip? If so, would seem to contradict the stuff about high level spells being more resistant to low level spells.

Will the Bard's playing a violin to satisfy the verbal action still work in an area of silence?

Since they are called Actions, do the verbal, somatic and material actions use any of the three actions in a round?

Hope they include as a downloadable document a cross reference of spell names so we can figure out that Cure Wounds is now Heal.

 

[Aldarc]

Since they are called Actions, do the verbal, somatic and material actions use any of the three actions in a round?

Yes. So if an action has Verbal and Somatic "components/actions" that would require two of your three actions to perform each action.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Spell points? That changes radically the occultist and the psionic powers.

 

[turkeygiant]

Have to wonder if that 7th level Regenerate spell can be undone by 1pt of acid damage from that 0 lvl Ray of Acid cantrip? If so, would seem to contradict the stuff about high level spells being more resistant to low level spells.

Will the Bard's playing a violin to satisfy the verbal action still work in an area of silence?

Since they are called Actions, do the verbal, somatic and material actions use any of the three actions in a round?

Hope they include as a downloadable document a cross reference of spell names so we can figure out that Cure Wounds is now Heal.

I think it is a mistake to think of cantrips as a 0 lvl. spell now when with scaling they are more like a max current level spell that doesn't use up a slot. But I see your point if a say lvl. 1 acid damage spell could negate regenerate, maybe you should have to take a certain amount of acid/fire damage in a turn before regenerate is stopped?

 

[Kobold Boots]

Have to wonder if that 7th level Regenerate spell can be undone by 1pt of acid damage from that 0 lvl Ray of Acid cantrip? If so, would seem to contradict the stuff about high level spells being more resistant to low level spells.

If I read the article correctly, cantrips now cast at the highest level of casting that a caster can use. So if you're casting that 7th level regen, your cantrip casts at 7th level. I'd imagine that lower level casters are going to have a hard time offsetting higher level spells.

Will the Bard's playing a violin to satisfy the verbal action still work in an area of silence?

No example to go on so who knows, but I'd wager that non-magical sounds would not work, but if the magic on an instrument were stronger than the casting level of area of silence, boom.

Since they are called Actions, do the verbal, somatic and material actions use any of the three actions in a round?

Unlikely as previous material has classified some spells as costing one action, some costing two due to length of casting and now we've seen rituals. While they could get that granular and say that spells with only one component are one action and those with two are two actions, It feels like that's too complicated for where they're going.

Hope they include as a downloadable document a cross reference of spell names so we can figure out that Cure Wounds is now Heal.

No opinion here. I'd rather read the rulebook fully.

 

[Blue]

In the playtest, cantrips are spells you can cast at will, but they are no longer level 0. Instead, they automatically heighten to the highest spell level you can currently cast. That means if you're 5th level, your ray of frost is 3rd level and deals more damage, and your light cantrip is better at counteracting magical darkness.

Oh, I like this a great deal. It avoids the whole "dip warlock for full EB", while still keeping it real for full casters. And yes, I'm okay if half-casters or those who multiclass to non-casting classes don't have cantrips advancing at full character level speed.