Hello Paizo faithfuls and welcome to the new and improved PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! What’s different, you ask? Very little! You’re still coming here to catch up on all the news and updates coming from your favorite OGL publisher, and of course for the completely unsolicited opinions of the author. Now, let’s see what’s in store!
The big news today is the continuing update of the Pathfinder Playtest! The fourth part of the Playtest, its update, and the Playtest Scenario that go with it was released this Monday. Dive into The Mirrored Moon and reprise your roles from the first Playtest Scenario as you quest deeper into the Thicketfell. You can download the adventure and files on the main site, and read up on the playtest changes here!
What’s the news for this update? Officially, we’ve got quite a bunch to chew on. Skill bonuses have been tweaked, so now untrained bonuses equal ECL-4. Hopefully, this should mean that characters that don’t specialize, don’t accidentally end up overshadowing the characters who invest a lot of points in a skill. In theory, skill DCs have also been tinkered with to improve the investment-to-success rate and advancement-to-success rate as well (but more on that later).
What else? Oh, yes, characters’ death and dying! My favorite. UNFORTUNATELY, it seems as if you've all been DYING too much, so the devs have changed what happens when you come back for another round. Instead of the slowed condition, you now gain the “wounded” condition when you’re revived. No more penalties for getting your bell rung, but from now on, your dying condition gets worse depending on how “wounded” you are. To help deal with that, the Medicine skill can now be used to patch up up to six of your whining companions. Here’s to you, clerics!
And now the news you’ve all been waiting for, you munchkins: multiclassing! This update includes playtest material for all 12 multiclassing archetypes, as well as some revisions to existing multiclassing rules. I hear good things about bard/sorcerer and bard/paladin in the forums!
Now, I know you folks have been wanting to hear more about this whole “Resonance” thing that’s been bubbling around, but unfortunately that’s still in the development process. The devs are working feverishly to get in finished by the time the playtest finishes, but in the meantime there will be another release of the Raiders of the Shrieking Peak Playtest Scenario using the resonance system to give it a whirl.
How about we take a peek into the comments? Hmm hmmm…OH that was a bad idea. We’ve found some gems, however! Speaking of skill DCs, it looks like due to some mix-ups and miscommunications, you’ll actually find that the DCs have gone UP instead of down. Hold on to your butts and break out your lucky d20’s until that gets fixed, folks! That said, the principles behind the changes are solid; Mark Seifter confirms that investing in skills during character advancement will in fact result in increased success rates, contrary to some of the form maths.
That about does it for this edition of the PAIZO NEWS ROUDUP, folks! Keep an eye out here for more news and updates from the Golem as they come out. What are your thoughts on the Resonance system? What do you want to see in 2E that those Paizo Forum people aren’t bringing up? What’s your favorite multiclass combination, you MUNCHKIN? Until next time, hash it out in the comments!
This article was contributed by Ben Reece (LongGoneWrier) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
The big news today is the continuing update of the Pathfinder Playtest! The fourth part of the Playtest, its update, and the Playtest Scenario that go with it was released this Monday. Dive into The Mirrored Moon and reprise your roles from the first Playtest Scenario as you quest deeper into the Thicketfell. You can download the adventure and files on the main site, and read up on the playtest changes here!
What’s the news for this update? Officially, we’ve got quite a bunch to chew on. Skill bonuses have been tweaked, so now untrained bonuses equal ECL-4. Hopefully, this should mean that characters that don’t specialize, don’t accidentally end up overshadowing the characters who invest a lot of points in a skill. In theory, skill DCs have also been tinkered with to improve the investment-to-success rate and advancement-to-success rate as well (but more on that later).
What else? Oh, yes, characters’ death and dying! My favorite. UNFORTUNATELY, it seems as if you've all been DYING too much, so the devs have changed what happens when you come back for another round. Instead of the slowed condition, you now gain the “wounded” condition when you’re revived. No more penalties for getting your bell rung, but from now on, your dying condition gets worse depending on how “wounded” you are. To help deal with that, the Medicine skill can now be used to patch up up to six of your whining companions. Here’s to you, clerics!
And now the news you’ve all been waiting for, you munchkins: multiclassing! This update includes playtest material for all 12 multiclassing archetypes, as well as some revisions to existing multiclassing rules. I hear good things about bard/sorcerer and bard/paladin in the forums!
Now, I know you folks have been wanting to hear more about this whole “Resonance” thing that’s been bubbling around, but unfortunately that’s still in the development process. The devs are working feverishly to get in finished by the time the playtest finishes, but in the meantime there will be another release of the Raiders of the Shrieking Peak Playtest Scenario using the resonance system to give it a whirl.
How about we take a peek into the comments? Hmm hmmm…OH that was a bad idea. We’ve found some gems, however! Speaking of skill DCs, it looks like due to some mix-ups and miscommunications, you’ll actually find that the DCs have gone UP instead of down. Hold on to your butts and break out your lucky d20’s until that gets fixed, folks! That said, the principles behind the changes are solid; Mark Seifter confirms that investing in skills during character advancement will in fact result in increased success rates, contrary to some of the form maths.
That about does it for this edition of the PAIZO NEWS ROUDUP, folks! Keep an eye out here for more news and updates from the Golem as they come out. What are your thoughts on the Resonance system? What do you want to see in 2E that those Paizo Forum people aren’t bringing up? What’s your favorite multiclass combination, you MUNCHKIN? Until next time, hash it out in the comments!
This article was contributed by Ben Reece (LongGoneWrier) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. We are always on the lookout for freelance columnists! If you have a pitch, please contact us!
