It's a bit harsh that drawing a sword is an entire action, but i like the simplicity.
I don't know how harsh spending "an entire action" on something really is when you get three of them, though. In 5e, you can move up to your speed, draw a weapon, and attack in one turn. In PF2, you'll be able to do the same. Or, if you already have your weapon drawn, you can move and attack twice, with the second attack being at -5.
I will also be surprised if there isn't a Quickdraw Feat that allows you to draw a weapon without spending an action.
I wonder how bows, crossbows and drawing ammunition/thrown weapons is going to work?
I would assume action to draw your bow, action to load your bow, action to fire. If you've already got your bow drawn, action to load it, action to fire, and a third acton free to do something else like move. I wouldn't be surprised if you can spend an action aiming a ranged attack for a bonus. At least as a Feat if not as a standard option.
btw attacks are at -0> -5> -10 unless it is an agile (less damage?) weapon then -0> -2> -4
That's what it sounds like.
My major concern is that this will have the same problems as 5e's action economy but worse. When absolutely everything you do is competing for the same scarce resource, it becomes much harder to design classes that internally mesh. As someone else I know put it, the 5e Ranger is *less* than the sum of its parts, because most of its Ranger-y mechanics depend on Bonus actions, and you only get one. If a Wizard summons a dretch with a 2-action attack, do they just stop doing anything *as a Wizard* in order to move and use that attack?
If you want to move and use that 2-action spell? Yeah. Or you could use that 2-action spell and a 1-action spell and not move. How is that different than only being able to move and take one action? The only difference I see is that it gives you the option of sacrificing your movement to do even more spells on one turn. Seems like all upside to me.
Does a Ranger end up being unable to move, move their pet, and have both make attacks?
That will depend on how they handle animal companions. 5e is extremely gunshy about letting Player-controlled NPCs have their own independent actions (especially early in 5e's run, they've lightened up on it a bit since then). I kind of doubt PF2 will be quite so conservative with NPC actions, but we'll have to wait and see. I'd bet that the ranger's animal companion will have 3 actions of its own that it takes on its own turn.
The usual answer to much if this is to make special combined actions, but that makes a mockery of the so-called simplicity. Sure, you only have 3 actions, but with X class and Y feat and Z item, that lets you cast 2 V/S spells *and* move, while Joe Fighter who just took Power Attack and a Bag of Holding can't draw his weapon, move, make one attack, and get ANY benefit from his shield.
That's definitely something worth being concerned about, given Pathfinder's track record. We'll have to keep an eye out for such exploits when the playtest releases and give feedback about such things if they pop up.
So if you can already attack 3 times at say third level, what's thenfighter doing at higher levels? I'm asking for someone who might have heard it or read it cause I'm not interested enough in their game design to read it myself.
Well it's not out yet, so no one has read it yet. There was a podcast where some folks got to play a session with the playtest rules, but it was at 1st level, so no way to know at this point what fighter characters will do with their actions at higher levels. My guess would be, since it sounded like you add your character's level to a lot of rolls that attack rolls with proficient weapons will be one of those things, and that higher level fighters won't get more attacks, but they will have a much better chance of hitting with consecutive attacks. Attacking twice or three times seems like kind of a waste of actions at 1st level, since successive attacks take a cumulative -5 penalty (or a cumulative -2 penalty if the weapon is "agile.") So, sure, you could attack three times starting at first level, but since the second attack is not super likely to hit and the third is almost definitely going to miss, you're probably better off attacking once, taking a guarded step back, and then moving your speed away, or something like that. At higher levels, those subsequent attacks will become worth actually considering. And of course, high level characters will likely have more Class Feats, which could help high-level Fighters in combat in other ways than just more attacks.
