It’s LAUNCH DAY For The Pathfinder 2 Playtest!

Today’s the day! You can now download the Pathfinder 2nd Edition playtest book!

Head on over to Paizo.com to download it for free.

Its tinged with a little sadness for those of us who preordered the hard copy, as issues with Amazon means that our copies have been delayed by an indefinite amount.

’’When Paizo was planning this year's Pathfinder Playtest, we expected to exceed our own ability to fulfill orders on a timely basis, so we decided to use Fulfillment by Amazon. Unfortunately, Amazon's reports indicate that most customers will not be receiving their orders by tomorrow's release date. They shipped 3 orders on July 28, 3 more on July 29, and no orders on July 30 or 31. Today, they have shipped almost 10% of the outstanding orders, and they are continuing to ship through the night and into tomorrow. They have so far been unable to tell us when they will complete shipping.”

However, at least the PDFs are still available for free in the meantime.

Adventure chapters are also available alongside the rule book, with the first being available today. They are as follows:

1. The Lost Star, Aug 7 - Aug 26 (Also available at Gen Con on Aug 2.)
2. In Pale Mountain’s Shadow, Aug 7 - Sep 9
3. Affair At Sombrefell Hall, Sep 10 - Sep 23
4. The Mirrored Moon, Sep 24 - Oct 8
5. The Heroes Of Undarin, Oct 9 - Oct 21
6. Red Flags, Oct 22 - Nov 4
7. When The Stars Go Dark, Nov 5 - Nov 18

 

[Arakasius]

As for the edition wars I think too many people here have this thought that the final game is done and have basically said this is the shipped version. While I disagree with many of Jester's criticisms (but agree with others), if you opt out of the playtest than you opt out of your influence to change the game to be more like you want it to be. Also many of the issues you stated just because of reading the rules but not actually playing might be invalid. Similarly you might find issues with the game that you didn't notice on your reading of the rules. That is what the playtest is for afterall.

Also for those who've decided this is the final game look back at the history of the first Pathfinder beta. They put a lot of experimental rules in there that were walked back before the final game was printed. Similarly they clearly came out at the start of this process that when they put some systems in they tried the more extreme version first. Who knows if they have a more PF1 magic system back in there instead of resonance or something different from the new archetyping. That is what the playtest is for. But I think Paizo does want to make the best game they can and will change stuff if they're convinced by the community. (more important to me is the collaboration with all the third party writers/freelancers they already work on with PF1)

 

[CapnZapp]

I honestly can’t see how one can compare PF1 and 5e and see in both games a game where mobility is encouraged until you get to level 6 and suddenly the best thing for every martial class to do is to just never move. It makes boring static battlefields that are just a slog. No one can move because fear of AoO and because moving cripples your fighting power. I’ve not seen a defense of that level of staticness that holds. It’s just not fun gameplay.

One of the best things about 5E is how it encourages a fluid battle, simply by not forcing you to choose between movement and basic effectiveness...

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I honestly can’t see how one can compare PF1 and 5e and see in both games a game where mobility is encouraged until you get to level 6 and suddenly the best thing for every martial class to do is to just never move. It makes boring static battlefields that are just a slog. No one can move because fear of AoO and because moving cripples your fighting power. I’ve not seen a defense of that level of staticness that holds. It’s just not fun gameplay.

I never thought until I ran 5e about how much the Full Attack Option nailed fighters into place. I thought that the lack of feats, mods, and whatnot that applied to positioning would mean that there is no point in moving during a fight only to find that there was so much more movement going on.

 

[Henry]

I never thought until I ran 5e about how much the Full Attack Option nailed fighters into place. I thought that the lack of feats, mods, and whatnot that applied to positioning would mean that there is no point in moving during a fight only to find that there was so much more movement going on.

For a recent PF1 game, we did some house ruling experimentation that gave combatants full attacks during moves with no penalties for movement, like 5e. (we still kept Op attacks the same, unlike 5e's op attacks.) Movement on the battlefield even at low level dramatically increased. Similarly in our first PF2 game, due to lack of op attacks by most foes, we had people running up, striking, and moving away frequently, followed by foes following suit, the battlefield was much more mobile than our usual PF1 and 3.x games. No matter what we use for our future games in 2019, for our groups I think some version of more mobile melee
combat is going to be there, whether it's 5e, PF2, or a heavily houseruled PF1.

 

[zztong]

Taking out full attacks and attacks of opportunity are only good for players that don't like it. My tables like that level of combat. Otherwise it feels dumbed down for the masses.

I like Attacks of Opportunity too, but I admit it isn't always perfect, nor is making them Fighter-unique.

AOO's really shine in simulating a large-scale fight where formations matter or when you're trying to do something like breach a gap in a wall that is well defended. Where they really fall short is simulating a 1 vs 1, or 2 vs 1 combat, where mobility comes more into play. Most RPG fights take place in a gap between the two when AOOs would be situationally appropriate with rules that would be too complex to be appealing.

If you want something more gritty, use AOOs for everyone. If you want something more cinematic go with few AOOs.

Most PF2 fans appear to want super heroic and cinematic.

 

[mellored]

One of the best things about 5E is how it encourages a fluid battle, simply by not forcing you to choose between movement and basic effectiveness...

I agree, but I also like PF2's sliding trade-off even better.

i.e. You're slightly (-10 attack) more effective if you don't move.


It wouldn't be hard to add into 5e either. With an even better sliding scale.
Fancy Footwork: You can spend your movement to dance and feint, confusing your enemy and giving you an opening. You gain +1 to hit on your next attack this turn for each 10' of movement you use this way.