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

 

[CapnZapp]

Then you'll likely be covered over time but not at the playtest launch.

Pre-made NPC sources have long been a Paizo staple: Gamemastery Guide, NPC Codex, Alien Archive, etc.

Now I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, so I'll be brief:

I don't want someone else to craft super-cluttery complex NPCs. I want NPCs that are streamlined and purpose-made (lasting a single combat).

As I said, I want PF crunch for the players and 5E levels simplicity for the DM (even if WotC went too far, especially at high levels).

(At least when I'm the DM. I'll happily take d20 NPCs when I'm the player...)

 

[mewzard]

Now I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, so I'll be brief:

I don't want someone else to craft super-cluttery complex NPCs. I want NPCs that are streamlined and purpose-made (lasting a single combat).

As I said, I want PF crunch for the players and 5E levels simplicity for the DM (even if WotC went too far, especially at high levels).

(At least when I'm the DM. I'll happily take d20 NPCs when I'm the player...)

From what I remember reading from the devs in the various blog comments sections, it's set up so you can make NPCs quick and easy in a non-PC way, but you can still make NPCs like PCs if that's your preference, or you want to go crazy detailed for a major boss or what have you.

 

[Azgulor]

Now I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, so I'll be brief:

I don't want someone else to craft super-cluttery complex NPCs. I want NPCs that are streamlined and purpose-made (lasting a single combat).

As I said, I want PF crunch for the players and 5E levels simplicity for the DM (even if WotC went too far, especially at high levels).

(At least when I'm the DM. I'll happily take d20 NPCs when I'm the player...)

I see. But what you are calling "super-cluttery complex" I see as "rich and tactically satisfying". Paizo stated "making NPCs will be easier" as a design goal. They didn't say they would build to the kind of disparity you're seeking, but there are other games that do go that route. FantasyCraft comes to mind.

 

[mellored]

My initial, unplayed, impressions.


What I Like:

Balance between classes, and across levels. No quadratic wizards and fighter's get nice things (mirror shield FTW).

(Mostly) New options instead of +number. It's just more interesting to gain a new way to attack or move, than just +Cha to fire damage.

Evokers have more fireballs, not better fireballs. Ties to the above, but extra spells support casting fireballs, without encouraging casting ONLY fireballs. Or only having a "best" invoker build.

Class/Skill/Ancestor feat spit. Rounds out the game, and makes sure every character has a few dimensions.

MAD attributes. Picking 4 attributes really helps the oddball build and multi-classing. Monk/Wizard is now a realistic possibility. Reducing the bonus to +1 after 18, and the flexible stat for races are nice touches as well. I'd still rather just scrap attributes all together, but this isn't bad.

4 possible outcomes: nice to more than just a binary success/failure.

Proficiency range: -2 to +3 is a good range. Especially since +3 is very rare.



What I don't like:

+level scaling. While I like that everyone get's better at everything, I still want an army of low-level creatures to be able to be a threat to a high-level fighter. Reducing it to +half level would be much better.

The book's organization. This book has definition all over the place. For instance, "bomb" alchemical items should say "no cost" right in the description, just like a bunch of other items do. Instead, you need to look up the "bomb" definition to figure it out. Sure, this is the playtest with parts moving all around, but it really needs a good editor to clean and steamline the book for the final presentation.

TAC. Just seems unnecessary with all the other stats available. Why not just a Reflex save?

Resonance and item with per day use limits. Don't double dip on things to keep track of. Pick one or the other.

I worry about alchemist needing to use RP means they can't use magic items. (I do like the alchemist overall design and decision points though). Not sure if this is an actual problem in play.



All in all, this may be my favorite version.

 

[Jharet]

Changing the tactical nature of the gameplay ensures I won't playtest this and if it continues on course, will never buy into Pathfinder 2. It's been all but stated that casual gamers are the target audience anyway. Good luck with playtesting. I hope I am proved wrong in the long run.

 

[mewzard]

Changing the tactical nature of the gameplay ensures I won't playtest this and if it continues on course, will never buy into Pathfinder 2. It's been all but stated that casual gamers are the target audience anyway. Good luck with playtesting. I hope I am proved wrong in the long run.

What's wrong with how "the tactical nature of the gameplay" has been changed? Just curious as to what's not clicking for you to the point of not even giving it a shot.

PF2E still seems to have quite a lot of depth to it without being stuck with the bloat that the PF1 accumulated over the years (even ignoring the prior history as 3rd/3.5). It seems to have a good variety of options and several really interesting mechanics.

My Experiences with PF, 4E, and 5E resulted in PF being the closest to my ideal level of depth, choice, style and meat to the mechanics, but years of playing it have really shown me it's still a bit off. PF2E looks thus far to be a solid solution to that. Just need some proper playtesting to confirm.

 

[Jharet]

Put simply, they've changed the entire texture of combat. Attacks of Opportunity are limited to fighters and five foot step is no longer possible along with a full round action or three action equivalent. I and most of the people I play with like that interaction, so we're all put off by the new edition from the start. It seems like an innocuous change, but to those that prefer it, it is in fact monumental. The edition change is meant to cater to casual gamers. It's just depressing to me. I'm just focusing on collected the best of the third party content out there before it disappears.

 

[Mercurius]

A couple publishing related questions:

Have they given a timetable for when they hope to have the finished (playtested) version done? Wasn’t last time the gap about a year, so maybe GenCon 2019?

Any one know what their plans are for the dozens of hardcover supplements, not to mention adventure paths? I assume the Golarion supplements and adventure paths will just continue like they did through the 3.5 to PF change, but what about the hardcovers? That’s a lot of books to re-do...or maybe they are selective?

 

[Morrus]

A couple publishing related questions:

Have they given a timetable for when they hope to have the finished (playtested) version done? Wasn’t last time the gap about a year, so maybe GenCon 2019?

Exactly that.

Any one know what their plans are for the dozens of hardcover supplements, not to mention adventure paths? I assume the Golarion supplements and adventure paths will just continue like they did through the 3.5 to PF change, but what about the hardcovers? That’s a lot of books to re-do...or maybe they are selective?

Erik Mona has said they’re not going to just redo any books. It’ll be all new books.

 

[Mercurius]

Exactly that.



Erik Mona has said they’re not going to just redo any books. It’ll be all new books.

Thanks. Quick and to the point. It sounds like they're taking one from 5E, which I think is a good idea. But obviously there are probably several books they'll want to re-do relatively closely (e.g. Advanced Player's Guide).