Pathfinder 2E Pathfinder 2E Conversion Guide

Paizo has released a conversion guide from Pathfinder 1st Edition to the brand new 2nd Edition.

"We know many of you are eager to convert your current games over to the new rules, so we’ve created the Pathfinder Second Edition Conversion Guide to help guide your way. Here, you’ll find tips, tricks and a mountain of advice on how to convert your game as easily as possible. It includes conversion notes for characters, spells, magic items, and monsters!"

 

[GreyLord]

No, the old practice of just reissuing the same edition just spruced up with a new cover image and maybe a few rearranged chapters was a bad thing, and nobody likes it.

So, yes, I'm sure detailed converting guides could be made to support, say, moving from Call of Cthulhu 4.2 to Call of Cthulhu 4.3.

But that is simply not relevant in today's world. Today, if you want an old game, you simply download the PDF.

And it definitely did not start with D&D Third Edition (meaning that the implication it deliberately broke compatibility to AD&D to start some nebulous industry trend is false - it just did what any sensible game designer does nowadays, change things around sufficiently to warrant a new purchase, if not honest-to-gawd actual improvement)

Moving from any edition of Warhammer FRP, for instance, (there are four), definitely merits scrapping the hope of a detailed conversion guide and instead basking in the wisdom that is the approach I set out!

The aforementioned Warhammer FRP you bring up actually did NOT have a 2nd edition until AFTER the release of 3e. 2e was highly convertible to 1e and in most aspects, was perhaps easier to convert than BECMI to AD&D.

Warhammer 3e by FFG was where it went off the rails into a totally different game than what had been before.

It is STILL relevant today, even if many companies choose to go a different direction than that.

Pathfinder itself was made popular due to ease of converting between D&D 3.5 and PF1e.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

Accepting that Pathfinder 1E and Pathfinder 2E are two very different games, even if they have surface level similarities, is the first step. I'm with CapnZapp on this: the best approach to conversion is to finish out a PF1E campaign and start fresh with a PF2E campaign.

I'm quite enjoying PF 2E actually, really like it's design, but I see no reason to ditch PF1E....it's functionally a different game and experience, and the two are best treated as different beasts.

 

[Ancalagon]

Before reading, let me note that any detailed or formulaic conversion procedure is a fool's errand, and that the best character conversion guideline is, and will always be:

1) write down a description of your character on a piece of paper using plain English only (no game terms)
2) now burn your old character sheet (or put it away so you can't look at it)
3) create a brand new character using the new options, using your piece of paper from step 1 as a loose guide

This guideline always works for all games in all situations. It is also far superior to detailed conversions (with numbers and formulas) that mostly just to serve the illusion there's a scientific way to go about the conversion. Which there never is, even between fairly close systems (which PF1 and PF2 is not).

Now I shall click the link and read what Paizo has written...

I completely agree. And the best part is "if we are going to do this, why stop at PF2? Why not 5e, or Troika! ?"

Once you accept that the essence of a character is not the mechanics, you can do so much more.

Lastly, they want a PF account to get the file, so I suppose I won't be reading it.

 

[Melfast]

I completely agree. And the best part is "if we are going to do this, why stop at PF2? Why not 5e, or Troika! ?"

Once you accept that the essence of a character is not the mechanics, you can do so much more.

Lastly, they want a PF account to get the file, so I suppose I won't be reading it.

Hey Ancalagon,

Actually, I think you can download it without an account. It may have changed since you looked:

DOWNLOAD: Don't have a Paizo.com account yet? No problem! Just click here to access the Second Edition Conversion Guide.

When I did it, it did not make me sign in to my account, so hopefully this works for you too.

Melfast