thullgrim
Hero
So like alot of us I purchased the Humble Bundle that's running right now. Mostly for the Foundry pieces for my weekly group but a funny thing happened. My regular weekly group will continue to play GURPS - Night's Black Agents/Zalozhniy Quartet for the time being (#GURPS2023) and my live Friday night group will be trying PF2.
The TLDR Part
I went to the FLGS the past Friday night with the idea of starting a Savage Worlds Coriolis game. By the end of the night we had deciced to give Pathfinder 2e a try and added a new player brining the player total to four. My history with PF2 is checkered. When it came out I was on vacation, on a cruise to Alaska. I downloaded it on the boat and immediately started reading. I was super pumped. My group had participated in the play test. When I got back from vacation I started converting Legacy of Fire volume 1, Howl of the Carrion King, to play (live, pre-pandemic). It actually went pretty well, but I have gamer ADD and stopped after book 1 in favor of running some D&D 4e. I say this because my feelings for PF2 are closely intertwined with 4e. I love 4e. To me, just about everything PF2 does, 4e does better. And that's a problem for me because 4e is a dead game, and I love what Paizo does adventure wise. Last year I ran the first book of Wrath of the Righteous in PF2 (via Foundry). It was also a success but not without it's issues. So now I'm at it again. This time something organic to PF2, no conversion issues to obscure my assessment. I really want to like this game so I'm going to try it as the designers intended.
My Previous Thoughts on PF2 Based on Actually Playing
In no particular order, play from levels 1-5/6 twice my observations were, and in no particular order:
(1) there is no wiggle in the math
(2) I liked the three action economy
(3) the game needed more forced movement [that is one of my 4e loves though],
(4) There's an issue with healing and time spent between encounters. There have been several threads on the this board about it and I think the answer is some handwavium.
(5) the CR system works! [because of #1 above]
(6) I wish it was so closely integrated with Golarion but I understand why it is
(7) There were some issued with skill feats and the gating of effects I didn't love but in hindsight it's a me problem not a game system problem
(8) I actually like the Diabloesque run system and really wish they had done even more with it. Socketed save effects etc.
(9) The Game Mastery Guide optional systems are great
(10) There are some aspects of the game that are very procedural (I'm looking at you Stealth/Vision) this is both positive and negative.
(11) I loved the balance between casters (solving the linear martial/quadratic caster problem)
(12) I think Pet classes might be a viable design space given how the three action economy interacts with pets/commands
(13) I was, and remain ambivalent about race/ancestry/origin political discussions. Call it what you like and move on. I do like there are enough options in the CRB to make two elves different, and with the APG that is expanded even more.
I'm sure there's more but the list is getting longish.
The Plan
The plan is to run PF2 using the Beginner Box, Troubles in Otari, and Abomination Vaults as a level 1-11 Otari Campaign.
This Thread
This thread will be a repository of my thoughts as I try and learn the game and prep elements of it. It will probably also include session recaps and after action thoughts. We do character creation next week and I've started reading the starter adventure Menace Under Otari. I'm looking at various threads across the interwebs about integrating the three products. More on that in the next post.
Finally here's the pitch document I've outlined for the players that will go out today. We are all in agreement about the game system so it just comes down to introducing the story and laying out the book access limits, as well as detailing the starting position.
The TLDR Part
I went to the FLGS the past Friday night with the idea of starting a Savage Worlds Coriolis game. By the end of the night we had deciced to give Pathfinder 2e a try and added a new player brining the player total to four. My history with PF2 is checkered. When it came out I was on vacation, on a cruise to Alaska. I downloaded it on the boat and immediately started reading. I was super pumped. My group had participated in the play test. When I got back from vacation I started converting Legacy of Fire volume 1, Howl of the Carrion King, to play (live, pre-pandemic). It actually went pretty well, but I have gamer ADD and stopped after book 1 in favor of running some D&D 4e. I say this because my feelings for PF2 are closely intertwined with 4e. I love 4e. To me, just about everything PF2 does, 4e does better. And that's a problem for me because 4e is a dead game, and I love what Paizo does adventure wise. Last year I ran the first book of Wrath of the Righteous in PF2 (via Foundry). It was also a success but not without it's issues. So now I'm at it again. This time something organic to PF2, no conversion issues to obscure my assessment. I really want to like this game so I'm going to try it as the designers intended.
My Previous Thoughts on PF2 Based on Actually Playing
In no particular order, play from levels 1-5/6 twice my observations were, and in no particular order:
(1) there is no wiggle in the math
(2) I liked the three action economy
(3) the game needed more forced movement [that is one of my 4e loves though],
(4) There's an issue with healing and time spent between encounters. There have been several threads on the this board about it and I think the answer is some handwavium.
(5) the CR system works! [because of #1 above]
(6) I wish it was so closely integrated with Golarion but I understand why it is
(7) There were some issued with skill feats and the gating of effects I didn't love but in hindsight it's a me problem not a game system problem
(8) I actually like the Diabloesque run system and really wish they had done even more with it. Socketed save effects etc.
(9) The Game Mastery Guide optional systems are great
(10) There are some aspects of the game that are very procedural (I'm looking at you Stealth/Vision) this is both positive and negative.
(11) I loved the balance between casters (solving the linear martial/quadratic caster problem)
(12) I think Pet classes might be a viable design space given how the three action economy interacts with pets/commands
(13) I was, and remain ambivalent about race/ancestry/origin political discussions. Call it what you like and move on. I do like there are enough options in the CRB to make two elves different, and with the APG that is expanded even more.
I'm sure there's more but the list is getting longish.
The Plan
The plan is to run PF2 using the Beginner Box, Troubles in Otari, and Abomination Vaults as a level 1-11 Otari Campaign.
This Thread
This thread will be a repository of my thoughts as I try and learn the game and prep elements of it. It will probably also include session recaps and after action thoughts. We do character creation next week and I've started reading the starter adventure Menace Under Otari. I'm looking at various threads across the interwebs about integrating the three products. More on that in the next post.
Finally here's the pitch document I've outlined for the players that will go out today. We are all in agreement about the game system so it just comes down to introducing the story and laying out the book access limits, as well as detailing the starting position.
