Two thoughts on Pathfinder 2e playtest

[Charlaquin]

The way I play, circumstance bonus/penalty, conditional bonus/penalty, item bonus/penalty, and untyped penalties are all rolled into one number called Difficulty. But from what I've seen, Pathfinder players are perfectly cool with that long list.

I agree. I think this difference in style comes down to a difference in who the rules are written for. Pathfinder has always been what I would consider a “players’ game,” and difficulty is squarely in the hands of the GM. If all the circumstantial, conditional, and miscellaneous sources that might modify the difficulty of a check are rolled into setting the DC, then the GM has all the power. The players can’t rely on the player-facing rules to confirm that the DC is being set “fairly,” they just have to trust the GM’s judgment.

For the record, I think mutual trust leads to better games, and think that rolling bonuses and penalties into the DC is the better way to go. But I can see where the other side is coming from, even if it’s not my preference.

 

[Morrus]

It's a product that they have sold people and expect them to use,it gosh golly darn better be readable and useable.

It is readable and useable.

What an odd thing to say.

 

[Parmandur]

It is readable and useable.

What an odd thing to say.

I added a "" to make the joke-y tone more clear.

 

[Arakasius]

Well, there's a trade off.

5e: don't need to track the bonus type. Simply add everything together.
PF2: track types to limits stacking. You can't add everything together.

Yeah I think it’s a solid one. 5e you can stack stuff, but it’s very short term and takes decent resources. PF2 the resources are a bit more open, but the math comes down to one person one buff. (Because all buffs are a single type, there is no 5 different types of buffs like PF1 where you did have to track types) Whether it’s bless, heroism, etc just one is all you need. I think PF2 goes even harder to restricting buffs than 5e because the rule basically now is you can benefit from one attack buff and you’re done.

 

[Eltab]

1) This seems like madness!

On page 291 of the rulebook:



How does anyone look at that and think fun?!

I look at that (the big blank is where your quoted text ought to be) and think "I need to write up a table to list each PC's normal mods."

 

[jimmifett]

While I find it interesting, and will likely play it, it's starting to look very 4e-ish in certain areas. Not always a bad thing, but in this case, possibly a bad thing.
Lots of actions (action cards here we come), a basic strike action, the action economy...
While this is fine for myself and most of my players who can strategize and math on the fly, I can see it grinding to a halt with players that wait until their turn to make decisions.
I foresee a return of Turn Sandtimers.