Pathfinder 2E Free Archetype Variant Rule - if you DON'T use it, why, and how did your players react?

[Kichwas]

It seems like everyone uses this variant rule.

To the point that it's maybe more common than even allowing the human ancestry.

So I'm kind of wondering if there is anyone out there that doesn't use it.

If they don't, why did they make that choice? How have things turned out? And how did players who were aware of the variant react to not having it?

I've seen a lot of recommendations to use it, but I've yet to ever encounter the counter opinion. So I'm curious to see if I can find anyone willing to either defend not using, or just state how it went in trying to run a campaign (something long enough for the difference to matter) without it.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I'd speculate that at least some people who don't use it do so because--its a variant rule. And some people avoid those unless they have an active reason to use them.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

my group chose not to use it because it was all our first game playing pf2e and we did not feel the need to manage a variant rule on top of learning an entirely new system

 

[payn]

So folks are afraid it powers up the PCs too much. It doesnt.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I've played in a game base, with Free Archetype, and with Hybrids (multiclass). Even the latter was a modest power-up.

(This doesn't mean some particular combinations won't show some, well, vigor (my wife's Barbarian with the Rogue Archetype for example), but its not anything I think anyone would find excessive. It didn't stop her from getting her butt kicked in the last session, for example).

 

[Andvari]

I don't use it in my game, as the campaign doesn't revolve around a theme where it makes sense for each character to have a specific archetype. We're also not short on players, so the party is able to cover roles and skills sufficiently without needing extra help.

The players haven't had a reaction as far as I'm aware. They are of course welcome to defend wanting to add the rule, if willing.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I don't use it in my game, as the campaign doesn't revolve around a theme where it makes sense for each character to have a specific archetype. We're also not short on players, so the party is able to cover roles and skills sufficiently without needing extra help.

The players haven't had a reaction as far as I'm aware. They are of course welcome to defend wanting to add the rule, if willing.

I'm not sure it necessarily requires any sort of theme for the free archetype to be okay. In the end, all it is is extra spin on what are, in the end, largely arbitrary classes. It just extends the class in a particular direction.

 

[Andvari]

I'm not sure it necessarily requires any sort of theme for the free archetype to be okay. In the end, all it is is extra spin on what are, in the end, largely arbitrary classes. It just extends the class in a particular direction.

It’s the justification the game provides for using the rule. You can of course give stuff for any reason if you like. That goes without saying. For example, if you think PCs should have 3 more skills to broaden their areas of competence, you can give them 3 more skills.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

It’s the justification the game provides for using the rule.

it's a justification the game provides for using it. it also says you can just use it because you want to give players more options and slightly higher power.

it sounds like you don't want that either, which is fine, but theming is not the only justification the system specifies for free archetype.

 

[Andvari]

I don’t see other justifications listed in the book, but as I suggested, every table can alter the game's rules any way they like with whichever justifications they can come up with. Make the game your own. You don't have to do things exactly as the rules, the book, or the designers, say.

But I also suggest that before changing rules, it's a good idea to justify it. As in why you want to give players more options ands slightly higher power. Some reasons could be too few players to cover the necessary bases or that the adventure is slightly overtuned for your group.